#CHILCHUCK IS UNDER ATTACK!!

[fumiku]

Hear ye hear ye!

I come bringing two Dungeon Meshi marchil fanfics to share

Enough

He got crumbs of it in moments, here and there, and it would be more than enough to last the winter. Chil knew how to live on little, with only what he could afford. But love? Love he had had enough of for a lifetime.

I'll start with the shorter one that I wrote first, a quick Chilchuck POV 1.3k words oneshot that's bittersweet if not just plainly sad. It’s about repressing a crush essentially, but the marchil is mostly a front for a character study about Chilchuck’s complex feelings on his marital situation and love in general. I’ve been told many times in comments that even without shipping marchil it was enjoyable, so give it a shot if that sounds interesting!

He soaked her in, like hard bread softening in broth.

Grind Me Down Sweetly

Even years after their journey into the dungeon, Marcille wasn’t quite over her existential dread over short lifespans… And it showed. Every other day, she came by to Chilchuck’s locksmith shop with a shocking lack of locks to smith.

Coffeeshop au except it’s not an au and there’s no coffeeshop. This one is a long oneshot of 17k words, and contains flashbacks that are meant to loosely span over a year. This fic can pretty much be entirely read as platonic. They’re just close friends but they give married energy is all. Slice of life and cozy with a side of banter & tsundere behavior, and existential dread hurt/comfort as the cherry on the sundae. It contains some classic Dungeon Meshi things like storytelling through cooking and sharing meals~ If you like the Marcille and Chilchuck dynamic in canon, this is pretty much just a bunch of that, shenanigans abound!

She clung to her friends like time was always running out.

Blonde hair is the epitome of beauty to him meanwhile his greying hair brings her existential despair. I am composed and collected about this

"I am going to chase you out with a broom"

Some related-ish memes I made!

Extra author notes and marchil rambling under cut

With how chil is so irritable and private about romance and his feelings it makes sense that their romance would have passive-agressive energy. Are they just friends or pining? Oh wouldn’t you like to know. Are they just lightheartedly bantering or is he legitimately pissed or are they blinking in morse code their true feelings at each other? Yes

My post-canon timeline is Chilchuck lives a nice life living alone in his house-shop except his friends all visit him and care, and even though he likes living alone it’s also bittersweet and every corner of his life is haunted by the ones he loves and loved and the moments he had with them. That’s it that’s all I want… (mostly the nice life part lol)

My marchil manifesto is that she grows on him stubbornly like fungal yeast and it brings out his flavor like beer <3 Because she stubbornly puts her nose everywhere and refuses to give up on getting closer to her friends and it makes him open up and repress his feelings less and aaaa <33 Obligatory shout out to the dunmeshi discord serv for engaging with my rambles

For someone who dislikes alcohol I’m having so much fun working beer metaphors and stuff into the writing, Chilchuck has all the fun motifs to play with fr... Traps, lockpicking, married life, work, destitution, starvation, rejection, repression, opening urself up to the world. Give me the most domestic fluff and give it a subtle foundation of angst and hurt comfort 👌

And I do think that Marcille takes a particular interest in Chilchuck especially because he’s so set on being a closed book as well. Yeah she def is like 👀 at him. Aaah the way she wants to meet his family so bad 😭💕 I think she romanticizes him & his family life/idealizes him as a virtuous husband a lot too. Like how she tends to think of things in a more flowery story-like way.

I do compare him to bread and her to soup in that he soaks up in her warm vibes and softens up. Which has become a personal favorite. He was bread, she was soup, can I make it any more obvious /lyr Soggy bread Chilchuck is so funny to me. Like, you know that rock solid bread but then you soak it in soup and then it just becomes the softest crumbliest thing. I think Chilchuck is a really hard bread that will break your teeth if you don’t put him in some soup beforehand. Or wine. I wracked my brain a lot about what food Chil would like (because his Adventurer’s Bible profile just says he love alcohol and hates sweet dishes rip) and I end up giving him a bread motif a lot, since it pairs well with alcohol and whatnot.

With marchil I either do unrequited angst because Chilchuck will NOT allow himself to feel, or the most domestic fluffy shit ever but in a mostly platonic dimension because once again -gestures at Chilchuck- But in a true Marcille "If I was Chilchuck’s wife" Donato fashion she manages to get her nose into the most stubborn’s people stuff like a barnacle and it’s. So married people coded anyways. They’re a lil messed up but it’s ok they’ll iron out those bumps. Ironing because they are gonna do the most domestic chores together 🔥🔥 MARRIEDCORE I TELL YOU I should get around to making more fics and more different vibes though, I already have a bunch of prompts written down~

Even more rambling and headcanons!!

I hc that when he gets his shop all his living quarters are half-foot sized so whenever the party comes to visit they suffer sitting down at the dinner table and whatnot

There’s a very specific horror in not being able to grow old with your loved one… It’s gotta be rough being in a relationship where you don’t mature at the same speed/rate. It must be so heartbreaking to turn around and your lover suddenly looks 70 while you’re still like 26 Chilchuck living until he lives with either Meijack or Flertom or at the castle and spends his days grumbling about people being even more incompetent than they used to be real. He can live longer than 50 🙏 come on peepaw you can make it to 70. He’s got so many friends ready to nurse him, prob while he complains about it. This is why I find elderly half-foots a funny mental picture. For a while I wondered if half-foots aged visually much at all in the traditional sense, and then I remembered these.

In my post-canon headcanons I’ve adopted the idea that Marcille doesn’t do her hair, it’s always someone else making her hairdos like an attendant or Kabru and like maybe Falin learns. In the "it takes a village to raise someone" community mutual aid energy… And the rare times where the task befalls Chilchuck he learns how to put it in a single braid (even if it’s so much hair for him to hold in his small hands all at once rip) because the one time he braided it in two in canon it reminded him of Meijack and gave him psychic damage. WHICH. Ohhh my god you have no idea how much I care about Chilchuck’s daughters now. After writing the first half of Grind Me Down Sweetly I am forever changed I know them all by name and know everything there is to know about them, I am making so many headcanons every day… Meijack wears thigh-high boots because she hates when sand, dirt or snow gets in her shoes- I have fanart coming up of them over at @fuumiku and I’d love making fics centered around them as well eventually yippee The angst of old senile Chilchuck still tying marcille's hair... Old senile chilchuck confusing marcille for one of his daughters… "Have you gotten taller? Oh how much you’ve grown" -breaking his neck looking up at her- I want Chilchuck to get the top notch elder treatment.

Ok this is the alcoholism tangent. I really want to believe Chilchuck can be super old, but… Realistically he’s gonna drink himself to an early grave, he’s a work hard play hard kinda guy.

Marcille would be horrified if she knew the extent of it fr fr, but I do think it’d drive a wedge between them if she tried getting him to lay off of it… If he’s open to it though that’d be so nice and sweet. Hey hey btw did you know, Chilchuck is canonically underweight due to extremely strict dieting and alcohol can act as a good hunger suppressant! Lots of issues to dig into here It’d be cute if his daughters visit him often and collectively keep tabs on him in a caring way. It’s less cute actually beinh the daughter and having to deal with it but- CHILCHUCK IS WORTH IT okay!!! Where’s that meme of "You can fix him? So is 5 other people y’all look like a construction crew" bc this increasingly looks like ‘Marcille Senshi Laios Izutsumi and his family make sure he doesn’t poison himself like a dog with chocolate’ mission.

Truly for some people reason just flies out the window when it comes to alcohol, coherence gives way to excuses. He reminds of someone I know who got a grave disease that’s worsened by alcohol and just. Continues to take it regularly. You know that thing that’s said where "an alcoholic parent will have 2 kids, one will grow to be alcoholic too while the other will never touch a drop of alcohol" and Chilchuck is def the first I think. He gives the vibe that he’d say "An alcoholic parent puts a strain on familial relationships?? Pshh, my father was and look at me! I turned out great!". I don’t think Chil could really get shaken out of it at this point tbh, seems very ingrained in him, would prob fight it back. I relate with my own familial situation ughh. Maybe if he realized how it hurt the people around him and not only himself though…. I’d def like to see him ease up on it. Drinking is often a social activity though. That gives me hope, especially with the whole dunmeshi lesson of sharing meals, that he might be able to/have recontextualized how or when he likes to take alcohol, that alcohol is better when you have others with you and you’re still able to talk and whatnot. Chilchuck says that he’s pretty picky with alcohol tho, like he has specific tastes or a high bar. Laios can ban good beer in the kingdom and then Chilchuck just stops because it all tastes awful and he’s not rich enough to import. The brewery he likes mysteriously burns down in a fireball incident one night. Marcille risks prison for her loved ones part 2, now with diplomatic immunity! ✨

I have hcs about Chil’s family dynamic, about his daughters and how alcoholism or workaholism may have affected everyone (not me inferring that Puckpatti being the most idealistic and optimistic from Chil’s daughters is probably a result from her being the youngest and perhaps Chil being the most often at work during that time and so she was mostly raised by her mother without much involvement from him). That’s a topic for another day though, for now I leave you all with thoughts of Flertom painting flowers on a shitty ceramic mug when she was 3 and Chil begrudgingly asking Marcille advice on picking a birthday gift for Puckpatti :) Oh yeah, because if we look at the timeline in The Adventurer’s Bible and combine it with when Chilchuck said that "Due to certain circumstances he hasn’t seen his wife or daughters in years" in the Senshi backstory chapter, besides letters with Flertom he has seemingly not seen them in 4 years. 4 YEARS. Thank god dungeons disappeared, it took that much for him to retire

[bi-hop]

Found this image on pinterest and I can't actually understand it

Like are they chasing after him ??? What'd he do. Does everyone want™ Chilchuck ?

