#I really like the “We're the bad guys' enemy” line. For someone I generally despise Dazai has all my favourite lines in this show…

[sskk-manifesto]

(´･ᴗ･ ` )

#I really like the “We're the bad guys' enemy” line. For someone I generally despise Dazai has all my favourite lines in this show… #Idk I can't really vibe with the unbalance that there is between s/kk. #Like when push comes to shove‚ Dazai has the power to keep Chuuya alive or let him die. #I understand why they make a compelling dynamic in their complexity‚ but it just doesn't do it for me. #I'm a little sad my opinion on them hasn't really changed since I watched the anime for the first time... #Also; I really can't vibe with Chuuya allowing Dazai to kill Q. Yes I know Chuuya cares about his comrades deeply. #Yes I know it can be interpreted as Chuuya seeing himself in Q as a living weapon and being disgusted by it #(though I honestly don't think that was intentional of the author). #Yes I know Chuuya is a mafioso and kills people. No I don't think your personal issues justify you being a dick to other people I'm sorry. #Back to my main annoyance with the episode: I must have already talked about this but I hate hate hate the narrative #“the mafia works for the city” “the mafia deeply loves the city too” it's so so sickening and insulting please stop I'm begging. #Please visit any actual city with a rooted mafia presence for once in your life (signed: someone whose hometown was destroyed by the mafia. #The writers really don't know what they're talking about and‚ politely‚ it's offensive.) #Also b/sd keeping being extremely nationalist with Mori (who's largely depicted unsimphatetically for the first part of the episode)– #bringing up western thinkers and subtly mocking Fukuzawa for not knowing them– #and Fukuzawa (the righteous man. the noble spirit and just soul in this episode and Mori's antithesis)– #stepping forward to say that he knows strategists from the east (because who else would he need?) #I don't know if it's meant to symbolize the conflict with an hostile and invading foreign power (the Guild). #But it does come across as. A very isolationist way of thinking. #I know it's subtle but it's really evident for me. And I didn't want to talk about this any further… #But by bringing actual examples of this I hope I can better explain why I think that b/sd holds nationalist views– #and that I'm not just making it up out of nowhere. Otherwise I fear I'd only come off as pettily hostile to b/sd in everything #That's it. I feel like I've been losing a lot of mutuals over my main recently due to not shutting up (sorry) #so I suppose it's only fair I lose them on here too pffttt. #Tune in next week for more bad takes #random rambles

[whyrubuyingclothesatthesoupstore]

Keiji and Shin. What's so fascinating about their relationship.

kay so. keisou.

*explodes*

I have so many thoughts about them that I cannot possibly conjure up all of them on command, I definitely missed something sorry

In canon they are. They are foils they are rivals they are two sides of the same coin they are everything to me. They're invested in ruining each other's day to an unhealthy degree ("I don't think I've ever hated someone so much" *literally anything Shin said to Keiji*) and despise each other even though it's established pretty early on that they're really similar. But throughout the game we get small glimpses of what they could've been like as allies (Shin briefly mentioning Keiji was in the secret room with him in 1-2, implying that Shin showed it to him first; "Just my detective intuition""Pretty persuasive"; these lines specifically I cannot get over cause like. they seem so uncharacteristically friendly) and I think it's safe to say that if literally anything about their situation was different they could've ended up getting along. There's also definitely a lot of hidden regret when it comes to the ways they've hurt one another, even if it might just be because they regret being the way they are in general and not necessarily out of personal attachment (but I think it is both. and that is what matters)

My ideal dynamic for them would be some kind of post-logic scenario where a year or two after the death game they're not only both alive but also still in each other's lives. I feel like I should end it here because this is enough of an unrealistic fantasy already but I'm adding more. I wanna see them attempting to navigate a situation where they don't have to view each other as potential threats and be prepared to attempt a murder any second, and it would also be interesting to see how they'd interact when the guilt of everything and the disdain they have for each other isn't as overwhelming but still very present. tired conversations in the middle of the night about whether they deserve happiness and if it even matters anymore, playing video games together, trying to mix coffee with an energy drink, you know the usual. also I wanna see Keiji having a "'I can fix him' says man who is worse" mentality towards Shin, he seems like the kind of guy that gives out life advice and doesn't follow it. I also like the potential of Shin having completely one-sided feelings for Keiji in the death game, because Shin tries to get Keiji's attention a lot more and shows way more enjoyment in getting reactions out of him than Keiji does, and it can be interpreted as Keiji just genuinely not caring about Shin at all.

I like the everything about tgem. But seriously I like the way they jump from enemies to allies every five seconds, from "It's your turn to die, Sou" to "We're your allies. Try trusting us.. Sou" to "I'll kill every one of you that killed Kanna" to "It's different now" to "He can't die like this! I need to-" and the many many ways they parallel and contrast each other, especially how they achieve what the other couldn't

For Keiji, Shin would be everything he dislikes about himself, an "adult with bad intentions" taking advantage of a kid to further his goals. But in a way, in 2-2 Shin ends up kind of outgrowing that and trying to sacrifice himself for that kid, so you could say he becomes everything Keiji wants to be, or doesn't think he deserves to be. For Shin it's the reverse, Keiji would be the ideal he strives towards and later comes to despise, a strong person not only willing, but capable of doing anything to survive. While Keiji would view Shin as a threat and a liability and logic Shin would see Keiji as a cold-blooded murderer, I think there would have also been some genuine attachment buried under 30 layers of guilt and spite, considering how many times they've ended up fighting on the same side and gotten close to at least somewhat reconciling before things inevitably went south and they ended up seeing each other's worst qualities.

Favorite canon interaction: I made a line-by-line analysis of the "It's different now" scene you don't need an answer to that question

Okay, as for the many many situations I'd like to put them in: I wanna see them come up with a plan together. I don't really care what it would be for, I just want to see them trying to work together. I wanna see them using the same tactics they've used against each other to achieve a common goal. I wanna see a team-up between the two people that were constantly trying to one-up each other in how much convoluted schemes they could pull off. If these two tried to scheme together the game would either end right then and there or drag on for another 20 hours and honestly either option is beautiful. also I think it would be fun to see how they'd negotiate a token trade in 2-1, and what kind of circumstances they'd have to be in to even consider trading with each other. I actually have a fic in the works about that one