#Parallel Agency

[swordsonnet]

three specific kinds of terror, jacob geller / working for the knife, mitski / the magnus archives, ep. 92 "nothing beside remains"

#i'm soooooo normal about the theme of choice and how a lack of agency is terrifying but free will is perhaps an even greater burden #web weaving #parallels #quotes #jacob geller #mitski #working for the knife #tma #the magnus archives #magnuspod #mag 92

[raining-its-pouring]

Commiseration.

#rain world #rain world downpour #rain world spoilers #looks to the moon #rw lttm #rw saint #saint rain world #look into my eyes. the parallels #‘is this about how Moon had little to no agency throughout the timeline and must rely on other creatures making decisions’ #‘or is it about the cycle itself and how it presents itself in a meta sense - these two being unable to escape this point in time’ #why not both.

[imminent-danger-came]

So, this parallel, right.

That parallel and the 4x11 shadowpeach fight as a whole:

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" Sun Wukong: "You're not in this mess, you're still free! Everything I did was for us!" Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become like this, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone! He just does whatever he wants! You put yourself here, not me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

A large part of Wukong's motivation to keep getting more power was the freedom of it—the more power you have the easier it is to do whatever you want. It's easier to ignore everyone else and focus solely on yourself. It's also easier to ensure yourself and your loved one's are protected and have the ability to do what they want.

So, a punishment where the great Monkey King is imprisoned and trapped for hundreds of years? It's effective and tragic and fitting. Wukong wanted to have the freedom to protect the people he cared about, and in trying to reach for the power to do that, he completely had his freedom removed. He went from the mountain, to then the circlet, and then all of a sudden he had morals and was bound to those.

And then I think about his end of s3 choice to go face the Lady Bone Demon alone. Once again Wukong was trying to protect his loved ones (not to mention the whole reason he went after the Samadhi fire to begin with was to have the power, the freedom to stop LBD (which in itself is another case of SWK believing he needed to be stronger for such freedom)), but he also wanted to make sure MK and himself both had agency. He didn't want MK to have to fight LBD, and he didn't want LBD to end the world.

This is exactly the sentiment he tells Macaque in the 4x11 flashback:

Sun Wukong: "It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

But where does it all lead him?

To possession, imprisonment. Once again Wukong no longer had the freedom to do what he wanted (which is to protect the people he cares about). Once again in his attempts to help his loved one's, he only hurt them.

This can be applied to his relationship with Macaque, to MK in s2, hell, even Wukong trying to get the map in the first place left him powerless, which then led to him and the gang being imprisoned in 3x02. It's a familiar pattern, one we see with antagonist and protagonist alike.

MK in s2 trained to become more powerful, which in the end only strengthened LBD and forced him and his friends on the run. Mei in 3x12 protects MK by letting herself get captured and placed into LBD's crystal. Mei in 4x05 goes to protect MK, breaking her sword and leaving her vulnerable to being captured by Kui Mulang ("How am I supposed to protect everyone without my sword?"). DBK reached for more power and then became possessed by LBD, hurting his wife and son. Azure reached for the Jade Emperor's power and bound himself to that role, jeopardizing Peng and Yellowtusk in the process.

It's a cycle of reaching for power, endangering others, and then being imprisoned.

So anyways, here's why MK is going to lose control (his agency) next season and hurt his friends with his own- *get's shot*

#*cough cough* shut up this isn't similar to Callum and Viren from tdp at all. #Ignore everything I said about the reach for power to have freedom and that leading to consequences. Shhhhhhh #anyways GOSH HMMM THE CHARACTER ARCS YAY #I LOVE WHEN THEMATICALLY RELEVANT THINGS HAPPEN TO CHARACTERS #Like. It's not just ''Wukong got possessed'' it's how Wukong getting possessed plays into his character and the show as a whole #Which is why lmk is so good #A league above the rest #Ignore that this is also the exact same thing that happens to Callum with possession. Shhhhh. #But y'all get my point #So anyways in reaching for power and having the agency to protect those you care about #And continuing Mei and SWK parallels #I think it would be neat if Mei accepted the Samadhi fire again to protect her friends for whatever reason #It'd also be neat if she did it specifically to fight MK/get him back #Like teehee that would be so cool #Am I saying MK next season might very well parallel possessed Wukong? yes that's exactly what I'm saying. #lmk SWK #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk analysis #you know what executive decision tag #hero mei warrior mk