I dunno why I thought I answered this ODJSAODJODJO I'm so out of it fr. anyway Chilchuck when the gargoyles went after him

[laikabu]

mr wasia himself… it’s pretty long, so i put all his info under the cut

“Makalu” Real name: (first name) Touden His real first name is sort of irrelevant since everyone calls him by Makalu.

Likes: Pastries Dislikes: Steamed vegetables

Has a Northern name, but everyone calls him by this one.

Despite looking a lot like Kabru, he has Laios’s face.

Doesn’t want to inherit the throne; instead, he desires to travel the world to meet new people and see real, live monsters with his beloved aunt, Falin.

Likes monster cuisine for the most part, much to Kabru’s disappointment, but he is a very picky eater. He doesn’t like monsters that taste like vegetables, for instance

Relationships with other people:

He finds Kabru boring and often zones out when scolded by him. However, despite this, Kabru is the first person he seeks comfort from. Kabru tries not to be overbearing, but sometimes he can't help but regularly interfere.

He loves Laios deeply but resents that Laios is too occupied with royal duties to spend time with him. Laios is thrilled to share his love of monsters with his son but fears his son will face the same ostracism he did as a child.

Marcille is very fond of him and tries hard to win his favor, but he often seems to ignore her (ow…). They were very close when he was a toddler, but she would always hand him over to someone else whenever he started crying.

Yaad always seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack around him. As a small child, he would always ask specifically for a piggyback ride from Yaad.

As a younger child, Izutsumi was his favorite person. Although she doesn’t feel strongly about him, she enjoyed cuddling with him to sleep when he was little because he was very warm.

Falin is the most beloved person in his life. They regularly exchanged letters and would always wait for her by the pier the day she arrives in Melini. She often sneaked into his window to take him out to visit caves and forests behind others’ backs. Both of them knew that she wouldn’t be able to take him out anymore if anyone found out, so it became their little secret.

Chilchuck would sometimes let him stay in his shop, and he's rather fond of him despite not showing it. As a toddler, he would always ask to be carried, but it always ended in Chilchuck complaining about a sore back. By the age of five, Makalu had already surpassed Chilchuck's height.

He doesn’t see Senshi as often as the others, but he loves Senshi's cooking. He would eat monster food that he usually doesn’t like when it’s cooked by Senshi. Senshi tends to feed him a lot, much to the annoyance of Kabru.

He’s rather fond of Milsiril, but he doesn’t understand why his parents won’t let her spend time with him.

[chuckeroo777]

Laios got Eaten AU Chapters 1-52

So, I was pondering a lot (as I do), and was thinking about this AU. Here's my take on it. Sorry if my grasp on characterization isn't the best. Expect lots of Farcille.

This is mostly a plot point based summary, going chapter by chapter. If something isn't elaborated on, assume it's the same as canon.

Note: This first installment ends at the same point as the anime, but as a manga reader, there are spoilers for later in the canon story.

Edit: Wowzers, that ended up being over 4,000 words! Guess I had more to say than I thought.

This is pretty long, so I'll begin under the cut.

Chapter 1:

Unlike Laios' self deprecating take on this scenario, the rest of the team doesn't immediately give up on him. Marcille and Chilchuck are his friends, and if Falin thinks it's possible, then they're in.

Namari leaves of course, but Toshiro is more complex. He argues with Falin, trying to convince her not to embark on such a risky mission, and may accidentally frame it as Falin choosing between him and Laios. Falin, of course, picks Laios. Toshiro leaves, dejected. After feeling sorry for himself for a while, he gets his retainers and heads after her, hoping to offer backup.

Falin proposes the dungeon eating plan, having casually discussed the possibility with Laios in the past. Without the gourmet guide, she isn't as knowledgeable about monsters, but she is pretty good at identifying stuff from her days of eating weird stuff in the woods, so she can tell the walking mushroom isn't poisonous. She also manages to grab the scorpion, having messed with crayfish as a kid.

Unlike Laios, she doesn't try to eat the venom, but they still struggle, and Senshi comes in to help. Falin is very excited to have such an expert helping them out, and is happy to have him join the team.

In general, Marcille is just as squicked out by monster cuisine, but she tries to put on a brave face for Falin. In fact, her attempts to be more accepting results in her not yelling at Senshi, so the slime doesn't attack her.

Chapter 2:

They go after the man-eating plants, and things mostly go down the same. Without Laios, it takes a little longer for Falin and Senshi to figure out how to save Marcille, going for the root. Marcille gets seeds planted in her skin, but Falin is able to heal her and get them out.

Chapter 3:

Senshi takes them Basilisk hunting, and Marcille is dismayed to see Falin knows the trick for intimidating Basilisks, a sight she will not soon forget. While Senshi slices the snake, Falin caves the chicken's head in.

While Senshi prepares the Basilisk, Falin is able to use a detox spell on Doni. The two still stay to eat though.

Chapter 4:

Events mostly play out the same, though Falin is a bit more gentle in rejecting Marcille's help. Falin admits to having skipped class the day they learned about mandrake harvesting.

Chapter 5:

Chilchuck uses Falin's metal staff instead of the sword to find the passage. When they go to get the oil, Falin casts a fire-ward spell on Chilchuck, just in case. Senshi declines to take one too.

Chapter 6-7:

Without Laios' insights, they deem the living armor too dangerous after the first attempt, and take a slightly different route to the third level.

Much to Marcille's chagrin, they run into a nest of giant rats, and they end up having giant rat stir-fry instead.

Chapter 8:

Falin thinks Senshi's utilization of the golems is absolutely delightful.

Chapter 9:

Falin is rather uncomfortable with Chilchuck's suggestion to trade at the seedy bar, but doesn't argue.

Events with the orcs go more or less the same. Falin thinks Bahay is very cute.

Chapter 10:

No Kensuke, so they get ambushed by the bugs. Chilchuck gets bitten, but Falin is able to heal him.

Falin applies much better ghost wards than Marcille. In fact, she quickly realizes they are just paralyzed, and is able to heal them. Yeah, no. That would have way too big of a butterfly effect on the story. Maybe she's too distracted by the pretty bugs to notice.

Unlike Marcille, Falin thinks the centipedes are adorable. In fact, she secretly takes one and hides it in her pack to keep as a pet.

Chapter 11:

As one would expect, the ghosts are a complete non-issue. No ice cream for them.

Chapter 12-13:

No one in this party is crazy enough to bother with the living paintings. Without the delay, they are able to make camp at the level 4 entrance, bypassing the mimic.

Senshi catches some fish, and they have a very nice dinner.

Chapter 14:

Mostly the same, except instead of Laios, Senshi is saved by Falin. She has experience in such manners.

Chapter 15:

Sadly, Falin does not know the song, so they have to resort to earplugs. This leads to a silent but amusing argument where Chilchuck has to talk down Falin from eating fish-men without words. Falin does not pull the waterweed stunt.

Chapter 16:

The kraken battle is pretty much identical.

Unlike Laios, Falin has eaten calamari before, having gone to that restaurant with Marcille several times. She is very disappointed the kraken tastes bad.

Senshi cooks up the parasite, and Falin doesn't eat any raw.

Chapter 17:

No one is sick, so this chapter doesn't happen.

Chapter 18:

Marcille has a sponge bath and insists Falin take one too. Chilchuck is annoyed by their flirting, but Senshi thinks it's cute.

When the Undine attacks, Falin is able to waterwalk and help Marcille, but neither of them has particularly good magic for fighting an undine. Both are badly injured, but they manage to escape.

Falin is able to heal both of them, but they are both left very hungry, and relatively low on mana. They have a barbecue to help them recover.

Chapter 19-20:

The Tansu party arrives. Tensions aren't quite as high between Marcille and Namari, but it's still there.

After Tansu fails to pacify the Undine. the two parties agree to help each other out. First, they help get down to the tower. A well placed fireball saves Kiki from the tentacles. Sadly, without Laios' knowledge, they can't eat them, at least not as easily.

When coming up with a plan to stop the undine, the idea to trap it is brought up, and they basically use the same plan, except Namari is in on it from the start.

After killing it, Falin suggests eating it, and the two groups enjoy some kelpie stew before departing opposite ways.

Chapter 21:

More or less plays out the same. Chilchuck suggests making the suits, to which Falin enthusiastically agrees. Senshi makes froggy hash instead of pasta, since he doesn't know how to neutralize the stinging.

Marcille puts on the frog suit without complaint since Falin puts one on first.

She attempts to take it off to much complaint still.

Chapter 22:

Most identical chapter yet. Namari asks about Laios instead of Falin. That's it.

Chapter 23:

Plans are made to take down the red dragon. With Falin here, their warding spells are much better, but no Laios means Senshi is the only proper warrior. Falin is a decent fighter, and plans to join Senshi and Chilchuck on the frontline. They search the orc's storehouse and find some spears, which will hopefully be enough for the inverse scale.

They mostly come up with the same plan. Crush the dragon, then kill it.

Chapter 24-25:

The pot defenses fail, and they go ahead and crush the dragon. When the dragon emerges, Falin is able to execute the plan, stabbing the dragon as they play dead. However, she isn't able to stab deeply enough before the dragon recoils, the spear getting pulled away from her, landing some distance away.

Senshi tries to stab the dragon in the foot, but the spear breaks. Things go as they do in canon, with Senshi and Chilchuck managing to toss Falin the spear and blind the dragon in one eye.

