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yuri-puppies · 15 days

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Shape-shifters, face-blindness, and "paying attention to others"

The shapeshifter is one of my favourite "monster of the week" episodes because it showcases how differently Laios processes social information than the rest of the party. It reminds me a lot of the strategies I, faceblind name-forgetter and eye-contact avoider, use to recognize people and learn things about them.

We see Laios clearly fail at recognizing the doubles through "standard" social cues that are perceived as "easy to tell", such as their clothes. This makes the team (unfairly, but understandably) weary of his ability to tell the fakes apart and even worried that he'd prefer the monster versions* over them. Nonetheless, he gives it a try!

...And is immediately overwhelmed. His lack of attention to social cues works a bit in his favor, though, as it makes it harder for him to fall for stereotypes that fool the rest of the group.

Instead, he chooses to rely on his strengths and use his investigation and animal handling skills to distract the shapeshifters, lure out the monster, and roll the most insane balls-to-the-wall intimidation check of all time.

If it had ended there it still would have been a great episode that showcases Laios' strategic mind and his strengths as a leader. He doesn't have the social skills necessary for the task, but he is clever and creative enough to use the skills he does have proficiency in to solve the problem*.

However, what makes this episode so dear and near to my faceblind heart is the revelation that Laios was able to recognize the real party members after all.

Laios is fantastic representation of how special interests actually work for a monotropic interest system. Having a special interest is not just about how much you like it and the need to know everything about it, it's a way of processing and filtering information. Laios' special interest is monsters: his skills as a dungeoneer and party leader are acquired for and informed by his desire to interact with monsters, as is his interest in eating them. He actually brings this up himself when comparing his interest in cooking to Senshi's.

And in this episode, we see that this also extends to his friends. Laios hacks one of the most difficult types of information for him to process by routing it through the lens of the special interest. And, because it's not something most people would notice, it works. He knows that Chilchuck wouldn't let his guard down around a potential mimic, that Senshi values a balanced ecosystem, that (my favourite) Marcille just isn't as thoughtful about monsters as he is.

It might not be what was expected, but it did the trick! And what's more, the narrative validates his way of thinking (even if Chilchuck doesn't).

#*i'm keeping this post anime-only friendly so i won't elaborate #but it's interesting on re-read the tensions that are being set up in this episode. idk if i would call it foreshadowing exactly but...#(the information about monotropism is just from wikipedia. i'm not super well-versed but i'm hoping to be able to do some reading on it soo #because laios really is such a fantastic example)#dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #laios touden #laios dungeon meshi #chilchuk tims #marcille donato #senshi of izganda

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marshmallow-rain · 2 years

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An Introduction

It sort of dawned on me that I'm yet to do anything with this blog, so I'll go ahead and introduce myself.

If you want a shorter way to call me than my URL, Rea is the way to go. Any relevant information about me is and will be on my blog description. To elaborate, I use she/her pronouns, Spanish is my mother language while English is my second one, I consider myself someone in the aromantic/asexual spectrum, I'm 22 years old by the time I am making this post.

I'm mostly into anime, manga or any similar pieces of media. I also like games, though nowadays I only play Cookie Run: Kingdom, Obey Me! and Twisted Wonderland. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll be happy to talk about any of those.

As for what I do, I am a fanfiction writer (mostly reader inserts). Well, I used to be, I haven't written anything in a while, but I'd like to change that. I do get brainrots every now and then, and that (plus gushing about every new media I stumble across) is this blog's reason of existence - so I can use it as my personal infodumbster.

Just to be clear, this is not a writing blog in the sense that taking requests is not what I'll be doing, my creativity is the most inconsistent thing I know and I won't be able to keep up with writing this or that scenario or this or that headcanon.

Let's see... I'm not particularly interested in making smut or NSFW content of that kind. I don't have any reason to make this an "adult" blog, and yet at the same there's no reason for me to keep it kid-friendly. I do have a certain affinity towards dark topics, but I might end up making another blog specifically for that purpose, who knows?

For now, I'll make an effort to keep things properly tagged, so I better not see complains about swearing in a post tagged as "#cw: profanity". This goes for adults as well. Avoid content you know you don't want to consume or it's potentially harmful for you, I cannot stress this enough. I'm here not to parent anyone, but to live my best life as a weirdo.

I will be making a masterlist. Eventually. Maybe. I don't know.

Anyway, nice to meet you all. Have a nice day.

#i was like 'i should make something with that blog'#then i realized i didn't even like introduced myself or anything #my teachers that made me do introductions would be disappointed #but it's their fault for giving me that unnecessary trauma #just kidding #or not #cookie run: kingdom #obey me!#shall we date? obey me!#twisted wonderland #twst #disney tw #crk #om

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