[quietwingsinthesky]

very funny to me when people point at ruby and castiel as the obvious intentional parallels meaning that samruby being canon = destiel when like. how it actually went down is anna was supposed to be the parallel but spn hated women too much to have two of them playing a central role in the brothers’ lives at once. what we’ve encountered here is sexism, not gay people.

#this is not getting into how much better destiel would be if we leaned into it being like samruby but thats besides the point here #hi yeah its me still annoyed at a decision made on a tv show over a decade ago to can my girl #oh alternate spn where anna is a recurring character my beloved #its just like. no she was the parallel. there were two episodes about it actually. and then they changed their minds. #castiel lives because god forbid women do anything (<- have a relationship with dean winchester that makes the fans hate her and has too #much agency for the writers to let her live) #spn #anna milton

[raayllum]

5x01 / 5x08

#s5 #arc 2 #tdp #theme: identity #mine #elmer #parallels #tag ramble #obviously another way these two eps are in conversation #specifically the throne room scene in particular with just. Everything happening on the sea legs #but like elmer standing up for himself!! #while rayla does not but callum does it for her #names being linked to identity and agency and accepting help!! aah

[mostlyfate]

Shirasawa Mami + hiding with her hands*:･ﾟ✧

Hamabe Minami as Shirasawa Mami Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari タリオ 復讐代行の2人 2020, dir. Kimura Hisashi, Yamamoto Toru.

#talio fukushu daiko no futari #jdramaedit #jdrama #eye for an eye revenge agency's two people #asiandramasource #dailyasiandramas #dramasource #tario fukushu daiko no futari #japanese drama #hamabe minami #jdramasource #talio: 2023 #talio: shirasawa mami #talio: parallels #talio: 1.01 #talio: 1.03 #talio: 1.07 #.gif #*updated version from the one i made in 2020 #<3

[clotpolesonly]

Blue Lily, Lily Blue ch 15 // Mister Impossible ch 25

#pynchedit #adamedit #ronanedit #brydeedit #trcedit #tdtedit #Pynch #Adam Parrish #Ronan Lynch #Bryde #TRC #TDT #quote posts #i'm genuinely shocked still by the lack of fics featuring abusive!Bryde #either exploring the canon dynamic or making use of him in AUs #cuz like........this exchanged stopped me cold when i first read it #it's a dead ringer for when Adam was triggered by cabeswater/the night horror in bllb #are you mad at me? what did i do wrong? have the rules changed? why are you mad? what do you want me to do to make up for it? #and Bryde hasn't even said anything it's just Ronan getting a vibe and immediately jumping to ''i fucked up he's mad what did i do wrong'' #it just feels so indicative of their vibe and the atmosphere that Bryde has fostered that that's Ronan's instinct #he doesn't do that with anyone else #i know Bryde is a manifestation of Ronan's own subconscious but that doesn't prevent him from being abusive #dreams have agency once their dreamt and Bryde uses his agency to be a dick to his dreamer alkfdgh #the amount of emotional manipulation and the way he undermines Ronan's confidence in himself #the way he controls Ronan #i'm still not over Ronan looking to Bryde for PERMISSION to see Matthew #i'm just saying ok i'm JUST SAYING this parallel speaks volumes to me it's emblematic of their whole dynamic #i'll shut up now #ps pls write fics with abusive Bryde and/or cult leader Bryde cuz they're the same thing tbh

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Potential Ango backstory. Because I like to make connections that don't exist.