Falin meets up with Marcille, and ends up pulling the same self-sacrificing gambit Laios did, stabbing the dragon in the throat while dangling from its mouth.

Chapter 26:

Falin falls unconscious, and has a dream about when Laios first left home, leaving her behind. And how he later promised to never leave her behind again.

Marcille still has to heal Chilchuck and Senshi herself, since Falin is in no state to do it herself. They retrieve her leg, and Falin is able to finish healing all four of them.

They begin carving into the dragon, with Senshi taking the lead. Laios' intrusive thought fun facts end up saving the day, reminding Falin about the flame sac.

Chapter 27:

Falin doesn't even bother mentioning the resurrection office, already knowing what must be done. Marcille doesn't hesitate to offer her ancient magic as the solution.

Falin is able to assuage Chilchuck's concerns a little better than Marcille did, clarifying that the ancient magic is just used to perform magic of a magnitude impossible with just natural mana. He still doesn't quite buy it, but doesn't protest further.

Putting Laios' skeleton together takes longer, since no one here is super knowledgeable about dog skeletons. They get it eventually though.

Marcille does the ritual. Falin thinks Marcille is hot when she lets her hair down like that.

Laios is revived successfully, and everyone is incredibly happy.

Chapter 28:

No bath scene. :(

Laios is incredibly curious about their journey, and is running his mouth asking questions. He is extremely excited that his monster eating idea worked, and is practically glued to Senshi for a while asking questions. Due to his presence, Senshi doesn't explode the dragon.

Marcille isn't surprised in the least by Laios' enthusiasm, and is just glad to have her friend back. They enjoy their little dragon feast, regaling Laios with their tales of monster eating.

Unlike Falin, Laios does not realize that forbidden magic was used to revive him, and apologizes profusely for abandoning Falin, even though she insists it wasn't his fault.

Chapter 29:

When Thistle summons Laios, a ghost wakes Falin up. She wakes the others, and they go looking for him.

Unlike Falin, Laios doesn't gain magical power from the dragon, instead getting an even bigger boost to his strength. Falin isn't just knocked unconscious, but is badly injured by his punch.

Not even being dominated by the mad mage can stop Laios from yapping. As he is transformed, he gives Thistle tips, causing his chimera form to be significantly more dangerous, featuring a bigger but more slender build and bigger wings, allowing him to actually fly. As well as a few other embellishments, such as tail spikes and small horns.

The ghosts save the party, and things proceed as normal.

Chapter 30:

Chilchuck's arc is mostly the same, except that it is easier to convince Falin once she wakes up. Healing the internal bleeding Laios caused took a lot out of her, and both her and Marcille are tapped of magic. They agree to return to the surface.

Chapter 31:

Literally Identical.

Chapter 32:

Kabru's deductions are mostly the same, only altered slightly due to being warded by Falin instead of Marcille.

Shuro isn't quite as haggard. Falin isn't actively dead, so he doesn't feel the need to run himself ragged. Funny enough, taking better care of himself ends up canceling things out, and he arrives at Kabru's group at about the same time.

Chapter 33:

Senshi and Chilchuck have to fight the Dryads by themselves. They use the axe instead of Kensuke. Not that Laios helped much, but the first dryad manages to attack Senshi, leaving him in much rougher shape by the end of the fight.

Thankfully, he makes a full recovery once Falin recovers some mana from the yummy pottage.

Once Falin is recovering, she suggests teleporting out of the dungeon, but Marcille flat out refuses to let Falin do that again. It's way too risky. Now that they have a source of food, mapping out the area should be simple.

Chilchuck does not escape the sex ed.

Chapter 34:

A dramatic reenactment of chapter 34:

They still need to spend several days making the map, but at least petrification isn't an issue.

Chapter 35:

The ghost warns Falin about the wyvern, and they hide in the wall, so business as usual.

When Marcille accidentally puts on the frog suit, Falin decides to put hers on too. This somehow makes Marcille more mortified, not less.

Recognizing Falin, the ninjas don't attack. Marcille is annoyed how happy Falin is to see Toshiro, considering the bad terms he split off on.

Chapter 36:

Since Falin has been enthusiastic, but not overbearing about monster food, Chilchuck chooses to go with Senshi even more easily.

Falin explains what happened to Toshiro, leaving out the ancient magic. Toshiro has no reason to think Falin wouldn't be able to revive Laios. He is happy to learn that she intends to return to the surface, and he plans to try and talk her out of returning once safe on the surface.

Kabru can tell Falin is lying about something, but remains quiet.

Chapter 37:

Even though harpies show up, everything seems to be going well, until Hien splatters on the ground. The Laigon quickly proves to be a ferocious foe, with razor sharp claws, a vicious thagomizer, and the ability to easily fly out of reach, or drop opponents from deadly heights.

Marcille didn't know that sufficient brute force could splatter an Undine to death, but apparently so.

Falin watches in horror as she can see an almost joyous look in his eyes. He would never do this of his own volition... but he clearly doesn't hate it.

When Rin grounds the Laigon with lightning, Falin steels her resolve and charges in to pummel his weak point, but he smiles and says her name.

Chapter 38:

After Kabru fails to kill him, the Laigon is too powerful, and kills Kabru before Falin can do anything. Seeing the Laigon about to attack Falin, Marcille hits it with an explosion.

Snarling, the Laigon looks like it's about to pounce at Marcille and company, causing Falin to fully freak out and unleash her strongest offensive spell, causing several massive rocky spires to erupt and impale the Laigon from below, and accidentally hitting Rin in the process.

Screaming and convulsing in pain, the Laigon takes for the sky, fleeing as fast as it can, leaving behind a thick trail of blood.

With both Falin and Holm alive, as well as Marcille not being barred from helping, the revivals go smoothly.

Toshiro ends up getting into a shouting match with Falin regarding her goal of saving Laios. Falin insists that if they defeat the mad mage, they can save him. He insists that trying to do so at this point is suicidal.

In the heat of the moment, Toshiro declares that Laios isn't even worth saving, and Falin slaps him. The conversation comes to an abrupt end, with both severely regretting their actions. Toshiro walks off to think, while Marcille comforts Falin, who seems on the verge of tears.

Toshiro ends up apologizing, saying he can't understand her decision, but he will respect it. He has Maizuru give them supplies so they can head down immediately, and gives Falin the bell.

Asebi overhears Marcille speculating with Chilchuck about the Laigon, and the possibility of the dragon's soul getting mixed in due to her revival magic.

Kabru leaves with a higher opinion of Falin than he did of Laios, because while she seemed fascinated by monsters, she wasn't as crazed about it as him. Plus she didn't offer him a harpy omelette, so that helps.

Chapter 39:

Without the living paintings, they aren't able to quite grasp the mad mage's motives, but are still hopeful that they can talk to him.

And then the shapeshifters happen.

Chilchuck's Falin is an airhead, reflecting her calm demeanor and lack of commanding presence, even though she is ostensibly the leader without Laios around.

Senshi's Falin looks just like his Laios, but with longer hair. They look identical to Senshi.

Falin's Chilchuck is colder and more even-tempered than the real Chilchuck. She appreciates his levelheadedness and maturity.

Falin's Senshi is always spouting fun facts about food and food prep, and is always smiling. Senshi reminds her a lot of her brother's passions.

At first, the group is confused. They seem to be short two fakes. But then they find Falin's Marcille and Marcille's Falin making out in one of the cells. Both are too shy to admit their feelings, but apparently their mental images aren't so shy about it.

Once obvious stuff is out of the way, and equipment has been checked, Marcille and Falin have been found, but Chilchuck's Senshi, Marcille's Chilchuck, and Falin's Chilchuck are still around.

Chapter 40:

Marcille and Falin manage to eliminate Chilchuck's Senshi, since they both get a weird feeling from it, and all three Chilchucks agree it's the right Senshi, practically confirming it to be Chilchuck's.

The Chilchucks prove much trickier, until Falin comes up with an idea. We skipped chapter 13, so Falin suggests the Chilchucks provide their age. Marcille's says 20. Falin's says 45. Chilchuck is able to explain those guesses are way off the mark, and as the only one able to give a proper explanation of half-foot age ranges, he is clearly the correct one.

With all the copies locked up, the shapeshifter gives up and goes to find other prey.

Asebi ambushes the party as normal afterwards.

Chapter 41:

There is a bit of confusion at Asebi's accusations, since Marcille never confessed to using ancient magic, but Asebi overheard her talking about how she may have blended Laios' soul with the dragon, and that is not something someone does on accident. Clearly she must have been using black magic to do something like that.

Nonetheless, Marcille agrees to break the collar's magic, and things proceed the same. Falin attacks the hag with her mace-staff, creating a messier cut, but functionally the same.

The explanation of their goals goes about the same, including Falin being rather happy to meet Izutsumi, though she's a little less weird about it, talking about how Laios was fine before the mage kidnapped him, and that hopefully he'll go back to that state of mind when saved.

Chapter 42:

In Falin's nightmare, the Laigon appears and tries to kill her, but Falin becomes lucid before it can strike.

Falin goes into Marcille's nightmare to help her. Being more experienced with this sort of thing, she is able to calm Marcille down, and cause her to become lucid, dispelling the nightmare without violating Marcille's private traumas.

They then spend the rest of the lucid dream having fun together. I'll let you decide how much those shapeshifter clones inspired their behavior.

Senshi cooks the nightmares, and much to the girls' dismay, the dream is shown for all to see. Everyone agrees not to bring it up again.

Chapter 43:

While searching the recovered packs, Falin is delighted to find the Dungeon Gourmet Guide. She was afraid it had been digested with Laios.

