beefy-fridgers
beefy fridgers
autistic, non-binary (they/she/he). just here to look at stuff i like :)
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In chapter 28, Marcille lays out why the journey she's been on has been worth the pain: because they were able to bring Falin back. The injuries, the indignity, and the mess of it all - they are tolerable primarily in context of destination she believes she's reached at this point.
In truth, of course, the story is far from finished. In fact, I would argue that this is actually where hers really starts. This scene holds the seed of the very thing the Winged Lion will exploit to lead Marcille to become the Lord of the Dungeon. After all, with a desire as far reaching and deeply held as Marcille's, if the only acceptable outcome is success, what other choice does she have but to bargain with the infinite?
So let's talk about this idea - where it leads her, how Laios' path intersects with it, and how they both help each other move forward in the face of failure.
First though, I want to step back and talk about something else: the shapeshifter chapters.
With these chapters recently covered by the anime, there has, of course, come plenty of fun discussions about which version of each character belongs which other character's perceptions, and what that means.
One thing I've seen pointed out a few times is the fact that both Laios and Marcille's impressions of each other are based around Falin. Marcille's version of Laios is larger and more masculine, because those are the traits that stuck out to her in contrast to Falin. Laios' version of Marcille was directly inspired by her appearance and demeanor when resurrecting Falin.
So why is this important to a discussion about Marcille being focused on success? Well, it shows us where Laios and Marcille's relationship starts: built primarily around their shared love for Falin. It's from that shared beginning that they begin to learn about each other on their own terms.
And this is true for the whole group, to be clear. They are united by circumstance - love for a lost companion, a sense of responsibility, a desire for freedom - but they all grow and help each other beyond that circumstance. They help Senshi bury the ghosts of his past and eat some Hippogriff stew. They help Izutsumi open up to mutual love and friendship. And they learn so much about each other: about Chilchuck's family and Laios' love of monsters and Marcille's desires to live life alongside others.
In the particular case of Marcille and Laios, understanding each other is what lets them save each other. It is not through Falin that Laios talks Marcille down from the edge the Lion has brought her to, nor is it through her that Marcille comforts Laios after the demon is defeated, when it is still unclear how everything will work out.
In fact, it is very specifically the unknown fate of Falin that Marcille comforts him about.
She is willing to accept the outcome - willing, now, to embrace the journey itself, rather than only accepting it as a means to an end.
This is a lesson she learns from Laios, and it's a lesson we watch Laios learn, too.
Just before making her deal with the Lion, Marcille recalls everything that led her to that moment. She lingers on the pain, recalling the worst of their journey:
She only pushes through by remembering her goals: saving Falin, and equalizing the lifespans of her friends to match her own.
And yet, 10 chapters later, when reflecting on why she actually wants to see her goals through, it is the good parts of that very same journey that shine through.
There's an inherent contradiction here, one which Marcille doesn't know how to face. How can the suffering that she tolerates also be the love that drives her forward? How can the loss that she's worked so hard to reverse also be the very circumstance that created a world she, now, cannot stand to give up?
And Laios confronts her with the truth. Because it just is.
Losing Falin forced him to open up to others in a way he never had. It forced him to choose what he cares about, and in making that choice, it gave him the opportunity to be seen. To connect with others.
He has already had to come to terms with the fact that Falin's death has given him something - he would not have been able to kill her again if he hadn't.
There is something here that is fundamental to Dungeon Meshi's understanding of what life even is. Like, I don't think it's a coincidence that part of Laios' speech to Marcille in chapter 85 is actually first seen in the chapter where they fight off ghosts.
In 'Sorbet,' while possessed , Laios thinks that it would have been better if the dragon had eaten him, instead of Falin. The ghosts make people lose their will to live - they are dragged away from life.
When he's pulled back from that brink, Laios realizes that he can't move forward without accepting that she is gone. He even compares the way he was holding on to her to being possessed: it pulled him away from life, from the present moment.
To carry on, he must accept what has been lost, and focus on protecting the life that they still have.
