Put Me Down,

Happy new year 2022 🌱

phrasing of this is taking me out

I hate that SEPTember OCTOber NOVember and DECember aren’t the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months.

Darling, if your love was a storm, I would still dance in the rain.

-hurricanes and downpours and us

Me after One Piece 906

I seem to have fallen out of love with reading and I don't know how to get back into it. I want to support all these new creators coming into the fandom but I just; Don't have the energy to engage in something new, even when it's fanfic so I already know the source material and can hit the ground running. I still write and update my WIPs, but that makes me feel even worse for not reading others story's as I know how important comments are for motivation. How can I fall back in love with reading?

First of all: hugs. Take a deep breath in. Hold it. Let it out. 

You don’t have to do everything. 

Life is busy. Life is stressful. There’s a lot of stuff going on and that’s all a lot to deal with. If you don’t have the energy to read fic right now, then don’t read fic. I’m at a point where I’m dipping back into fandoms I read literally twenty years ago because that’s what my brain can handle right now. I’ve accepted that, and I’m giving myself what I need. 

Reading takes energy, just like writing does. Commenting takes energy too. All of it requires focus and concentration and mental processing power that you might or might not have a lot of. 

It’s not that you’ve fallen out of love with reading. It’s that your brain can’t handle new information right now. It might be a good idea to unplug a bit, if you can. Step back from social media. Ignore the news for a week. Reconnect with yourself and the people around you without thinking about everyone online or out in the world. If you’ve been stretching yourself too thin, take some time to contract again. 

The other day, I redid a stress inventory that I did when I was working full time while in graduate school and buying my first home. I’ve got more stress now than I had then - and that’s saying something! But when you look at that list and you think about the world we live in currently, you can see how much we’re all going through. 

Forgive yourself for not being able to do what you used to be able to do. Rethink what your “normal” is. Your best is going to be different on any given day because some days are better than others. You’ll get back to reading again when you have the energy for it, so do what you can to take care of yourself and get some of your energy back. ❤

 | мυттer | ¼ ⭐️

I've seen pieces from this extra comic before, but never read the full thing until today. And holy shit does it hammer home just how much the story is about class.

Multiple times, when food comes up in this comic, it’s also in context of money:

I've seen this last panel on the right brought up before in context of like, dungeon meshi's relationship with fat and eating, but in the full context of the comic it really hits how much adventuring directly consumes bodies for money.

As much as this has been part of the story the whole time, showcased as early chapters 19 and 20...

It never fully hit me before how often adventuring comes down to having no other way to make money but to throw yourself into death repeatedly. To be used, whether it’s by individual selfish people (like the resurrection group that is happy to try and get Kabru's group to kill each other to get extra gold from them in chapter 32), or by the greater cog of the Dungeon Economy in general.

Which, to be clear, is all too often how things work in the real world, too. So many jobs burn through the health and lives of workers. Dungeon Meshi just makes it literal in a new way: by making the healing and resurrection, a core part to the adventuring loop, directly use fat, muscle, and energy from the body being healed.

Imagine Amazon, but if you got injured at work, they could literally burn up some of your body to get you back to working sooner. And that was seen as an advantage of the job.

And then you have Laios, thinking about eating monsters:

Not just because he likes monsters a lot. But because it would help. He says something similar in the actual manga too, during the chapter discussing his dream with the Winged Lion

Laios wants to be able to make a home for Falin. He wants to give her a place where she never has to eat alone. And when he gets a party, he wants to give them a way to eat well. And when he runs a country, well…

He wants to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.

Food is political. Food ties into class, and money. What is deemed "proper" to eat, what is a luxury, what is crass… so much of it comes down to money.

Being judged for eating what's available, when what is “proper” isn't affordable, is already a thing that happens. People forced into work that consumes their energy is already a thing that happens.

Dungeon Meshi has a lot of fantastical elements, but boy is its examination of food and class very real.

Yeahh, the second part of the Sore Feet Song is… interesting. Anyway, I’m never again looking up anatomy pictures of rats! But I’m really happy with how this drawing turned out, so I guess it was worth it :)

Kid pirates at Pride parade

Kid´s your local drag queen

he´s the kind of guy that you see in the train on your way that just looks more fab than anyone else you´ve ever seen

his wig styling game is on another level and you have given up trying to figure out how the fuck he walks with those boots

also he´s too buff to get jumped

cue drag queen protection squad

him and his crew will literally start a fight with homophobes and transphobes and curbstomp them

they literally act as bodyguards for other drag queens and accompany them to the toilet so they´re safe and nothing bad happens

Killer is the guy who throws around condoms like candy

preaching safe sex to everyone

also makes sure (especially Kid) drinks and eats enough, has all the snacks and water

also will not hesitate to elbow any disgusting gropers

they always mysteriously vanish into the night

Kid is an activist for queer youth protection so he always shows up with his ´my sexuality is not your fetish´ sign 

okay but they all sing along the songs so fucking loud and yes they know every single word (and also keep up with new queer music)

their bold presence helps kids who are there for the first time ease up and feel like they belong

actually Heat is super kind (duh) and will go to the closeted kids and first timers and just talk to them

telling them about his experience, giving them advice

sigh, he´s such a sweetheart

meanwhile Wire will start a fight with literally anyone who looks at them the wrong way

literally any kid that comes along their way he´ll just go up to and be like: there´s nothing wrong with you, no matter what society tells you