Note: Falin should be seeing the ghost by now, but I don't want to break up the chapter flow, so just assume the ghost got caught in ghost traffic.

Without Laios to block them, Marcille gets impaled by a few stalactites, and Falin has to tend to her. The fight goes as normal.

Izutsumi is able to undress without anyone being weird about it.

When doing the sauna thing, Chilchuck can't help but notice how closely Marcille and Falin are sitting. He tried to block the dream out of his mind, but it's clear that now that the feelings are out in the open, that's just how they're going to act from now on. He just hopes this doesn't cause any issues.

Chapter 44:

Falin finds the boiled mandrake quite tasty, and so doesn't question it when Izutsumi gives her a second.

When arguing over dinner, Falin is just as baffled as Izutsumi regarding the Barometz. As they run over, she flips through the guide, discovering the potential danger a few seconds too late.

Izutsumi and Marcille run off to do their thing. Falin panics and does something dumb. She starts barking. She isn't as good as Laios, but it's enough to scare off the wolves. Chilchuck isn't even surprised at this point.

Chapter 45:

Pretty much goes the same. Toshiro plans to report the Chimera, at least so people know to be wary, and Falin is just as careless with the bell as Laios.

As they eat their eggs, the ghost finally catches up and Falin is happy to chat.

Chapter 46:

Our party arrives in the golden country. Falin wants to check out the monster corrals, just like Laios, but while he was ecstatic about minotaur milking, Falin is much more charmed by the opportunity to pet the basilisk chicks.

Falin becomes extremely flustered at the sight of Marcille in a pretty dress. Unlike Laios, Izutsumi lets her pet her.

Since minotaur was not requested, they are served basilisk cordon bleu.

Sadly, the running joke of turning ghosts into ice cream is dead.

"One shall come who bears a staff of living wood." With Laios out of the picture, Marcille is the lion's next choice of champion.

Marcille really isn't sure what to think about this. Her? Become new queen of the land?

She ultimately gives no conclusive answer, but the possibility of gaining dominion over this land where no one ever dies is tempting.

Marcille and Falin share the double bed, while Chilchuck gets the single bed to himself. At least until Izutsumi curls up on him.

Chapter 47:

Breakfast goes smoothly, and they head back into the dungeon.

Things in the cistern go mostly the same, though Falin also thinks the griffon is Laios. Senshi doesn't panic until the griffon actually appears.

Chapter 48:

Marcille puts her plan into action, and Falin carries her.

With the second familiar, Falin suggests shaping it like a dragonfly, since they are very fast and agile. It isn't as fast as the wyvern, but it dodges a lot easier. The third familiar is still sky fish.

Once the griffon is defeated, Falin suggests eating the sky fish. Marcille objects, but she can't say no to Falin's smile.

And Senshi shares his story.

Chapter 49:

Unlike Laios, Falin doesn't push Senshi to try the griffon. She suggests cooking it, since they don't want to waste good food, but Senshi doesn't have to try it if he doesn't want to.

Senshi decides to go for it. You can decide if he's traumatized further, or if changelings follow logic, and meat without any spores on it (since it was cut from inside the griffon), and was then "washed" by turning it into soup turns back into hippogriff. Senshi tastes the "griffon" soup, and is immeasurably relieved.

Changlings are a lot of fun, but they sure open some plot holes. By all accounts, it should have reverted to hippogriff soup.

Look, this is my silly what-if AU, things don't have to be perfect.

Chapter 50:

Falin is a dwarf now. She sucks at magic, but now she can really smash some heads in.

Falin thinks half-foot Marcille is adorable. Marcille isn't sure what to think of dwarf Falin.

When they reach the door, Falin is surprised when her pet pearlipede crawls out unbidden and unlocks the door.

Despite the disadvantages, Falin's mace proves super-effective against the gargoyles, managing to defeat one, but tiring out while one is still left. They flee through the door.

Now that the party knows she has it (and that it's oddly useful), Falin starts wearing her pet as a bracelet.

While preparing dumplings, Falin ponders if maybe the griffon wasn't actually a griffon, but Chilchuck shuts her down before she can accidentally re-traumatize Senshi.

Chapter 51:

Falin notices Marcille's strong adverse reaction to the news that half-foots only live fifty years, but doesn't say anything.

Falin suggests the possibility of using the changelings on Laios, though unlike him, she doesn't consider that the two halves might change separately. She just imagines them turning the whole Laigon into a gnome or something.

When the last gargoyle arrives, Falin's staff gets knocked out of her grasp, and thrown by the gargoyle.

They use the knowledge from the transformed staff to defeat the last gargoyle. Sadly, Marcille does not get to fly.

Falin washes her staff.

Chapter 52:

Senshi grows curious and asks about Laios. Falin talks about how Laios always had trouble fitting in, and it wasn't until he started dungeon diving that he finally seemed able to make friends and be happy. Falin had dropped out of magic school because she didn't want Laios to be alone.

Marcille starts crying and clinging to Falin. She talks about how she used to hate Laios. But as they adventured together, he became like a brother to her. Falin starts crying too. Izutsumi sits by Chilchuck to avoid all the tears.

Senshi proposes his bacon and eggs plan. Falin can't find any issue with his reasoning, and thinks its a great idea, but Chilchuck points out how long it will take to eat that much meat. They start making plans for the foreseeable future.

Thistle tries to stop the Laigon from eating a walking mushroom, but is unsuccessful.

Chapters 53-85

Chapter 86-Finale

[stffed]

dog with doe-like eyes - laios touden x gn reader

warnings: spoilers for the start of delicious in dungeon, reader comforting character, implicit relationship (but there's still a kiss)

"what happened?"

laios sighed. he had shown up on your doorstep covered in cuts and bruises. falin was nowhere in sight but chilchuck and marcille trailed behind him as they walked into your home. shuro and namari weren't there either. when you noticed their absence, the pit in your stomach only deepened.

"falin..." marcille trailed off. she gripped her staff tighter, brows furrowed and lips curled downward.

you stopped treating laios' wounds. your hands folded over his, thumb rubbing caring circles. "what happened to falin, laios?"

he bit his lip. you could see the tears brimming in his eyes before they fell. laios put his hand on top of yours and squeezed it gently.

"she... she got eaten. by a red dragon." he said. the tears started to fall. "we were attacked by it on one of the dungeon's lower levels. she saved me - saved all of us by a teleportation spell. but it was too late for her."

"oh laios." you pulled him into a hug. he hid his face in your shoulder, tears staining your shirt. marcille was crying as well, her body racked with silent sobs. chilchuck just looked angry but it was different from normal. he was angry at himself.

your heart ached. the touden party had been at your house not even a week ago, talking about a mission they had taken up from the island lord. they all ate a meal you prepared for them, had a few drinks, and then retired to bed. you can still remember the way laios followed you up to your room, almost like a dog with the way he trailed after you with those doe-like eyes. to think that a week later half of them would return with such news: it broke your heart.

"we need to go back," said laios. he lifted himself off your shoulder. there were tear streaks on his face, his eyes red. "every second we're not in that dungeon means falin gets closer and closer to being digested. we need to save her."

"with what money?" asked chilchuck harshly. "all our supplies were left in the dungeon and we can't save falin if we get killed on one of the upper floors."

laios looked away like a kicked puppy. you cupped his face in your hand. the pain in his face was explicit but you could see the bags under his eyes. his stomach grumbled. and then marcille's stomach grumbled. and chilchuck's.

"you won't get anywhere in the states that you're in," you said. "i'll heal your wounds and then you'll eat something. you'll sleep here tonight and we'll leave for the dungeon at first light. does that sound okay?"

"you're coming with us?" marcille looked at you, eyes still teary. the leaf on her staff was wilted.

"of course," your thumb rubbed loving circles on laios' cheek. "you're going to need some common sense while you're down then. now come on, lets get you all healed up."

you pressed a kiss to laios' forehead before standing up. he blinked at you a few times before a small smile tugged at his lips. it was the first time he had smiled since he walked into your home. and as you motioned for them to all follow you into the kitchen, he followed after you like a dog with his doe-like eyes.

[dunmeshi-darlings]

I know the race bios say ages of maturity but is that actually when they arw adults or is that just when they can do things on there own?

that is a valid question, and one im happy to answer. MAJOR DUNGEON MESHI SPOILERS AHEAD! PLEASE DO NOT LOOK IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS Lets use half-foots for example

Here we see that the half foot age of maturity is 14 years old, Now like you said this could just be when they can start being responsible like adults. However i am going to point towards this scene in the daydream hour which takes place after the end of the manga

Here we see Chilchucks daughters wanting to preparefor the dinner party marcille invites them too once laios has become king. Here his daughter Flertom says "but won't it embarass you, dad? To have Three adult daughters who are unmarried?"

