#im also just not as into dunmeshi as i was like a year ago which is kinda sad :(

[caracoloco]

i was gonna do like a long thing with all of my thoughts and favorite interactions of labru but im back in school and also doing social service and barely have any time for myself so this is not getting finished lol. anyways here are some my labru thoughts which honestly is not anything that anyone hasnt said already lol

shit my mom just showed me a video of boneless wings im sooo hungry.

there's something about narrative foils that just makes my head explode sometimes bc it's like two characters whose fundamental flaws perfectly complement each other and therefore you can see how they both develop after interacting with each other and imo that very easily leads into them developing deep respect and affection (at least in the labru case, bc in other cases it can lead to vicious hatred which is also great for me).

so what i mean by this is that kabru is the opposite of laios in several aspects:

-laios is obsessed with monsters/ hates humans despite what he may think, on the contrary kabru is obsessed with people/ hates monsters. and the noticable thing is that they both have the same intensity but due to kabru's charisma it is not seen as repulsive unlike with laios. that leads to the next point.

-kabru has like op levels of charisma and the skills to manipulate people to always get what he wants, on the contrary laios does not understand others and constantly makes mistakes bc he assumes goodwill out of others or is just unable to read the room which in turn makes him public enemy #1.

-another thing which is not as pointed imo is that kabru has as much skill in human combat as laios has with monsters. in the story this is the very reason why kabru finds it necessary (despite his annoyance) to support him as he realizes he is the most capable of defeating the mad sorcerer. then on the sidelines kabru did a lot of work in preventing him from getting killed by other people who saw him as insane which allowed him to get that far in the first place.

-laios is a very honest person, being a terrible liar and always saying what he thinks even if it makes the situation worse (like when he was trying to comfort senshi in the griffin chapter). again, opposite to that kabru constantly lies and carefully chooses his words to best fit the situation (and the person he is talking to) even if it is not a high-stakes situation. the one person who i'd say he is the most honest to is rin but even then i don't think he is the most vulnerable even with her.

-other not as relevant point which i noticed is that laios is actually really tidy compared to kabru. when you look at their rooms in the adventurer's bible laios has a lot more organization than kabru whose room looks like my room on bad week. that combined with the fact that the bar owner cleans the room for him makes me think that kabru is a lot less self sufficient than he appears, unlike laios that was living pretty alright since the return of his sister.

So i think those are their main parallels that stem from their central character trait of being obsessed with humans/monsters. which is interesting bc when kabru was first introduced he looked like the idealized version of a party leader with all of the traits laios lacked, but as the manga develops you realize that they really are two sides of the same coin and their interests are what makes them grow into very different people. (well their interests and their traumas/upbringing)

moving on to the story. the most interesting part in my opinion is the way that kabru's relationship and feelings towards laios go from interest to hatred to respect to friendship.

<not finished>

#whatever lol it just wasn't gonna happen #but if any of my mutuals want to talk labru in dms I'm down #im also just not as into dunmeshi as i was like a year ago which is kinda sad :( #still love it very much. my mind is just focused on other things right now #like what the hell am i gonna do with my life once i graduate a year from now

[olberic]

ranking books ive read in 2023:

i actually read this year!!! so im ranking books (and their series) too :-) no gifs for this one because. yknow. theyre books. also im not including manga bc ive only read one this year and its dunmeshi and it would take first place. easy as.

6. the guncle (steven rowley, 2021)

brief summary: the book is about a man who lost his partner some years back, and is now known as the “guncle” (gay uncle) to his niece and nephew, who he takes care of for a few weeks while their mother is on vacation.

i was gifted this book as a joke gift last year, as the title’s like a syllable off from an in-joke in my friend group, but i decided to give it a read anyway. its the first modern, non-fantasy, non-scifi story ive read/watched/played in YEARS. not a whole lot stuck with me, as it’s simply not my genre of story, but it was very sweet.

