#but if laios (one of the mcs) isn't the most heavily autistic coded guy I've ever seen in fiction I'll eat my hat. i don't say this lightly

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

okay I started reading Dungeon Meshi the other day only because I liked those character sheets. it's good and fun so far, I'm on chapter 37 and very invested. I thought it was gonna be just slice of life (because it was for like the first 20 chapters or so), but now there is a plot, and I like it both ways. it has kind of a slow start even for the slice of life stuff: not like it's bad, I was just unsure whether it was going to move past "enjoyable" for the first couple chapters. but then it went from enjoyable to deeply charming and now it's gone to exciting while still pretty darn charming. without knowing the author, I can confidently say she's a giant nerd. this is a work that would be impossible to create unless you were a person who is great at drawing with intense special interests in classic fantasy RPGs and biology/ecology. which sounds very specific but thank goodness because that's what makes it good. it feels like it comes from a place of love.