She specifically uses the word adult when referencing her and her sisters. The sisters ages are as follow from left to right

Puckpatti is the youngest at 14 Flertom is the middle child at 16 And finally meijack who is also 16, however she must be older than flertom as she is refered to as "big sis". Even at there youngest we see puckpatti, who is 14, is called an adult. Because thats what the age of maturity is in the bios, this is when they are considered adults for there race. If a half foot at 14 is an adult who can pursue romantic and sexual relationships (unless your chilchuck in which case its 13), than it stands to reason the same goes for all the races? We also see them planning to try and romance laios, showing that they are able and willing to pursue romantic and sexual relationship with other races (specifically laios who is 26 and possibly older at this time) . Because they are adults, at 14 half foots are fully grown adults. Just like how at 14 Orcs are fully grown adults for their race. its sad seeing people attack each other because they cant understand that because a character is 14 doesnt mean they are a child, because in the story that is fully grown adult for their kind. But people just arnt realizing it, its why i answer asks like these and make posts like these because people dont seem to understand that there ages arnt the same as us because they arnt humans in the real world. Ive also seen People argue that the tallmen are humans so their aging goes the same way as ours in the real world, and while i do understand that mindset it just isnt right. If we look in the average lifespan slot of the races we see (human, and either short-lived race or long-lived race)

Because human is a classification of the races that arnt demihuman, even the ogre's fall under the "human" umbrella. If the tallmen race was meant to represent humans like me and you, they would just be called humans. Its not like kui wouldnt call them humans if they are the same as you and me. Also if tallmen are just humans than the other non demihuman races wouldnt be in the "human" category with how large the differences are.

So yes, Age of maturity in dungeon meshi is when an individual of the race is considered a full grown adult and no, tallmen arnt just "human but fantasy", they are distinct and different than a regular human.

[wintergrofyuri]

i like how clingy mickbell is. he loves sitting on laps andbeing picked up and carried. its a rlly interesting contrast with chilchuck. jaded middle aged union man who knows his rights vs guy with abandonement issues and 0 ties with half-foot culture. i need them to be frenemies.

what if mickbell unconsciously starting to cling to chilchuck. i want to know how they'd react. wld mickbell catch himself doing it and stop. wld chilchuck push him off. wld he let him. oh my GOD fear of abandonement vs father/authority figure who feels bad abt essentially abandoning his family. i feel insane.

thank u fr coming to my tedtalk let me beam this image into ur mind (replace "7 minutes in heaven" with "hiding under a pot during a chimera attack")

[four-unwell-lesbians]

new favourite character dynamic btw. Groups of four where each character is a stress response fighting for control.... if u even care

My examples are dungeon meshi, mean girls, heathers, rwby, pitch perfect, doki doki literature club. I'm gonna focus on fight/flight characters. I'll do freeze/fawn in another post because those two get DEEP into character psyche

So here's my summary of this character dynamic

They parallel each other as a subplot.

Fight is the most proactive, flight is the most avoidant.

Fight wants to lead but struggles to keep control, while flight is the 'morally pure'/superior one

Fight has anger issues, flight is the group's secret keeper.

Freeze balances them out and disconnects from the plot. Fawn romanticises the narrative's dangers to involve the preoccupied characters in the plot.

So much proof this is like a formula (flight on left, fight on right):

Also notice all of these duos are imo the ones to talk shit in the background. They're all gossip buddies I swear.

Bulleted explanations below the cut:

DUNGEON MESH (Marcille and Chilchuk):

Protecting themselves from dungeon food/change/indivuality (dungeon meshi is about embracing this). eg Marcille wants them to live as long as elves (ambrosia) and Chilchuck is TRYING to die young

Protests and refuses vs implied to secretly skip meals

Tries to call the shots (usually wrong) vs activist. union man.

Explosive emotions (literal) vs living a double life. also he ran from his wife, actual flight response moment

awful quality gif for you i dotn think it works

MEAN GIRLS:

Constant arguments/simultaneous somewhat codependent mental breakdowns are subplots for Cady's advantage

Immediate disproportionate revenge vs 'please don't tell Regina'

Loses her power in like a week vs repeated 'I'm such a good friend!'

Screaming for like two straight minutes vs hair full of secrets

aouughhh save me winona ryder..............

HEATHERS (Heather Duke and Veronica):

Power struggle friendship matches the plot's fight for control of the school. Only two left, only two who didn't attempt suicide

Only one who wants leadership vs refuses to acknowledge abuse

Tries to be a leader but didn't have Chandler's finesse vs EXTREMELY pretentious with 0 accountability

More sadistic than angry (point is she copes with petty revenge) vs themed around a diary and covering up murders

HALF WAY THROUGH! Let me remind you of the summary:

They parallel each other as a subplot.

Fight is the most proactive, flight is the most avoidant.

Fight wants to lead but struggles to keep control, while flight is the 'morally pure' one

Fight has anger issues, flight is the group's secret keeper.

RWBY:

Daughters of good institutions made corrupt by their abusers on opposite sides of the war. Their conflict IS the human vs faunus conflict

Wants to reform her company vs ran away to forget her company

Bosses the group around at first vs literally flees constantly

Canonically described as 'nice but a little bit bitchy' vs mysterious backstory

DDLC (Natsuki and Yuri)

Both have regressive/closed minded views on literature and learn to see past surface level assumptions like the player has to

Pushes for change in the group vs embarassed by everything

Demands control over others vs once again EXTREMELY pretentious

Panicked defensive attacks vs by far the most unhinged but covers it up to an insane degree

Pitch Perfect (Aubrey and Beca)

Pitch Perfect is about empowerment and individuality, they've found different ways to deal with too much pressure

Forces the group to be extremely uniform vs 'rebel with a voice'

Can't cope with leader responsibilities vs reluctant to be a Bella

'Blows under pressure' vs mysterious Beca with hidden talents

So. Yeah i have even more examples of this but I limited myself to 6. this was too muhc

[drbtinglecannon]

Since it's the episode airing today, I wanted to point out another fun way Kabru and Laios are foils

Kabru immediately recognized his party members just by their body language when they were all under a shape shifting spell, meanwhile it took Laios a bit of time and a specific train of thought to figure it out

Kabru figured it out while Daya was attacking him because he recognized her fighting style, and from there he immediately clocked the rest of his party in just a glance (Holm was frozen in place, Kuro was looking around confused cuz he could smell everyone but couldn't see them, Mickbell ran off, and Rin was casting a spell)

Meanwhile Laios' party had a range of appearance differences and it still took them multiple rounds of working together to narrow it down, until 1 fake Marcille, Chilchuck, & Senshi were left

The most interesting part is fake versions of Marcille and Chilchuck gave the suggestions on how to sus out the imposters (red letter to indicate fakes & whose memory the fakes came from)

Even funnier the fake Marcille who suggested showing off their books exposed she's a fake by showing off her book

Once down to 1 fake each, Laios decides the easiest way to figure out the fakes would be to put them on the spot by preparing a meal!

Except it isn't easy, and none of Marcille, Chilchuck, nor Senshi believed he could tell them apart anyway as Laios isn't exactly known for his perceptiveness, so they all conspired to figure it out themselves. What I love about this chapter is it's constantly fluctuating between the reals & fakes thinking these thoughts with them all mixed together, and that the real versions keep getting suspected as actually being the fakes

Laios isn't very good at reading people, we've seen that repeatedly this far in the story, but he IS knowledgeable about monsters. So he figures out who's the real Marcille, Chilchuck, and Senshi by thinking about how they interact around monsters

And it works! He correctly figures out each of the party by their mannerisms wrt monsters!

Sure, it isn't as quick or graceful as how Kabru figured out his party, but Laios used his strength (monster hyperfixation) to successfully sus out his party's imposters.

Tldr Every bit of Kabru being good at reading people Laios is good at reading monsters, and he learns to use that to his advantage

[psiroller]

gaymers preview

i blacked out and what is this

au where everyone is playing an mmo that simulates dungeon meshi world but theyre all regular dudes named like larry and charles and stuff. the worst thing they do in this excerpt is cuss. im going to go finish chapter 4 but a friend needed a juicy carrot dangled in their face to finish their job applications. i am the picture of benevolence

cw: excessive gamer references and lingo

“Sorry, guys,” Laios mumbled into his crisp, high-fidelity mic. “I drew aggro early again.”

Chilchuck’s sigh came out in a raspy crackle. “We’re four rooms behind you, moron, what am I supposed to do about that?”

“I’m kiting the dragon back to you,” said Laios, hammering at his mechanical keyboard to try to get his speed buff cast while navigating the winding dungeon instance.

“You’re what!?” Chilchuck’s busted old Logitech headset clipped due to the volume. Laios’ hand slipped and he parried needlessly, locking him in place for a fraction of a second, the overlapping footfalls of the red dragon growing louder behind him. His ears were sweating under the cuffs.

“Laios, take the path on your right and keep running,” Marcille instructed, exasperated. “This is why you stay with the party, okay?”

“But we were talking for so long, I got bored,” Laios whined.

“Then why are you on the RP server, dumbass!?” Chilchuck hissed. Laios misfired a spell, alerting the party to his presence. The spatial audio on his headphones alerted him to his party moving up the tunnel perpendicular to the path he’d been assigned, chasing after the dragon.

“Because this is the one Marcille is on, Falin,” Laios jeered. Falin sent a winking smiley in party chat.

“Don’t deflect, Laios. You’re in deep shit if you die,” Chilchuck growled. Laios’ brainwaves flatlined as the dragon caught up to him, dousing him in crustily-textured flames that obscured his character. He kept aimlessly running, finding himself sliding along a wall once the flames cleared. The dragon wound up for its deadly right-armed strike and chunked a hefty amount of his health bar. Just as he regained his bearings, the dragon galloped and slid into a tail swipe that he managed to parry—it bought him just enough time for Falin to heal him, a glittery golden glow enveloping the screen. Laios slumped into the headrest of his gaming chair and breathed.

