sugawaranderland

[sugawaranderland]

I am here to set the record straight ''

Without Ango the world of BSD would have ended a long time ago.

He literally carries the manga on his back, without him half the characters you love would be dead already.

(Chuuya, Dazai, Ayatsuji, Kyouka, Atsushi, Whole fucking Japan (Dead Apple))

He's the Swiss army knife of the story, the key to the narrative

He's the only guy who has a link with all the organizations and introduced them to us (Mimic, Order of the Clock Tower, The 7th Agency, Decays of Angels)

I don't understand people who say that Ango will die, the death of Chuuya makes more sense but a world without Ango would collapse.

(I'm not even exaggerating)

Every time there's a plot hole, guess who appears?

If we don't know what piece of the chess board he's playing it's because HE IS the board !

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oh my god. this is so well-written. i have a lot of readings but i chose to dive into this.

hello! can I ask you to talk about Fukuzawa? I know he doesn't have that much screen time, so do it only if you want to ;D

Hello!

Sorry for the wait!

I have talked a little bit about him in these three metas from which I will be quoting the relevant parts:

Fukuzawa is a mentor/father figure for the members of the agency and basically adopts Kyoka on the spot. Let’s highlight that his ability is perfect for a father figure since it works by firstly accepting a person as a member of a group (a “family”) and then by letting this person gain a major control on their gift. Let’s add that to be accepted a person must show to hold some ideals and that the control given changes from individual to individual. These conditions describe the agency pretty well. All in all the agency is a place where different people sharing a desire to help others meet and are given the chance to be themselves.

Fukuzawa’s ability which supports instead of controlling takes the place of the phone and gives Kyoka the chance to grow.

And let’s not forget that Fukuzawa’s ability lets the members of the agency gain more control over their powers. Moreover, this control is not something they develop consciously, but it is the result of Fukuzawa giving them what they need. In short, It is some kind of unconscious security net. We have seen that Kyouka was given independency and Atsushi more control. It would be interesting if Yosano were given a condition which would limit the use of her powers to when the situation is desperate.

Ranpo and Fukuzawa’s relationship perfectly expresses Fukuzawa’s personality and what his ability is about. As a matter of fact he basically did to Ranpo what his ability usually does to gifted members of the agency. He found a way to limit and so to “humanize” a part of Ranpo the boy probably regretted having. Fukuzawa gave him some breathing space, so that Ranpo could become better adjusted.

At the same time, this solution can only be temporary and the members of the Agency will one day have to face their abilities alone once again. Ranpo is in the process of currently doing so and in this way he is already ahead of his comrades.

All these excerpts are rather repetitive and highlight one of the major reasons why Fukuzawa is in the series (point 1)). If I had to say the major points of Fukuzawa’s character so far, I would say there are two.

1) He is the parental figure of the members of the ADA.

2) He is there to be a foil to Mori, so that their two philosophies can be compared.

Keep reading

#no regrets

[sugawaranderland]

Grey and Gray Morality in Bungou Stray Dogs

I could (and probably will, when I get round to it) talk a lot about BSD, and its strong, diverse characters.

Sure, the overarching plot is somewhat episodic and aimless. Big Bad Organisations get thrown at the Armed Detective Agency constantly, and the whole point of it all is pretty vague (we know there’s this powerful “book” and Atsushi is somehow very important to obtaining said item, and that’s about it), to the point that it’s difficult to tell where we’re headed. However, I’d argue this is much less of a problem than it sounds. BSD is less concerned with what is happening and how Dazai’s master plot will inevitably allow the ADA to pull through, and instead focuses its attention on the building of nuanced characters, and powerful interactions between them all. The main plot isn’t so much the source of interest, as a means to force characters into various harsh situations, and develop interactions with each other.

What interests me the most about BSD is the effect of more meetings, conflicts, temporary alliances – as these characters grow more tangled together, both in the present and past. Gradually, we see what was initially presented as quite a clear distinction between the Good Guys and the Bad gradually becoming muddied and complicated. It gets personal. What appears a conflict of black and white morality between the Agency and the Port Mafia becomes a sliding scale of grey.

As we are introduced to the workings of Yokohama, we are presented with three major forces ruling over the city: the government, the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency. There is a sort of tense balance between the three, and it is explained later that they all allow each other to operate (so long as they stay in their respective lanes) in order to maintain order on all levels, from the legal surface, to the much darker underground. In a broad sense, these forces, and their roles in the plot are all about pragmatism to keep the peace. This is what results in the Agency and Port Mafia joining forces against the Guild, who threatened to disturb the order, and were thereby an equal threat to both.