I received a tag under my last post about Ango...

I have been enabled.

What I said in that last post was that due to the disconnect between Ango's values and the values of the Special Division - in particular, their views on necessary sacrifice and the greater good - I found it odd for this to be Ango's career choice. So, I have this theory... it's really more headcanon than anything but basically, I wonder if Ango didn't choose to work there, but rather had no choice.

First off, Ango being a government agent before he joined the Mafia means that he was already one under the age of 19... which is. Well, far from uncommon in the BSD universe but... does the government itself really not have age restrictions on potential members? Ango would've been younger than 19 when he started working for the Special Division. He was 22 ish in Dark Era, first met Oda and Dazai two years earlier, and joined the Mafia one year before that. I know we like to joke that the preferred hiring age in BSD is like... 14-15, but for the Mafia, this makes sense - there's no hiring age there; most of them are or were kids with nowhere else to go. Fukuzawa hires minors who typically also have nowhere to go. Ango was really young when he joined the Special Division. Since they would, at least, have to follow some laws (I believe anyways), the circumstances of Ango's joining were probably not the usual.

Here's another weird bit: the government sent a 19 year old spy to infiltrate the Mafia, one who was too low-ranked to have any say in decisions (he had no say in their sending in of Shibusawa, for instance). That's... weird, on it's own. He had no influence but they felt certain the man wouldn't betray them or get caught? That's a lot of faith to place in him. Now, granted, he's a very reliable person and his ability is absolutely the reason he was selected - but it's still strange.

You might be thinking, okay, but what about his replacement? Tachihara was sent in after Ango so the government could keep monitoring the mafia's activities, and he was a young, new recruit. Yes, that's true but see, here's the thing: Tachihara's nature as a Hunting Dog means the government has a guaranteed hold on him - Teruko mentions that the Hunting Dogs need to undergo monthly surgeries to maintain their bodies after their enhancements. I see no reason Tachihara wouldn't have had to do the same. So, in my mind, that goes to show that they needed some kind of hold on Ango too, right? Wouldn't you want some kind of insurance on someone so presumably new?

I'm going to cut away from this for a moment so I can point out a passage from Dark Era where Oda finds how Ango (allegedly) joined the Mafia:

The gist of it was: Ango was a hacker -> he helped a gang steal money -> the money was stolen from a Mafia front company -> Ango was on the run for several months before the Mafia caught him -> Ango's manipulation of the trackers' information was so impressive to Mori that he invited Ango to join the Mafia

Obviously, this is a cover story. But at the surface it kind of has to be true, otherwise the Mafia would know. So, it was set up for Ango to help steal that money by the government. Why this particular story though? Well, they say the best lies are often rooted in truth. Before he joined the Division, I suggest that Ango really was a hacker and seller of information. (Just fyi, his real life author inspiration was a bit of a delinquent so... make of that what you will.)

Now this next part is a mess because we still don't know how all the pieces fit together.

Remember that the Special Division, and by extension the government, are considered so incredibly powerful that they could destroy the Mafia. From Dark Era:

That legal document appears to be the only thing that keeps ability users reasonably safe. Atsushi was being tracked as the "rampaging tiger" and had nowhere else to go. What about people like Yosano or Chuuya, associated with military research? Even Kenji - he was hired after he moved a mountain out of grief. It appears that the permit is a necessary protection to those ability users who reveal they are ability users publicly.

In Gaiden, Tsujimura explains that the Division also continuously monitors the activities of ability users. Essentially, in addition to the legal protection the permits provide, they also seem to make the Division's job of keeping track of all ability users, what they're using their abilities for, and how dangerous the abilities are, much easier. We also know that if an ability user proves too great of a threat to the general public, the Special Division can and will eliminate targets unless the target proves especially useful (ex. Ayatsuji).