Like Marcille, he has to accept the contradictions of their journey. That life means eating, and eating requires death. That sometimes one must be selfish in order to be kind, and that selflessness can easily be twisted into to cruelty.
That loss will, inevitably, lead you to find happiness that you may not have found otherwise.
This is how he gets through to Marcille. And I think part of the reason he reaches her with these specific ideas is because those contradictions are baked so thoroughly into their relationship.
Marcille only met Falin after she had been left behind by Laios. Laios was able to reconnect with Falin because she left Marcille. They both met each other through Falin, and yet they only really got to know and care for one another after she died.
And of course, that's why Marcille uses the same ideas to comfort Laios, in the final chapter. It is because of Laios that she is able to accept the journey for itself, and not need the happy ending to justify its meaning to her.
Together, they help each other move forward, and accept that they may not be able to bring Falin back.
Which, if I'm being honest... I think this is the reason Falin can come back, narratively speaking, without the resurrection feeling like it takes away from the themes of the story.
After all, she doesn't do it for Marcille or Laios - she does it for her own sake. Her own hunger and her own desire to eat are the things that lead her back to life.
All three of them, together, end the story like this: not clinging to the things they are afraid to lose, but knowing they can choose to move forward together.
And, importantly, this happy ending is no longer the thing that gives the journey meaning. Rather, it is the privilege of the journey itself that is her happy ending: the chance to walk alongside others in the time they have, to get to know each other, and to eat well.
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i'm glad everyone else seems to like it but in all honesty i might be too autistic to enjoy the fallout show. every inconsistency with the series lore feels like a little pinch to my brain
#why is sinclair representing big mt??#why was shady sands moved 200 miles away?#what happened to the boneyard?#ghoul drugs????#why is the brotherhood unrecognizable?#fallout#fallout show#fallout on prime#ncr#brotherhood of steel#shady sands#new california republic
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you know he would have been one of Those kids
inspired by this pic:
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Absolutely love the mood whiplash at the end of today's Dungeon Meshi episode
Cuts IMMEDIATELY to:
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YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE 'WHAT' ZONE
happy episode 11!
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please tell us more about the earthsea - Emily Wilson iliad connections
ok so a while back @butchachilles and i were talking about the gorgeous maps in the front of emily wilson's odyssey and iliad translations:
(odyssey to the left iliad to the farthest right)
and we were like huh. these maps really resemble ursula k. le guin's earthsea map:
even in the fonts and the curves of the names, right? plus the idea of the land of the dead being somewhere far away at the edge of the world is very earthsea-esque. and we wondered if that was on purpose so i looked it up and i couldn't find anything about that specifically, but i did find this tweet by emily wilson:
which is just think is so incredible, especially considering that le guin herself was herself very familiar with the odyssey and the iliad and thought quite a bit about both of them. like there's something so beautiful in the idea that le guin read the iliad and the odyssey and may even have been influenced by them in writing about earthsea, and then emily wilson grew up reading about earthsea and was influenced by le guin's books when translating the odyssey and the iliad.
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my body absorbs the hater particles which assail me from all directions. at any time i could send them back out on a whim.... instead, i leave them to be dissolved by the purity of my heart.....
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nothin worse than taking a bite of ice cream n it taste kinda warm and foamy......
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my autistic sensory sensitivity is all about give and take.... it's true... clothes and stores and artificial light may wound my spirit.... and ues, my feelings are sometimes too big for my heart.... ans yet...... a single bite of yummy food with the right texture could rival any other earthly pleasure.... a breezy hour spent in the dappled shade of a tree could be mistaken for a dryad's kiss....
each day i ride this line of pleasure and pain which many others cannot feel.... so tell me.... is it i who am cursed by feeling too much? or my neurotypical brethren who cannot feel the hidden edges of god's creation.....
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just finished binge-reading dungeon meshi, and damn. ryoko kui is kind of a freak (compliment)
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Dungeon Meshi got me acting like Colin Robinson
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