However, characters from all sides have methods that range from self-serving (such as Rampo’s unpredictable tendency to solve cases and do ‘good’ as it suits him), to morally questionable. A particularly memorable example is Tanizaki using Light Snow to crash a passing truck into the path of Steinbeck and Lovecraft. The fate of the driver, an innocent bystander is unknown; he could’ve survived, or he might’ve been killed. Tanizaki’s moral judgement is clouded by his immediate fear for Naomi and desire for vengeance against Steinbeck. The conflict evolves from moral and practical to a personal one.

All-grey conflict, though, isn’t purely defined by the protagonists using ambiguous methods to beat their opponents, or having some selfish motivations besides the overall moral and pragmatic purpose of the Agency. In fact, I’d personally argue the latter is simply an aspect of creating a rounded character. Instead, it is opposing sides having a mixture of individuals to varying degrees of good and evil, all having justifiable reasons for fighting the others. Whether, on a grand scale, one side is morally above the other, on a personal level, we can understand, and even sympathise with individuals from both. In BSD’s case, the Detective Agency certainly has the moral high ground over the Mafia, but neither is wholly good, or completely evil. The same applies beyond the central Agency/Mafia conflict to enemies from outside. Take the members of the Guild, where the likes of Steinbeck and Hawthorne don’t necessarily agree with Fitzgerald’s ultimately selfish goals, or his leadership. But when Fitz (almost inevitably) falls for rocking the boat in Yokohama, Steinbeck reforms a group himself from those left behind and Hawthorne just finds himself among Dostoyevsky’s rats, yet another group trying to upset the balance.

The Beast novel did a really good job of demonstrating how the only thing that designates Atsushi and Akutagawa’s respective places in the ADA/Mafia conflict is circumstance. A terrible chain of events led to Odasaku’s untimely death, which triggered Dazai leaving the Mafia to join the Agency. The fact that this “switch” was even feasible is testament to the murky morality in this story working for good. In Odasaku’s words, he left the side that killed, and is now on “the side that saves people”…usually. The series carries an interesting commentary on how the idealistic idea of ‘justice’ as the ultimate good is flawed, and justice as we know it is a “weapon” to harm that “can’t save anyone” (but that’s a whole different post there). Atsushi just so happens to meet Dazai after this shift, while Akutagawa is unfortunate enough to have encountered him before.

Atsushi’s immediate, violent hatred of his counterpart is understandable; upon their first meeting, Akutagawa is perfectly willing to slaughter the Tanizaki siblings in order to capture Atsushi for profit. We learn fairly quickly that he is also the man controlling Kyouka’s ability, forcing her to use it for murder. In every respect, Atsushi is a perfectly sympathetic protagonist. Not necessarily correct in every way, but sympathetic regardless. Equally, though, we can sympathise with Akutagawa’s vengeful hate of Dazai, given how the latter abused him and moulded him into a death machine only a couple of years prior. Dazai, in the past at the very least, was a despicable person, to the point that, once we first see this side of him (in whatever iteration), it seems impossible to separate him from it, particularly when people he directly impacted are so close. It’s not right, in any stretch, how Akutagawa projects his negative experiences onto Atsushi in the way he does, but it’s incredibly understandable why he does. It was literally impossible for him to gain Dazai’s approval in the past, due to his superior’s amoral state of mind, and yet Atsushi seems to have received what he wanted so badly, relatively instantaneously.

But, at the same time, we learn that Dazai’s amoral, Machiavellian traits were carefully engineered by Mori since he was a child. Kyouka’s ‘evil’ actions stem from Akutagawa (and Kouyou, probably), who was manufactured by Dazai, who was manufactured by Mori, and so on. Chuuya, knowing now that he was literally created in a lab somewhere, is a perfect metaphor for engineered evil. The kid had no choice in the matter and seems to have been passed from one bad set of hands to another ever since. Even Mori has reasons for making the choices he does – although on the scale of grey morality, he’s veering towards just plain black.

Another strong metaphor, for the apparent necessity of a grey-er morality in this world, is the tenuous cooperation between Atsushi and Akutagawa – Shin Soukoku. Dazai acts as a mentor-figure for Atsushi, though it’s important to keep in mind that, all the time, he has been foreseeing, even crafting the partnership between these two. The pair are foils to each other, remarkably similar in many ways, but also existing in contrast (this is even made visually obvious in their excellent character design). In terms of the spectrum of morality, Atsushi sits closer to white, the good, while Akutagawa is markedly closer to black, or evil. The coming together of the two, then, is presented as potentially unstoppable, more powerful than any duo that came before them. Dazai perches perfectly on the fine line, and the pair he engineers is, likewise, that ruthlessly effective. Not another Double Black, in truth, but a pragmatic shade of grey.

[sugawaranderland]

kazuscara drabble

the balladeer knew about this world's deepest secret. teyvat's sky is a lie. a gigantic hoax. the stars don't exist, they're all but a mere facade created by celestia.