Ok why am I going over all this? I'm just trying to make it clear how incredibly powerful the Division is. But what I also want to denote is that they are focused primarily on the greater good and will justify sacrifice of individuals (which contradicts Ango's beliefs directly), and they also take orders still from higher ups in the government (and the government in bsd is... a bit shifty if you ask me).

And about Ango: his values lie in life and an appreciation for it. He prioritizes memory and records, especially of those who have passed. He has many regrets and is, at heart, a kind person. However, he also has the capacity to do what "needs to be done", seems particularly vengeful and angry with Sigma for Taneda's stabbing, and was ready to shoot Atsushi when he collapsed after the Sky Casino arc. He also went from making deliberate stubborn efforts to create records of the dead, to being part of the cover up for a group of disgraced soldiers and one of his closest friends. He does things because he thinks no one else can do them - so this means it is his obligation.

So, finally, here's my deranged conspiracy: I think Ango was a hacker in his teenage years, and I think he always had the intention of preserving life in some way. Perhaps he attempted to make information about the war, or something to do with ability users, public. Whatever he found, he got in serious trouble, whether with a criminal organization, or with the government itself, I'm not clear on. Ango needed to join the Division for protection, and perhaps it was Taneda's idea to invite him, seeing that his ability would be very useful - that would explain the loyalty. It's also possible that Ango's actions resulted in a loss of life, and so he no longer trusts himself, which is why he is constantly torn between opposing values. I wonder if it was explained to Ango by the people in charge why certain information had to be withheld from the public, in such a way that he felt guilty for what he'd done - maybe that's why he's so diligent. It would be tragic if guilt turned out to have always been the motivator for his character and if he stands with the Division despite his offset values because he really does think they know how to better help people than his instinctive response ever could. While I'm sure the Division was confident in Ango's loyalty (one of his dislikes is written as betrayal for goodness sake), they also had a hold on him due to the nature of his ability. He is a walking store of classified information, which we are told repeatedly in Dark Era makes him a prime target. This means that nowhere is safe for him unless he stays with the Division. There is no guarantee that the government itself wouldn't also consider him a liability if he were to suddenly quit. In summary, Ango's joining of the Division was not a free choice, and while he likely feels grateful to people like Taneda for that chance - he also cannot leave.

Regardless of whether or not you all think I am wholly deranged now, there is definitely something to Ango we're not privy to yet. Here's some extra stuff on Ango to chew on:

He had the experience once of taking in so much information he passed out while his brain tried to process it (much like Atsushi did after Sigma transfers the information to him about the Page)

He had some run-in with Chuuya which apparently led to Chuuya owing him for something?

He seems to have been more comfortable defying expectations in the Mafia than he ever was in the Division

Thus concludes my Ango theory.

Source? Just trust me bro.

#i also like this because it heightens chuuya-ango parallels #and we still have yet to find out how they're connected so. you know. fun! #also i think it would be absolutely horrible (read: very good) if the info ango found was actually connected to the seventh agency #idk seems weird it would be name dropped by dostoevsky if it had nothing to do with ango #anyways i am so sorry if you read all this it's an absolute mess #worst meta i've done by far but i just can't look at it anymore #bsd #bsd meta #bsd ango #storyrambles #btw welcome to the fringe of my number one bsd conspiracy theory - the government's secret agency will turn out to be the final villains #ok. take it just take it i can't anymore

[urlocallesbiab]

btw, here's a neat visual parallel i've never noticed till my friend lina pointed it out to me!

#dghda #dghda rewatch #dghda parallels #image description in alt #dirk gently's holistic detective agency (tv 2016) #dghda photoset #bart curlish #ken adams #dirk gently #todd brotzman

[note-boom]

Life and Death Parallels within the ADA

Someone in a tag said a while back to throw some of my tags of this post onto a post, and I meant to do it way back in February but kind of got lost to the timestream.

But I'm back and I really do have thoughts about the way the ADA is structured to really be, as Atsushi was told just before the Kamui revelation, a place where the members give the organisation unique strengths that cover each other's weaknesses. And I thought about how there's a sort of equal divide between the older generation (Ranpo, Yosano, Dazai, and Kunikida) and the younger generation (Kyouka, Kenji, Tanizaki, Atsushi) and how each of these characters have both a similar aged parallel to them in the agency as well as a minor-adult parallel.

I'll try to be as concise as possible (I failed), but hear me out...

We have Ranpo/Yosano, Dazai/Kunikida, Atsushi/Tanizaki, and Kyouka/Kenji as similar-aged parallel sets that pair a death-coded individual with a life-coded individual. On the the adult-minor side, you have Ranpo/Kenji, Yosano/Atsushi, Dazai/Kyouka, and Tanizaki/Kunikida as parallel sets in their story arcs rather than thematic ones.

So, to start with the first set.

Ranpo (life-coded) and Yosano (death-coded): I feel as if these two have sort of reached the most balanced level of thematic parallels than any of the other pairings. Ranpo's past was full of this enjoyment with life where his parents' occupations dealing with darker forces of the world were hidden from him. Meanwhile, Yosano's past was full of death and darkness that was not hidden from her. And in Yosano's backstory, she was called the angel of death; in Ranpo's Origins tale with Fukuzawa, he confronted an angel of death of a sort. Yosano was deteriorating into death while Ranpo was slowly thriving under Fukuzawa. And then they met...and Ranpo found someone to bring back to life, and a place in the ADA where he could use murders and death and the darkness of the world to spread light/life by literally shining light on the mysteries, while Yosano found a place where she could use death to bring life in the ADA.

Dazai (death-coded) and Kunikida (life-coded): I think this parallel of life/death manifests the most in their ideals...Dazai's ideal is sort of entrenched in death and trying to die a painless suicide while Kunikida is all about spreading life for himself and others no matter how much pain it brings him. What's so wrong with these two is that they also have inclinations towards their "opposite coding," so to speak. We constantly see people pointing out Kunikida's secret desire to die while we clearly see Dazai doing his uttermost to live a good life and carry on Oda's legacy. Life haunts Kunikida as much as death haunts Dazai, and yet death chases after Kunikida (all the people he's witnessed dying, RIP) as much as life comes after Dazai (all his failed suicide attempts, double RIP)

Atsushi (life-coded) and Tanizaki (death-coded): This is honestly pretty tricky because we barely know anything about Tanizaki. Even though Kunikida and Dazai's past-pasts are still pretty mysterious, we have a good grasp on their characters. But Tanizaki's personality dissonance and as-of-yet unknown past with his sister definitely contrasts with the way we're know Atsushi's past and values. Both, however, are incredibly protective, but the way Tanizaki and Atsushi approach it is pretty different; Tanizaki seems to have this mentality that he must kill the threat while Atsushi seems determined more to save the victim. (I also find that one throwaway about "wimp of the east (Tanizaki)/wimp of the west (Atsushi)" interesting because maybe it's just in western lit, but west denotes sunsets and death while east denotes sunrises and rising, except in Buddhism where the west is shown as a direction of enlightenment(info check?)...which provides another host of interesting parallels to Atsushi and his relation to the book but let's not go there). All in all, these two are a bit of a stretch, but it's interesting to see that Atsushi's mysteries lie more towards the future (usually associated with life) while Tanizaki's life more in the past.

Kenji (life-coded) and Kyouka (death-coded): This one's pretty straightforward, not just because they're the youngest members of the ADA. But you see their life philosophies and personalities lean towards what they're coded as, as well as their pasts (Kenji as a farmer, cultivating life, and Kyouka as an assassin, dealing death). And yet what drew each to the ADA....Kenji was drawn to the ADA after witnessing death after a lifetime of growing new life while Kyouka was drawn to the ADA after being given life after a long childhood of killing.

However, in the end, the Armed Detective Agency is a detective organisation devoted to saving people, and all of them end up choosing life for it. But the different ways they go about it just go to show that you can have any crazy skill and still spread some sort of life through it. All of them are haunted by death, anyway, and yet all of them choose to spread life regardless.

Now onto the second set, which I'll keep shorter by simply saying that the pairs - Ranpo/Kenji, Yosano/Atsushi, Dazai/Kyouka, and Tanizaki/Kunikida - just have similar story beats, in a sense.

Ranpo and Kenji raised fairly happy, rudely awakened by the world, and yet choosing to believe in continuing to keep up a positive attitude; I'd say, though, that Ranpo does it primarily through shutting his eyes to the world while unmasking it while Kenji does it through acknowledging its pain and refusing to let it bring him down.

Yosano and Atsushi both with honestly terrible childhoods spent witnessing some of the most cruel sides of human natures growing up to be champions of life, only Yosano has definitely developed more steel and walls while Atsushi's definitely softer and more open still (they're both crazy stubborn, though).

Then Dazai and Kyouka's past with the Port Mafia and a disillusionment in reality that was abruptly interrupted when they realised they had to do something about it as useless as it sounded; Dazai thanks to Oda dying and Kyouka thanks to Dazai telling her to save people anyway.

And again, Kunikida and Tanizaki's probably a stretch given we know nothing about their pasts, but I really really find it interesting that Kunikida was a former teacher and Atsushi first assumed Tanizaki and Naomi to be students; also, I've mentioned this in other posts but Kunikida and Tanizaki are paired together a lot and have...their moments. It's pretty interesting to perceive these two people with strong ideals that are almost the reversal of the other ("the world for one person" vs "myself (one person) for the world").

But yeah...that has been parallels within the ADA concerning themes of life and death and their character's narrative arcs.

Bonus? Fukuzawa and Naomi....a middle aged president and a teenaged clerk, both protective about the people they claim to be their own, smart in their own ways, with seemingly "support" roles.

#the bonus was mostly crack but i didnt want to leave fukuzawa and naomi out of it #anyway that has been a short look into character parallels with someone obsessed with character parallels... #...whether they exist or not #who knows maybe im just very much... #spitting nonsense #but also im onto something right?? #anyway it means a lot to me that the ada is all about surviving despite what the world has thrown at you #and despite what i said about being coded more one way than the other... #...i also take it back #because what theyve all done is face the horrors of death AND life and choose to make things better...whatever that means #and i love them all for it #character analysis #armed detective agency #bsd musings #bsd #oh yeah but what about that thing about buddhism and atsushi's west?

[doriandrifting]

My adult Will Byers headcanon is that he becomes a pediatric nurse, and he’s just like so good at his job and amazing at comforting sick kids without making them feel infantilized. He always takes the time to answer the kids’ questions—to make all the big words a little less confusing and scary. And sometimes he makes little cartoon doodles to cheer up his patients—always drawing them as superheroes and helping them to feel brave for treatments.

He even starts making little mini DnD campaigns for some of the longer-term care kids to play. (Sometimes when he’s really too swamped his “best friend” Mike comes to help DM and he always gets the 90s sitcom guest star welcome from the kids). It’s this really nice tool for escapism and fun for the kids, but it also helps to build up their confidence and give them agency over choices when so much feels out of their control. And basically Will thought he would always hate hospitals and there’s still days where he gets in his head after everything that happened, but every time an excited little kid comes running up to him with their character sheet, rambling on about a spell they created for their character, Will remembers exactly why he’s there.

so, yeah, pediatric nurse Will Byers

#also some parallels to Henry in there but it’s like Will has agency #shoutout to the student at the nursing school I work at who has a bowlcut and inspired this HSHSJSKS #byler #will byers #headcanon #stranger things

[evilphrog]

How to make a show I will love:

1. Take a guy who has alienated everyone he cares about with his lies, who is afraid to even try putting things right so he just shovels more lies on top of them and acts cynical to everyone. He is convinced he can never be more than a total jerk and a failure.

2. Give him a huge falling out with his violence-loving sibling, who responds by joining a six-person team that fights against him. Both he and his sibling should blame him entirely for the falling out, but it should be obvious that some of the problem is his sibling’s refusal to accept any apologies. Oh, and give the sibling lightning powers.

3. Take another guy who was kidnapped by a shadowy government organization and brainwashed for most of his life. Make him radiate toxic optimism as a shield against the obvious guilt and trauma.

4. Force them together to solve mysteries involving time travel, much to the first guy’s annoyance and the second guy’s joy.

5. Make their best friend a woman who can kick anyone’s ass, but who is still allowed to be emotional. She starts the show wanting to be the perfect soldier, but ends up making her own path.

6. The titular character needs a narrative parallel in the form of a feral woman who has been raised entirely outside society. Her only real skillset is killing people, and she has negative social skills. Do not feminize her at all. She is going to be insane, violent, and dangerous. Her biggest dream is to find a new reality where she can just be a happy nobody.

7. Give her that dream, then make her watch it all fall to pieces. Have her blame herself for it, abandon that dream world, and return to the chaos.

8. The first season needs to be about free will vs. determinism, and taking control of your own narrative. The second guy should help the first guy find a way to atone for his past mistakes. It ends on a cliffhanger where the first guy does the hard work to be honest and vulnerable for the first time, but he ends up even worse off than before. He still chooses to commit to doing the right thing in spite of it all.

9. The second season starts with the first guy frantically searching for the second guy. When he finds him, the second guy is having a complete nervous breakdown because his toxic optimism has stopped being effective against the trauma and guilt. Now, the first guy has to turn the tables and be the one to help the second guy come to terms with his own past and take control of his own narrative.

10. Add a frat boy villain who represents the shadowy government organization. He has to be the dumbest human being alive, a total asshole, and have mental breakdowns every episode. He eventually betrays his older mentor for his own self-interest, and begrudgingly helps the protagonists defeat the shadowy government. He is still an asshole.

11. Throw in a lovable, hyperactive tech genius who is more interested in solving the puzzles than in the moral implications of his actions.

And boom! Instant classic.

#loki #dirk gently's holistic detective agency #dhgda #loki season 2 #unexpected parallels #also the title character knows the Norse god of thunder personally #but there weren't any good screencaps for that #this will only make sense to like five people tops #but to those five people: Hi!

[chevaliermalfets]

5x14 Internal Affairs // 6x25 Aliyah

#ncis #tony dinozzo #jeanne benoit #ziva david #eli david #woo let's give it up for agency directors not giving a shit about how their orders hurt people #at least tony was willing to lie to tell jeanne what she needed to hear. eli just copped out and didn't give ziva any closure on that #fuck you eli!! #ray.gif #parallels

[starlightshadowsworld]

It was selfish of him, but Atsushi had wanted nothing more than to push the book away from Ranpo.

To keep him here with him.

He knew it was wrong but Atsushi couldn't help the fear that rose within him when Ranpo vanished.

Atsushi wasn't afraid of much. He didn't fear death, he didn't fear pain or torture. He'd lived a life full of suffering and came out the other side.

What Atsushi feared more than anything, was being alone.

Atsushi had always been alone. No one, not the staff nor the other kids in the Orphanage had wanted to go near him.

The only time someone got close to Atsushi was to hurt him.

And yet, he craved the presence of others. Atsushi spent days upon days alone in his cell, with nothing but the wind outside and the Headmaster as company.

Atsushi would lose himself, some would argue there was nothing to lose. He lost track of days, he knew what his birthday was but never when.

He'd been surprised to learn his age when he left.

Being alone was a reminder that no one wanted him. That the Headmaster was right when he said Atsushi had been abandoned by his parents, by the world itself.

No one wanted him.

No one loved him.

And than the Agency came into his life. Kyouka moved in with him and suddenly Atsushi wasn't alone anymore.

He felt lighter, getting crepes with Kyouka and getting snacks for Ranpo. Doing paperwork with Kunikida. Listening to Junichiro going over a case as Kenji talked about his cow.

He'd roll his eyes and watch Dazai huff theatrically and know he was safe. Yosano's reminder to take care of himself and Fukuzawa's polite nod every morning meant as much.

For the first time in his life, Atsushi felt loved.

He felt wanted in a way he'd never felt before... And this man had taken it all from him.

And Atsushi was alone.

He should be glad Ranpo's safe, that he's out of danger. But there's no relief in his mind.

Only fear.

Atsushi knew he was too far from anyone else. Even if someone heard, they would never reach him time.

He couldn't make a run for it even if his leg wasn't laying elsewhere.

Atsushi wanted to scream, he wanted to cry and yell into the wind.

He felt like he was in his cage again, chained to the wall unable to move or do anything as the Headmaster stood behind the bars.

Watching him like a bored parent at the zoo, the same way Fukuchi stared down at him now.

Atsushi would fight, he would at least try. If not for his own sake than for his friends.

If he failed to save them at least he'd meet his end like he deserved.

He kicks Poe's book behind him, at least Ranpo would survive this and could tell everyone what happened.

Dazai would know what to do like he always did. Atsushi hopes he doesn't feel the pain of loneliness like does.

... Why did Dazai have to save him? Why did he have to show him how good it felt to be loved in the light?

At least when Atsushi was drowning in darkness it was all he knew. He knew better to hope, he knew better than to think he could be loved by others.

Is this how Kyouka felt, is this how Lucy felt... Did he ruin things for them too by giving them hope?

Of course he did... He was Atsushi after all, he ruined everything for everyone simply by existing.

He thinks of his friends and sends them a final message. One encoded deep in his heart where not even Ango could find it.

'Please don't ever show me the light ever again...'

#Parallel to Kyouka being surrounded by the police after Atsushi is kidnapped by Fitzgerald #atsushi nakajima #bsd atsushi #bsd dazai #bsd ranpo #bsd fukuchi #Bsd #the armed detective agency #bsd season 5 #bungou stray dogs

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Since, if the trend continues and it should, Kingdom Hearts IV should end with Sora and Kairi's hands joining again, here's my idea for the ending of the game:

We close on the two of them holding hands, of course, but it's Kairi pulling Sora back into the Realm of Light.

This also keeps Sora from, technically, ending up back in the Realm of Light in KHIV (like early on, I mean), as most don't want that (including myself. It would be far too easy). So, technically, he would be back there at the start of KHV.

#kh #kingdom hearts #sokai #sora #kairi #sora and kairi #this would also parallel really nicely with khii... which i think nomura might be going for: as people have pointed out with sora's #situation mirroring roxas' at the start of khii #but them joining hands at the end of ii and iv already would match #but kairi opening the door to light to rescue sora and bring him back to the realm of light meets her literally pulling him back to the rol #perhaps would also parallel and also show that kairi's gotten stronger and has more agency but i wouldn't want her to JUST do this #i'd be okay with her doing this if she found him in quadratum #or if she had her own disney adventure and then still got to do this #like i was imagining her doing this from the encanto world for reasons (which wouldn't happen but i can dream). but it wouldn't have to #happen like that oc

[raayllum]

Tentacles

#dark magic #s5 spoilers #parallels #tdp claudia #promo art #makes me wonder if the pirates are poachers as well #arc 2 #2x03 #s5 #tdp spoilers #tdp #the dragon prince #4x02 #s4 #multi #arc 1 #it was just red #interesting that in 2x03 she's stomping over the boys' / callum's agency #and in 4x02 she's About to stomp all over viren's