“Oh my God, thank you thank you thank you thank you—”

Another smiley, this one without the teasing wink. One day they’d talk her into turning her mic on, but she always worried about breathing too loudly. The dragon spun in the opposite direction for its follow-up attack, staggering Laios despite another successful parry. Chilchuck’s scrawny rouge dashed in after everyone else, buffed to the nines and firing poison arrows from the mouth of the arena. Marcille hammered the dragon with a barrage of fireballs, so overleveled for this dungeon that the dragon’s fire resistance was negated by the sheer amount of damage. A bunch of pre-cooked meals appeared in his inventory, dropped onto him by Senshi. The dragon turned its ire upon the dwarf, being within melee range, and hit him with a jet of flame—his health dropped by fractions of fractions. He ate another tail swipe without moving, his stout character waving at Laios and dancing a delightful high-kicking jig. The dragon tried in vein to get him below 75% of his max health before it all healed back in a few seconds. He continued tanking all the attacks, ramming the dragon with his shield every time the cooldown reset, and Laios hopped back into the fray. They alternated taking heavy swings, keeping the dragon stunlocked and helpless as Marcille charged her nuke spell, the one that made Chilchuck’s shitty Gateway lag for minutes on end.

Ka-choom. The dragon had collapsed before the animation was completed, the particle effects whipping away to reveal the corpse, glittering to indicate there was loot to be claimed. Laios cheered along with the bombastic fanfare; he heard Falin whoop from her room next door.

“Well done, newbies,” Senshi laughed. His beard brushed against his microphone, a strangely comforting sound. “You had me worried for a second!”

“Why? It’s just a game,” Laios said, clueless. “I’d just respawn, wouldn’t I?”

“Well, for one thing, I don’t think our characters like dying very much,” Chilchuck said flatly. He’d dropped character, knowing that the night was drawing to a close.

“That, and it’s a huge hassle to run all the way from the start of the instance to come get your corpse,” Marcille huffed. “We’d have to wait for you to come back so you wouldn’t miss experience or loot… and Senshi has to log off in thirty minutes.”

“Gotta prep for the breakfast rush,” he said with grim resignation.

Laios briefly tabbed out to check his system clock. “At two in the morning?”

“Three here, son. I got to get the croissants rolled before five so they’re in the oven by five thirty, or the kids who come here to mooch off my wifi will buy something more than the cheapest coffee I have.”

“Oh.” Laios scratched his cheek. “Well, uh, have a good day at work?”

Senshi laughed, raspy and warm. “Someone’s never worked food service. Take care, everyone.” He accepted his share of the loot, giving away anything that couldn’t be crafted into a meal, and blinked out of the instance. When they emerged from the dungeon, he was long gone.

“I think I’m calling it here, too,” said Marcille. “Great work, you two. Until our next adventure!”

Her character bowed, and she too faded away.

I think this is a good stopping point, Falin typed. Laios smirked. “Oh yeah, I bet.”

>:( Don’t stay up too late, big brother! You have an exam in the morning.

Laios rolled his eyes, but he typed the emote shortcut to wave her off. Falin logged out. All that remained of his guild at this ungodly hour was Chilchuck, his character sat on the ground, likely checking the stats on the loot he’d acquired. He didn’t back out of the call; Laios could hear a long, whistling inhale, a holding of breath, and a satisfied exhale. He’d already lit up his post-raid cigarette.

“Well, uh, sorry for that,” Laios laughed. His chair squeaked as he shifted around in it. “I’m used to games where you can just run in and start pummeling the bad guys.”

Another long inhale. “What kind of games do you play? Call of Duty?”

“Ew, no,” Laios said, nose wrinkled. “I like Monster Hunter.”

Chilchuck snorted.

“What? Not good enough for you?”

“Can’t say it’s my kind of game, no,” Chilchuck said. There was a hint of a smile in his voice. “I know a girl that plays it. She loves it. But I guess I like more of a storyline in mine.”

“Ooh. Do you play JRPGs? Final Fantasy?”

Chilchuck barked out a laugh. “Final Fantasy was never my style either. I guess I prefer those old ones based on Dungeons and Dragons. That’s why I gravitated to this game.”

Laios sat his character down next to Chilchuck, loathe to log off but too tired to tackle his solo quests.

“Stuff like Divinity and Baldur’s Gate, then?”

“Yeah, Baldur’s Gate, that’s the one.” Chilchuck sounded a little brighter on the line. “So you’ve got some taste, eh?”

“Never played it.”

“Ah.” Chilchuck took another drag. “Elder Scrolls?”

“I played Skyrim,” Laios said. Chilchuck sniffed.

“Of course,” he grumbled. “Morrowind? Oblivion?”

“I always wanted Oblivion, but my mom wouldn’t let me buy it. Witchcraft.”

“That’s a shame,” Chilchuck hummed. “It’s good. A bitch to get running on modern machines, but I think it holds up.”

“How long have you been gaming?” Laios asked.

“Since the  late eighties, early nineties.” Laios gasped, and Chilchuck laughed it off. The sound made Laios buzz. “Yeah, yeah, I’m old, get it out of your system.”

“That’s so cool! You’re into retro stuff?”

“I guess that’s what the stuff I grew up with counts as now,” Chilchuck sighed. “I heard someone call Aerosmith an ‘oldie’ and almost had a cardiac event.”

“You are old, then.”

“Yep. But I also got to play Fallout when it first came out. That ending was nuts. I’m glad I didn’t get spoiled for it.”

“The old, isometric Fallout games? You like those? I like Fallout.”

“Yeah. I’m guessing you played Fallout 3?”

“Shooting people’s heads off in VATS is fun,” Laios said giddily.

“Sure it is,” Chilchuck drawled, and Laios had the sinking feeling he’d given the wrong answer. “New Vegas?”

“I was never into cowboys,” Laios admitted. “Never tried it.”

Chilchuck clicked his tongue. “God. I got some things to teach you.”

Laios sat ramrod straight in his chair.

“I’d—I’d like that,” he sputtered, before he could second-guess it. There was a long pause as Chilchuck polished off the last of his cigarette, a distorted shuffling sound as he moved to stamp out the butt.

“Yeah?” Chilchuck’s voice was low and warm, the hiss of his terrible mic like the soft noise of a record player. “I guess I could dig around in my boxes and rip a few CDs for you. For the sake of education.”

Laios was no stranger to wrestling with his rig to play older games. He had a PSX emulator for Monster Rancher that he’d managed to get to read discs properly, and some old PC simulator games that they just didn’t make anymore. Yet still:

“Could you—help me set them up? On call? Sometime?”

“I don’t see why not,” Chilchuck said. “I got nothing better to do.”

[cabinette]

Fortress Meshi..... I've left some ranting under the cut

LAIOS Well of course he's a demoknight what did you expect. talking sword, can see ghosts- ish ? messes around with a weird book that, well, didn't take his eye but DOES give him a lot of insight on monster cooking. would also just be funny if instead of his eye we just see his monster for every halloween

MARCILLE it was up in the air for me whether to make her a medic or a demo, but in the end she's the party's attack mage- her healing isn't as effective as falins but its good and quick! Also the 11 PHDs thing is funny when applied to her. medschool dropout....

CHILCHUCK He's a professional. he's a sharpshooter. he's got standards. He would totally live in a campervan and piss in jars. it's SO obvious it's like a fish in water just LOOK AT HIM

SENSHI honestly I don't really want to bind Senshi to the specifics of Pyro but it aligns for the most part, such as seeing most of the cast as itty bitty cherubs who must be taken care of- or the axe and the article of clothing that just seems to never come off. He's got a little soldier sprinkled in there but thats just mostly for the bread MISCELLANEOUS Falin is a medic and she got autobalanced and is currently being made to follow tfclassic (dungeon) orders white the rest of the crew have yet to get her! maybe hopped up on australium.... Izutsumi is a dysfunctional scout. Thistle is merasmus- given that he's a wizard yes but they also both have white men messing around in their houses, Thistle could also possibly be a rogue pauling but it's in the air atm until i settle my thoughts WL is admin or maybe a very fucked up version of her idk man. spaghetti at the wall

[fittsythesnail]

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[robin-evry]

Maybe you could do Dungeon Meshi with Eda like reader? With all curse and rebellion stuff? Though, I do feel like they would hide their curse due to all shame they felt and when they tell the truth they would tell everyone that they "would understand if they want to leave them behind"

OMG, finally a dungeon meshi request. Ask and you shall receive, this eda is before eda makes peace with the owl beast.

𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐃𝐀!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 🦉🪄

Eda is known as the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. But due to her rebellious nature, she is pretty much an outcast/criminal who has a great number of enemies. Eda makes a living selling human treasures at the markets, and sometimes homemade elixirs and potions. She also happens to be a collector, as she keeps most of her human treasures at home.

( English is not my first language)

The island holds many interesting and powerful individuals. But there was always an elf sorcerer that had usually been talked about around the island.

The elf sorcerer is known for being one of the most powerful mages in the island as well the number one most wanted criminal there.

Even tho eda!reader is a merchant, they travel towards the dungeon for their free time, collecting ancient scrolls to find a cure for their curse, sell or to collect They are able to decipher the ancient text in the dungeon.

During one of these expeditions they met laois party, the party ambushed by a party of monsters and eda!reader save them. As a thank you they offer them some food from the monster

Originally eda!reader was weirded out by this food, but they started to enjoy it.

Eda!reader is also a user of ancient magic much more proficient than marcille, due to exploring the dungeon they manage to enhance their proficient in the magic.

They often give marcille some advice on ancient magic and how to get away with it, hiding the evidence.

Chilchuck originally doesn't trust eda!reader, due to some rumors heard about them, I mean they're the island number one criminal and are hanging out and what if they continue hanging out with them to steal their stuff and leave them stranded.

Even tho most characters look down on Laois, eda!reader can see right through him. Even tho he looks like an idiot as well a weak warrior. Laois is not someone that should be looked down upon. He's very powerful and they respect him for that.

They usually discuss monsters with him and are surprised at his knowledge about them, as well as learning about his sister. Eda!reader said they will try their best to help them if they do have a time of need or they will assist them in their journey as much as they can.

Senshi is by far one of the chilliest people that they ever come across usually people would warn others if they come across them or they will try to arrest them to get the bounty under their head, but no he's just talking to them as if they are just a normal person.

Marcille and chilchuck are by far the most worried about eda!yuu at the beginning, they are a criminal and at the mean time both of them started to warm up to them but never let their guard down.

As for izutsumi, they see eda!reader slyness is not a reason to trust them as well for their sarcastic humor. But there are still some moments of vulnerable moments between. Izutsumi is by far the first person to know about their curse.

By far they keep the secret of their curse hidden from the party. Until one day and they forgot to drink the elixir medicine and turn into their owl beast form.

Originally, the party was unaware about this and was fighting the monster, izutsumi realized that the monster has the same scent as them and asked the team to stop attacking and retreat for sometime.

She explained that the monster was them and they needed to find a way to wake them up. After a lot of brain scrolling they managed to turn eda!reader back to normal.

When they woke up, they thought laois or the party would be disappointed by them. But instead Laois looked at them with admiration saying how cool their beast form was. While the other party doesn't mind as long they are okay and they took their elixir medicine dayle

By seeing this they manage to give an idea towards the party how to save fallin. And Soon eda!reader will start to join their journey more often.

[curioussesame]

curiosity anon fic masterpost

curiosity kills

Chilaios, Rated E, 12k words, smut with feelings Laios jerks off every night during his partols, and Chilchuck pretends his doesn't know. Until, that is, Laios gets curious about whether Chilchuck does the same, and everything spirals out of his control.

A Tangled Path (But All Roads Lead to Us)

Chilaios, Rated E, 35k, marriage of convenience Two years ago, Laios hired Chilchuck for an unconventional job: to travel home with him and his sister so they didn't have to face their parents alone. Two years later, as their party hunts down ancient-elf treasure hidden in a cave, Chilchuck is still dealing with the monumental decision he made on that trip (and the very annoying feelings he has for the man who changed his life.)

Curse Bearer / Curse Breaker

Chilaios, Rated E, 33k words (unfinished), arranged marriage Beyond that door, his husband was chained and muzzled, completely naked, waiting for Chilchuck to consummate the marriage with him. Hardly traditional, but those were the precautions the Toudens felt necessary. They also insisted on the room being kept in complete darkness—they were afraid he’d turn and run if he so much as looked at him. Chilchuck is not a coward. He's going to fuck the monster.

good dogs get dirty

Mickuro, Rated E, 3k words, porn without plot After washing up at the baths together, Kuro is so fluffy and clean that Mickbell can't resist cuddling with him, perhaps a bit more affectionately than usual. When he realizes the effect this has on his companion, he immediately knows that he wants to see this through all the way, he just needs to convince Kuro that's a a good idea (and that he's not too small to take him).

Dungeon Cravings

Chilaios, Rated T, 1k words, fluff and humor Chilchuck is pregnant with Laios's child, and he starts to crave something they ate while in the dungeon together. Of all the things it could have been though... why that?

kept safe

Chilbell, Rated E, 2k words, ambiguous relationship When their parties are attacked, Chilchuck takes Mickbell and hides him to keep him safe. They can still hear the carnage outside, though, and in the cramped dark, he can feel every shiver and hear every whimper from the terror-stricken half-foot laying under him. He acts without thinking, just wanting to comfort Mickbell (and maybe also himself.)

Assumptions Made

Chilaios, Rated E, 9k words, resolved sexual tension Laios turns himself into a half-foot, and whether or not it's an accident, the change it stirs in their relationship definitely isn't.

On Command

Chilaios, Rated E, 2k words, porn without plot Chilchuck had always been a bit of a masochist, but it was hard to trust other partners with that knowledge. With Laios, though, he had the perfect balance of blood-lust and dog-like obedience. He wanted to bite, but he’d only do it on command.

a loving captor

Chilaios, Rated E, 4k words, kidnapping role-play Reality settles over him, cold and damp, like the omen of fog just before dawn. He’s been kidnapped. Bound and laid bare upon a bed. Blindfolded, so he can’t see who’s done this to him or where they’ve taken him. (Chilchuck and Laios play out a fantasy, and Chilchuck falls deep into immersion.)

straddling the gap

Mickuro, Rated E, 2k words, gender exploration Mickbell realizes something about himself. Kuro loves her, unyieldingly.

Pay for It

Chilaios, Rated E, 14k words, sex work/past trauma Chilchuck is done with that life, but it still haunts him. He hopes he can keep his ghosts hidden from Laios.

sweet like honeysuckle

Chilaios, Rated E, 3k words, macro/micro The party is split up, Chilchuck has been turned into a tiny fairy, and Laios is the only one there to look after him. Soon enough, they discover the shrunken size and the wings aren't the only changes that have taken place, and once Laios has a taste of him, he can't stop until they're both completely spent.

loyal dogs have no owners

Mickuro, Rated E, 4k words (unfinished), changelings Mickbell and Kuro leave their party behind after learning that they planned to use Mickbell as monster bait, and somehow wake up in changed bodies. Mickbell is now a kobold, and Kuro a tall-man. Some things change and some things stay the same, and Mickbell isn't sure if their relationship will be in the former or latter category.

Deep-Crimson Desire

Chilaios, Rated E, 3k words, fisting Laios and Chilchuck learn a lot about each other, that night. Especially about Laios's body and how much it can take.

Master's Monster

Chilaios, Rated E, 6k words (unfinished), Frankenstein AU Laios has not been awake very long, but he knows a few things already. He knows the short man with the big ears and the gray-streaked auburn hair is his Master, and he knows that he would do anything for his Master.

Let's Try Something New

Chilaios, Rated E, 2k words (unfinished), Kinktober A collection of short fics where Chilchuck and Laios try new things together, from petplay to footjobs to threesomes.

keep me here

Chilaios, Rated E, 8k words (unfinished), modern setting Fanfic of a fanfic for "what keeps you here" by avoidcrow and BucksBasement

Unclean

Laishuro, Rated E, 5k words, unhappy ending Shuro asks Laios for his sister's hand in marriage, while naked, in a bath with the other man.

[chuckeroo777]

Laios got Eaten AU Chapter 86-Finale

Chapters 1-52, Chapters 53-85

Welcome back! It's time to bring this to a close! Expect the chapter format to break down once we get into it!

As always, a spoiler warning for pretty much all of Dungeon Meshi. Let's go!

Chapter 86:

The first bit is mostly the same, except since the pearlipede isn't a weapon, there is no seppuku scare.

Flamela, as usual, has no chill. While she knows Falin isn't to blame, everything is still majorly f***ed. She starts blabbing about what needs to be done now, filling in the hole, evacuating everyone, preparing a substitute lord...

A substitute lord. Falin grows very quiet, a vacant look in her eyes. Marcille knows it all too well. Falin is thinking hard about something.

After a long pause, Falin looks to Marcille. There is an almost frightening intensity in her gaze. An intensity Marcille has only seen once before.

Falin declares that she knows how to stop the Demon for good. She must become lord of the dungeon.

Everyone immediately freaks out. This is clearly an awful idea, and Falin is failing to elaborate.

Before they can get Falin to explain herself, the Demon makes itself known in it's giant form. The raw intensity of Falin's desire has it intrigued.

Falin doesn't say another word as the lion grabs the tower and swallows it whole, the rest of the party completely freaking out.

Chapter 87:

Identical

Chapter 88:

Once they arrive in the bone zone, Falin goes to approach the lion, but Marcille stops her. What exactly is she planning?

Falin takes a deep breath, before wavering, and then grabs Marcille in a tight embrace. Falin begs Marcille and the other's forgiveness for what she is about to do.

Falin kisses Marcille on the lips. Marcille is left stunned for a few seconds too long, and Falin runs off before she can stop her.

Realizing that Falin is about to sacrifice herself, everyone runs after her, but it is too late. Falin stands before the Demon, and states her desire.

"Make me the Lord of the Dungeon. However it has to happen, I desire the power to keep everyone safe from you. Forever."

They watch in horror as the Demon wraps its wings around her, and they both vanish from sight.

Chapter 89:

The demon's pocket dimension starts to shake. The bones begin to swirl and collapse. As the party is dragged under, they catch a brief glimpse of a massive figure rising from the bones. A familiar face, now sporting five hourglass eyes.

Marcille and the others fall into the water. They panic as they are helped up by Namari and the others. Falin did... something. And isn't coming back.

The original chapter structure breaks down completely here.

Nobody is given a chance to process this news, as the dungeon suddenly starts shifting again. Whole swaths are pulled back underground, and the hole in the ceiling begins to seal back up. The dungeon is reverting into it's previous form.

Many of the groups get separated in the panic, and people are dispersed across the dungeon.

Once things settle down a little, Marcille, Senshi, Chilchuck, and Izutsumi find themselves in the fifth level, back in the castle town, on the street were the red dragon fell.

Marcille breaks down into tears, the totality of what has happened finally sinking in. Senshi and Chilchuck have no idea what to say, but do their best to comfort her. Even Izutsumi reluctantly offers a hug.

After a little while, Chilchuck suggests that they should probably start heading for the surface. It shouldn't be too hard, since by sheer luck (or perhaps the dungeon's will), their bags and equipment ended up with them here.