"you can't change the alignment of the stars."

this phrase should not even faze him. it's theoretically inaccurate. he knew that the stars do not exist, and therefore should not be a basis of one's existence. but the fact that those exact words came from the pained voice of his one true love, a wandering samurai by the name of kaedehara kazuha, made him question the truth that his highness the tsaritsa had fought hard to unravel.

"do you really believe in that bullshit?" the fatui harbinger asks with a scornful tone. "the stars are all but an illusion, i've told you that before." he has always admired how his lover is able to create such metrical poems, but this is the one poem he's not prepared to hear. he's about to break my heart in the most poetic way.

a gentle smile is the only thing that kazuha is able to offer to scara's obvious anger.

"my love, the stars may not exist, but fate and destinies do."

the stars are not enough reasons for the harbinger to be convinced. but when it comes to destiny, that's a concept he cannot touch.

#OH WOW #i just picked up writing again #the power of kazuscara #they have me on a #chokehold #inspired by a quote i saw on tiktok #you cant change the alignment of the stars #and oh boy #i immediately thought of scara's fake sky statement #anyways #i hope i can ACTUALLY finish this #kazuscara #genshin #genshin impact #drabble #oneshot

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kiyoyachi I drew yesterday but couldn’t finish orz

[sugawaranderland]

happy birthday venti 06.16.21

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venti day!! 🎶

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I wish the quest with Albedo lasted a bit longer 

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ms paint kazuha 🍁

[sugawaranderland]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Haikyuu!! Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi Characters: Sawamura Daichi, Sugawara Koushi Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Music, Inspired by Music, Alternate Universe - Music, soulmates and symphonies, daisuga - Freeform, Haikyuu - Freeform

#haikyuu #daisuga #daichi sawamura #sugawara koushi #hq #haikyuu ao3 #daisuga exchange 2021 #soulmate au #rylwrites!!

[sugawaranderland]

goodbye kiss

[sugawaranderland]

★ 【Sakon04】 「 Chilumi 」 ☆ ⊳ childe / lumine (genshin impact) ✔ redistribution permitted (2.5.21) ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[sugawaranderland]

“You leave me no choice… fatui..” “If its by your hands… Haha.. I don’t mind.”

[sugawaranderland]

★ 【hiyocchin】 [ 1 / 2 ] ☆ ⊳ childe / lumine (genshin impact) ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[sugawaranderland]

i'm at chilumi brainrot atm

chilumi mononoke AU

[do not repost or remove this caption]

[sugawaranderland]

hey, @quetzalonvacation! my response to you couldn't really fit in the comments section, so i hope this will suffice.

i understand, your opinion is completely valid! i get that ugetsu is not really the most likeable character - he's a flawed one. but i think what makes people like him is because of the hurt and pain he's going through. a lot of people seem to feel a certain sympathy - well, in ugetsu's case - empathy. what ugetsu needs is empathy above sympathy, for you really need to dig deeper to understand him on a certain level.

though we haven't really gotten a specific explanation from him, sometimes, all you really need to feel is a certain type of connection to actually understand what a character is going through.

i also get that ugetsu is not everyone's cup of tea. he's a rather complex character, and like what i said on a previous comment, not too theatrical where anything feels forced. that's just how he is. he's interesting, that he is. and i think he sparks the most beautiful yet tragic emotions and relationships - just what mafuyu needs to yet again, craft another musical masterpiece.

his relationship with akihiko is quite complicated. like they're two powerful forces - they know how much suffering one causes to the other and vice versa, but still willingly cling to one another. they're two sides of a coin where you can't really pick a side, for you know how they're both beautifully impaired.

i have only seen the anime and the movie (probably a hundred times at that, given is in my top animes), so i'm not sure if i'm in any way qualified to answer on behalf of everyone who loves him, and why we actually love him. but based on a few posts that i saw floating around, i think he'll go through some major character development that hopefully, we get to see in future episodes. plus, i've seen enough in the show to say that he deserves just as much appreciation.

i hope i was able to clear everything up! ugetsu still deserves so much love. i hope you're having a great day!

(also, for anyone else who sees this post and loves ugetsu just as much as i do, you may feel free to add on here some reasons on why!)

How can anyone hate on Ugetsu when he’s also clearly hurting just like everyone else? He knows he needed to let go of Akihiko sooner or later, but ends up clinging to him more. At the end, it was Akihiko who finally ended things.

I really hope he finds someone who can make him happy. He deserves all the good things in the world.

#given #given anime #given movie #ugetsu #ugetsu murata

[sugawaranderland]

Kuroo: [is shirtless]

Kenma: Why are you shirtless?

Kuroo, seductively: Why do you think?

Kenma: ... Because you're poor?

Kuroo: