Narinder Is Helpful

Yes

Things I want to See Before Camp Camp Ends:

Davids Mum.

Possibly a flashback of his dad or a photograph or something.

Seeing Harrisons Brother! ! !

Daniel getting a good ending even though he’s a villain. Maybe him and Jen live happily in antartica etc!

David adopting Max.

Max’s parents.

Davids house/apartment!!! And him showing Max to his room :,)

Gwen getting her dream job, but being a camp coucillor as a side job for the summer maybe.

Niel getting the confidence to ask someone out and they actually become a couple this time.

Max smiling. Maybe crying (plot twist) tears of joy!!

Nikki and Niel becoming stepsiblings.

The Woodscouts getting more recruits/ gaining popularity again because they need more love.

A Flowerscouts and Woodscouts parents day. If not, aleast letting us see some of their parents.

Nerris and Harrison becoming closer! Platonic or in a crush kinda way, I dig either one.

On that note, Harrisons parents actually caring for him.

Dolph selling his first painting!

A flashforward to what the campers/scouts are doing when they are older. Would David still be a councillor?

David becoming the new owner of the camp after Cameron Campbell!

this is my new favorite genre of images

here’s more, you gremlins.

Sometimes a family is a scientist afraid of spiders and his spider-like son

#me identifique #me ataque #estoy en este post y no me gusta

Represention of Autistic Frustration in Laios Dungeon Meshi

Like many other autistic people, I related strongly to Laios Touden while reading Dungeon Meshi. This post isn't going to spend time disputing whether he displays autistic traits or not—while I could do that, I want to focus on why specifically his portrayal struck a chord with me in a way the writing of most other autistic-coded characters has not.

Disclaimer: as the above suggests, this post is strongly informed by my own experiences as an autistic person, as well as the experiences of my neurodivergent friends with whom I have spoken about this subject. I want to clarify that in no way am I asserting my personal experience to be some Universal Autistic Experience. This post is about why Laios' character feels distinct and significant to me in regard to autistic representation, and while I'm at it, I do feel that I have interesting things to say about autistic representation in media generally. This also got a bit long, so I'm sticking it under a read more. Spoilers for up to the end of chapter 88 below.

The thing that stands out most to me in regard to Laios' characterisation is the open anger he displays when someone points out his inability to read other people. This comes up prominently in his interactions with "Shuro" (Toshiro Nakamoto):

The frustration pictured above (Laios continuing to physically tussle with Toshiro, using crude language toward him) becomes even more notable when you remember that this is Laios, who, outside of these interactions, is not easily fazed and often exists as a lighthearted contrast to the rest of the cast. Then we get to Laios' nightmare.

In Falin's words: "Nightmares love emotional wounds. Wounds you hold in your heart. Things that give you stress, or things that were traumatic for you. They aggravate memories like that and cause the dreamer to have terrible dreams." (chapter 42, page 10.) (damn. i'm properly citing for this post and everything.)

Thus, Laios' nightmare establishes an important fact: even if he is unable to recognise social blunders while he's making them, he's at least subconsciously aware that other people operate on a different wavelength to him, and that he's an outsider in many of his social circles (both past and present). His dream-father's disparaging words stress the impact this has had upon his ability to live up to the expectations set out for him, and we also get a panel of kids who smirk at him (presumably former bullies to some degree). Toshiro's appearance only hammers home how much Laios is still both humiliated and angered by his misunderstanding of their relationship.

I've thought a lot about anger as concomitant to the autistic experience. When autistic representation portrays ostracization, it's generally from an angle of the autistic character being upset at how conforming to neurotypical norms doesn't come easily to them; as a result, they express a desire to 'get better' at meeting neurotypical standards, a desire to become more 'normal' (whether the writing implies this is a good thing or not). In contrast, not once does Laios go, "I need to perform better in my social interactions, and try to care less about monsters, because that's what other people find weird." His frustration is directed outward rather than inward, and as a result, it's the people around him who are framed as nonsensical.

The Winged Lion starts delineating Laios' anger, and Laios' reaction is to think to himself, "It can sense all my thoughts, huh?" (chapter 88, page 16.) This is the scene that really resonated with me. I'm not saying I have never felt the desire to conform to neurotypical norms that is borne from insecurity, but primarily, I know that I don't want to work toward becoming 'normal'—I don't want to change myself for people who follow rules I find nonsensical. It's the difference between, "Oh god, why can't I get it," and, "WHY CAN'T YOU GET IT?" (phrasing here courtesy of my friend Miles @dogwoodbite). And for me personally, Dungeon Meshi is the first time I've seen this frustration and the resultant voluntary isolation from other people portrayed in media so candidly. Laios' anger is not downplayed or written to be easily palatable, either.