As they awkwardly prepare to leave, they are interrupted by the sound of wings. The Laigon swoops down, and lands in front of them.

There is a moment of panic, but then they realize that the chimera isn't attacking. Laios is so happy to see his friends again, though, he is a little confused. His memories under Thistle's control are hazy, and his vocal cords are malformed, making it tricky for him to talk much.

Marcille and the others are overjoyed that Laios is alright, though the reunion is definitely bittersweet. Laios is devastated to learn that Falin sacrificed herself. But ultimately, they all need to keep going, to honor her memory.

They begin to make their way up the dungeon. Laios is excited to finally be able to assess his new body in his right mind. The dragon's soul is still there in full force, but it's controllable, just like when Laios was first revived. He only wishes his sister was here to see him finally fulfill his dream.

The dungeon is oddly calm, with the monsters keeping to themselves, and there being more fountains and food (Such as patches of Barometz and mandrakes) to be found.

As they progress, they run across more people. They meet up with Toshiro, Namari, Kabru, and Thistle on the third floor, and Laios is quick to apologize for his actions. Kabru immediately throws Thistle under the bus, pointing out that it's him who should be apologizing.

Thistle does not apologize.

After a few days travel, they make their way to the first floor. It is much bigger and more spacious than before. Everyone has met up here to discuss what happens next. Laios sits by the well to conserve his strength. He probably won't be able to leave the dungeon in his current form.

They meet up with Pattadol and get the scoop. It seems that not only has this dungeon calmed down, but dungeons across the world are calming down too. Where normally dungeons try to fan the desires of their inhabitants, the dungeons have all become oddly passive.

Marcille is about to willingly let herself be arrested by the canaries, when there is sudden another rumble. The big well at the center of the plaza begins to bubble, and a shocking figure emerges from the water.

It is Falin, in her full blown demon form.

She has eschewed the lion imagery, instead taking on the form of a terrifying yet elegant centipede woman. Her face is mostly the same, but with three additional eyes peeking out from her messy bangs, all five wide with infinity pupils. Her body is long and serpentine, with dozens of arms lining the sides. Layered golden robes complete the look. She is nearly 20 feet long, and that's only the portion sticking out of the fountain.

Before even figuring out what the hell is going on, Marcille and Laios rush forward and tearfully embrace Falin. Everyone else is understandably shocked and confused, but Falin begins to explain what happened.

When she became lord, she fused with the demon. As an nonliving creature, its will became subsumed by hers. She feared that its one true instinct, the desire to feed on desires, would overwhelm her, and she initially planned to sequester herself away from the world. However, she soon discovered a solution.

Auto-cannibalism.

Yeah, turns out she could just consume her own desire to eat desires, allowing her to assume full control of her new infinite form without the demon's corrupting influence.

(Author's note: Initially, I was struggling to figure out the ending, since a Golbetty solution was the only one I could think of. But then I realized, why does that have to be a downer ending. If I want a happy ending, I can just... do it. Plus, if auto-cannibalism isn't a peak Dungeon Meshi solution, I don't know what is.)

Falin wants to keep her use of her infinite power at a minimum, but there are a few things she definitely wants to do. First, she makes sure everyone who was affected by Marcille's reign is healed up.

Next, with Laios' help to guide her hand, she modifies his chimera form so he can live comfortably on the surface. The wings have to go, and he is made considerably smaller, more resembling a draconic centaur.

She then begins the process of ejecting the golden country from the dungeon. Once Yaad is returned to his body, he ends up being made the leader of the restored nation. The orcs are of course allowed in, and it eventually becomes a prosperous nation.

After determining that he is only capable of very rudimentary magic without his book, The elves release Thistle into the kingdom's custody a few years later. Thistle never reunites with Delgal, but at least his people are happy. He proceeds to be the grumpy court mage.

Chilchuck moves to Kahka Brud and opens a shop. He eventually reunites with his wife with Marcille's help, and the two reconcile.

Senshi returns to living in the dungeon. It is now mostly just level 6 and 7, though Falin creates plenty of caves and spaces for biodiversity to proliferate. Senshi primarily lives in the new first floor, tending the golems. He is able to massively expand his operation, becoming Melini and Kahka Brud's primary provider of cabbage and root vegetables.

Falin proposes that with her new powers, she could seperate Izutsumi's components safely. But after giving it a good hard think over a few weeks, Izutsumi realizes... she doesn't actually want that. The only reason she ever wanted that was because people treated her as an unnatural freak. And after hanging out with people who respect her for what she is, she no longer wants to give up what makes her 'her'. She ends up living around Melini, mostly squatting with her friends and hunting monsters with Laios. She does end up finding the dark mage who created her, and gets him put away for life.

While Demon Falin is a kindhearted soul, there is one instance the canaries noticed where she was extremely uncooperative. When attempting to arrest Marcille for her dungeon lord shenanigans, Falin kept changing the subject, and getting progressively more annoyed. They ultimately decide to let her have Marcille, not wanting to piss off the young goddess.

Kabru ends up becoming the governor of the dungeon, keeping track of coming and goings, making sure everyone explores safely, and generally making sure things run smoothly. Mithrun ends up retiring from the canaries and decides to work with Kabru.

Toshiro returns to the east, but he periodically still comes back to visit Falin and his friends. After a few more years of dungeoneering, Namari ends up opening an armor and weapons store.

While his home is in the dungeon, Laios ends up working for Yaad and the kingdom, using his knowledge and chimera strength to hunt down dangerous monsters spotted around the kingdom.

Falin is restricted to the dungeon, but she doesn't mind as long as all her friends are able to visit. She ends up being revered as the new deity of Melini. While she mostly doesn't want to use her powers willy nilly, she is always happy to heal those who ask. Plus, she is present in all the remaining ancient dungeons, ensuring they all remain stable and safe for those wishing to explore them.

Marcille of course lives in the dungeon with Falin, and continues to study magic, particularly of the ancient variety. She makes all sorts of useful discoveries over the years, and comes to be rather famous, despite her criminal past. Eventually, Falin ends up making Marcille a chimera so that Falin, Marcille, and Laios can be together for a very long time. Plus, Marcille and Falin have all sorts of real freaky sex.

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.

Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed my silly little AU. I hope you enjoyed this crazy finale, even if it's 90% wish fulfillment on my part.

Till next time!

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 24

I like this little detail on the title image where the dragon's talons dig slightly into the stone.

I noticed Marcille biting her lip in this panel and had to check if this is a nervous tic of hers.

I didn't find any panels with enough detail to tell if that's what she's doing, but I did find several panels where her lip quivers when she's nervous or distressed.

And of note, I found that she grits her teeth a lot during her fight with the undine when she cast spells. She's definitely biting her lip in the second panel here.

I'm surprised Senshi is okay with Laios using his cooking utensils to bang on his pot.

Dragons use their tongues as an igniter to make flame. I guess the process to make fire breath is something like

regurgitate fuel

ignite with tongue

let fire build up in mouth

spit

I will not idly stand by and let them get away with this Namari slander!

She never said adamant can block all dragon attacks. She said it could block their fangs. She never once talked about dragon fire. And she also burned herself killing that undine by keeping the pot over the fire. The others just didn't listen to her.

This is an actual technique that can slightly improve your ability to see at a distance.

If I remember correctly, by putting your fingers to your eye like this, the light hitting your eye becomes more concentrated and it lets you focus your vision better. It's the same thing your iris does.

Although you'd have to curl up your finger until the hole is barely there to get any noticeable effect.

Where are Marcille's pants?

Oh, right. Her outfit got coated in frog blood at the end of chapter 21.

Honestly, the plan wasn't bad. The dragon is just tougher than they thought. Maybe if that corridor had fallen in larger chunks or had more weight, it would have succeeded.

"It really is just a monster" is a dark callback. Back in chapter 14, Laios warned Senshi against thinking Anne was friendly and sure enough, she tried to kill Senshi the first moment she got.

At that point, Kensuke had previously reacted to the Treasure Insects and Laios assumed it was warning and helping him. But really, it was just acting out of self-preservation.

Now that I think about it, Kensuke would hold a very unique position within a normal Living Armor colony. As the sword, it doesn't actually have any role with moving the body. But when it detected Treasure Insects, it reached out to connect to Laios's hand. So maybe Kensuke's job within the colony was to detect threats and transmit signals to the colony's sword arm that it needs to begin swinging.

As an extra note, every Living Armor kept their swords unsheathed, meaning the sword would normally be connected to the colony at all times.

Kensuke fleeing from Laios's grip is strong evidence to me that individual Living Armors operate similarly to how the cells of The Thing do. Kensuke wants to flee from the fight but its "colony" isn't moving so it opts to abandon the "colony" to save itself.

In it's mind, Kensuke is probably shouting "We need to run! We need to run!" to a colony that isn't there, and it not getting any feedback that the colony is moving has made it conclude that the colony is dead or heavily damaged so it has to save itself.

The dragon was about to breathe fire but stopped when the party ran under it's body. Noticeably, it slammed it's mouth shut when it stopped. Since fire needs oxygen to burn, the dragon probably can just smother the fire it's producing by closing its mouth and cutting off airflow. This would also mean the dragon's jaw is airtight.

Every character Chilchuck is using requires you to draw a circle. Gotta wonder what cursive in that language looks like.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, somewhere along the way this whole fight turned into a comedy of errors. Laios lost his sword, Senshi's axe is broken, the party is running around under the dragon trying to not get squished, and the only thing that has actually been effective was stabbing the dragon in the toe with a cutting knife.

It's turned into your typical D&D final battle.

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