5. the worst journey in the world (apsley cherry-garrard, 1924)

brief summary: an account written by cherry-garrard 11 years after his return from scott’s antarctic expedition. the author was primarily involved in the months-long task of retrieving emperor penguin eggs for study, and the journey to and from this point are what he calls the worst journey in the world.

ive discovered this year that antarctica fascinates me. everything about it from its landscapes to ecology to how to survive there is incredible to me. i decided to pick up the cherry-garrard book as a first-hand account of it, and its truly worth it to learn from someone who was there back in 1911 what it was actually like (without being focused on the race to the south pole). cherry-garrard has a very interesting writing style that really helps to flesh out what the experience was like, and the sheer amount of first hand sources he took from his fellow expedition members gives it a really rounded view. like anything from back then theres a few things that aged super poorly, but as a source of information i really enjoyed it.

4. project hail mary (andy weir, 2021)

brief summary: a man wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there, but with the ship failing around him.

my dad read this book in 2 days (unheard of for him) and immediately handed me his copy. i read it in a day. the author’s writing style is very entertaining, and while it’s a bit too quippy for my tastes, the actual story and how its paced had me glued to it. great use of real-world physics in a scifi story, which is what really stood out to me.

3. the priory of the orange tree (samantha shannon, 2019)

brief summary: on one half of the world, a spy-turned-lady in waiting gets close with the queen who’s the descendant of the one who sealed away the dragons centuries ago. on the other half of the world, a young woman tries to become selected to become a dragon-rider.

i learned after reading this book that apparently its one of those booktok ones… i picked it up on a whim last year when the cover caught my attention, and decided to read it while i was on a work trip earlier this year. i really enjoyed it! there were a lot of twists and turns in the story, but none of them felt like they were there just to surprise you. the POV characters had such different views about a lot of things that it was interesting to piece together the real story despite their biases. the romance was nicely developed, and the ending of the book felt natural and satisfying. all i can really ask for in a book of this size

2. the wax and wayne series (brandon sanderson, 2011-2022)

brief summary: (spoilers for the mistborn series) this four-book series takes place over a century from the end of the mistborn series. the magic system, allomancy, exists in tandem with the industrial age. the main character is a lawman from the equivalent of the wild west who’s returned to lead his family house in the city after his uncle’s death, and has to navigate new social norms with how much he doesnt want to be here.

the magic and industrial fusion of this series is amazing. sanderson has always been meticulous about creating and maintaining the rules of his magic systems, and allomancy is incredibly well done. the whole “wild west lawman moves to the city” story isnt something i’ve ever loved, but these books do a decent job of it, and it comes across as more anti-nobility than just colonialist. the mysteries in this series are attention-grabbing, and the supporting characters get good development too (even if it takes a few books for it to pay off). im doing a character-specific shoutout to steris, who i am so very fond of despite how underrated she is in the first few books.

1. the mistborn trilogy (brandon sanderson, 2006-2008)

brief summary: the world is divided into the elite class that can use allomancy, and the skaa, an enslaved class which can not. the main character finds out she’s one of two known skaa who are considered mistborn — people who can use all allomantic powers, instead of just one. she gets dragged into a resistance cell planning to take down the leader of the [NAME], the all-powerful lord emperor, despite their low, low odds of success.

i just love brandon sanderson’s work, but man this series is incredible. its fascinating to see the main character develop along with the story. she makes mistakes and shes deeply flawed and doesnt know herself at times but the impact she has on the world and the way the world changes her in return are just so so well written. the allomancy system is so well developed, as is sanderson’s modus operandi, and it’s so thrillingly used that it feels like im practically there. incredibly immersive. the twists and the lore reveals always fit perfectly into place while still surprising me. the world of scadriel is detailed and so easily pictured despite its bleakness, and as things change in the world through the series its difficult to look away from. 10/10

#t #im not tagging these except for the one series ive seen on here #cosmere