The culmination of Laios' frustrations in this scene wherein we learn that Laios has fantasised about "a pack of monsters attacking a village" drives home just how alienated he really feels. I need not go into his wish to become a monster himself, redolent of how many autistic people identify/have identified with non-humans to some degree as a result of a percieved disconnect from society (when I was younger, I wanted to be a robot. I still kind of do.)

Obviously, wishing death upon other people is a weighty thing, but the unfiltered nature of this page is what deeply resonated with me. The Winged Lion is laying Laios' deepest and most transgressive desires bare, and they are desires that are a product of lifelong ostracization by others (whether intentional or unintentional). This is the brand of anger I'm familiar with, and that my neurodivergent friends express being familiar with, but that I haven't seen portrayed in writing so explicitly before—in fact, it surprised me because most well-meaning autistic representation I've experienced veers toward infantilisation in trying make the autistic character's struggles easy for neurotypicals to sympathise with.

Let's also not neglect the symbolism inherent to Laios' daydream. "A pack of monsters attacking a village". Functionally, monsters are Laios' special interest—he percieves everything first and foremost through his passion for monsters. His daydream of monsters attacking—killing—humans, is fundamentally a daydream of the world he understands (monsters) overthrowing the world that is so illogical to him, that has repeatedly shunned him (other people). I joked to my friends that it's an autistic power fantasy, and it actually sort of is. And in it, his identity is aligned with that of the monsters, while his anger manifests in a palpable dissociation from the rest of humanity. This is one manga page. It's brief. It's also very, very raw to me. I think about it often.

To conclude, I love Laios Dungeon Meshi. This portrayal of open frustration in an autistic character meant a lot to me, and I hope I've sufficiently outlined why. Also, feel free to recommend media with autistic representation in the notes if you've read this far—I would really like to see if there is more of this nature. Thank you for reading. I'm very tired and should probably sleep now.

i think you all should infodump about your ocs to me

"if lamb, angry goat nari, happy dog ????" said my friend and well here I come back from death to bring something nice because I like the concept

A good boi narinder reviving a goat full of anger and thirst for revenge

cw eldritch cat/ lots of eyes/blood (?

sorry for the long post btw

I added this one just because lol

I really thought i could finish these in 2 week when i barely have free time lmao

spanish ver. of the last drawing and references⬇⬇⬇

references ⬇⬇⬇

I’m at a hotel and Camp Camp is in the show selection. Very few eps are but still AWESOME!

I don't like to show my sketchbook, BUT

So, I just watched the recent episode of Camp Camp...

Bit of spoiler here if you haven't seen it, but I want to get my feelings out while I still got the "finished the episode" feeling.

I just want to appreciate that entire fucking episode. As in, not only the art and the music, which were both steller by the way. I fucking loved the star moment, and the music during it all that turned from calm to almost horror like with the wolf.

But also that in the entire episode, David knew what the fuck he was doing. Sure, shit like the wolf and the bees were unexpected, but I seriously doubt that any of the kids, or even Gwen could possibly figure out the way to survive real-world. Cambell gets a pass because of last season, but seriously, anyone else would've freaked the fuck out or would've probably solved their problem through some weird hyjinks.

But David? From the moment he left the river he followed it back while before climbing the mountain. When he got chased by the bees and escaped, he sat his ass down and pulled out everything he could've needed at the moment. He knew what flowers to get to treat his stings, tried to start a fire and then made a shelter when it started raining. Even the wolf moment? God that made me so sad, so heart broken to think that David had to kill a creature and hear his currdling screams. But then, THEN, we see him and the wolf safe, wounds healing, around a cozy little home that David built, with water and fire and a little doggo house and everything! David KNEW how to survive, LEARNED how to survive, and for all the moments we've been told David was such a camp boy, that he was the nature guy, I don't think I've been more proud to see it all than in this episode.

I'm not saying that no other character couldn't have survived it. They would probably find a way to. But I'm saying that I don't think there would be a more justified person surviving those goddamn woods like a champ like David.