Latest Posts by doyoulikeslimes - Page 3

Not gonna lie, I love seeing Dazai be this animated. Truly affected. But also because it’s Chuuya with him he doesn’t feel the need to hide behind a mask as much. He can actually show how bad he thinks things are because that’s his partner.

Honestly even Chuuya is showing more surprise than usual. I love to see it.

hoshikawa has done such an incredible job of portraying Dazai from Chuuya’s perspective… back before he figured out that Dazai’s demon persona was just that… a persona. an act

before he learned to see through Dazai’s fronts

Dazai made people think he was uncaring & heartless, when this was his intention all along (he does this in Stormbringer & Dead Apple too)

Chuuya sees Dazai manipulating him…

but he doesn’t see that Mori is manipulating Dazai

“I do it all for the organization and the protection of this beloved city.” —Mori

Chuuya using Dazai as a human shield will always be funny

(and Dazai casually letting him do that)

...

Making this healed something deep within me I almost cried

Hey there! Thought we were vacationing? Our artists have been hard at work on the Animaniacs #TakeIslandAnim fan project! Take a peek--or an Island!

I try new styles

Word Prompt: Briefing

Hits the button to go to the next slide and it's a 20 second cube transition

[Art Date: February 27 2025]

Animaniacs #36 -April 1998- DC Comics

Communication Gap

writer: Dana Kurtin

penciler: Omar Aranda

inker: Jim Amash

letterer: John Costanza

colorist: Prismacolor

Alternate Universe HS Chuuya calling Dazai "Osamu" when they were young being so important to Dazai that he wrote it down and put it in a time capsule

....is not the craziest soukoku info thats ever dropped into my lap

but it blindsighted me nonetheless.

Good to know Chuuya is Dazai's personal rubber duck

skk showing up to a fight only to be completely unserious & just watch sskk fight while critiquing them just feels so canon, skk take nothing seriously 😭

And not Chuuya saying they don’t have enough *attitude* STOP 😭 skk said sass levels aren’t high enough

they’re both stupid, where r ppl shipping them to guys? you decide idk, they’re gonna explode

Chuuya is so done with him😭🙏. Why would Dazai ask that help😭😭.

I love hiw Dazai is just watching him with fascinated void eyes. Who on earth is so fascinated about their frenemy and partner befriending a bird😭🙏

Animaniacs #37 -May 1998- DC Comics

"All My Warners"

writer: Jeff Suess

penciler: Leonardo Batic

inker: Scott McRae

letterer: John Costanza

colorist: Prismacolor

"Li-Hippo-Suction"

writer: Dana Kurtin

penciler: Leonardo Batic

inker: Scott McRae

letterer: John Costanza

colorist: Prismacolor

"Mr. Brain's Neighborhood"

writer: Jeff Seuss

penciller: Walter Carzon

inker: Jim Amash

letterer: John Costanza

colorist: Prismacolor

Animaniacs #36 -April 1998- DC Comics

Communication Gap

writer: Dana Kurtin

penciler: Omar Aranda

inker: Jim Amash

letterer: John Costanza

colorist: Prismacolor

Word Prompt: Briefing

Hits the button to go to the next slide and it's a 20 second cube transition

[Art Date: February 27 2025]

14 dazai from last year i forgot to post 🤧

My shiguang sickfic manga ❤️ Please Enjoy!

Rating: T

Pgs 1-2/20(?)

<>Pgs 3-4

Will have S2 spoilers around Pg 10!

I will be sharing early access pages as well as notes and the process of how I create this on my patreon!

intothefrisson Twitter/Insta

Pages 12-13 <Beginning> Page 16-17

Don't cry, Lu Guang 🥺🥺

I will be sharing early access pages as well as notes and the process of how I create this manga on my patreon!

intothefrisson Twitter/Insta

dazai no one breaks my heart like you do

Okay, I gotta dig out my Society of Tinfoil Hattery credentials from the junk drawer for this one piece business, so strap in and get ready for some flow of conscious yapping.

And just to be clear: ELBAF SPOILERS

Okay. So the triptych(?) mural. I’m gonna be very insufferable about the mural because that feels like THE center point of this arc. Not so much the poems, because as far as I know, the translations are still unofficial and I can give my thoughts on them then.

Okay, so, the first third. The “First World”

We see people- we can assume slaves- coming out of complexes with machinery beneath and steam billowing from above. Is this a refinery? A power plant? A reactor, maybe?

We see these people go down deep, and come back up carrying something starlike that they bring to a crowned figure on top of the hill. Ore? Precious stones and metals? Some sort of fuel source? It looks the same as the stars depicted, so… nuclear energy?

We also see beneath the ground- perhaps hidden?- a winged figure (sky islander?), next to a very large ship with animals trailing towards it (Noah??) pointing skyward (to the moon???).

Above the crowned figure at the top of the hill, we see a ship in the sky sending a lightning bolt to the feet of the crowned figure and towards the roots of the tree centerpiece (Uranus? Something like the Ark Maxim and Enel?)

And the central piece to the first world portion of the mural… this “Serpent of Hell” coming up from beneath the earth where the slaves are going down into getting into a conflict with the bird-like creature at the top of the second world’s tree (Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr imagery? Who would be the Ratatoskr of that?). It seems from the fire the two are spitting at each other, that the whole world has become enveloped in war and- if the bit about the Earth God becoming enraged is translated correctly- rendering it uninhabitable (the reason why the sky islander is taking the animals to Noah? The reason why the sky islanders went to the moon to begin with? Was the land irradiated?)

This one is the most dicey for me, but bear with me.

The Second World is a tree with the Hraesvelgr-esque figure perched at the top, warring with the Nidhogg-esque figure going down into the earth beneath the roots. We might assume, though I’m not exactly certain about it, that this tree could be symbolic of this eight hundred year reign of the world government? Its branches don’t stick out very far from the trunk, so this could just be to keep the image from being cluttered, just something that wasn’t thought about, or because the tree is giving shade to only a select few.

This Hraesvelgr looking beast seems to have won the conflict with the Nidhogg one. So the Nidhogg beast might have been symbolic of a rebellion coming up from where the slaves toiled away? (The x marks on the serpent’s sides do make me think of a certain tattooed someone with a certain ophidic moniker with certain unsavory opinions on the Celestial Dragons…)

And then we see the last portion of the triptych. Nika leading the charge with an army at his back against a winged demon holding the sun.

I see Nika and Imu (or maybe even Teach…) depictions here, obviously. I see a whale with two people on it’s back (Laboon, Crocus, and that one dude who was drinking with him that one cover art (that might be the man marked by flames))? I see a Lunarian (King and/or the Seraphim?). I see Emmet. I see Dogstorm and Catviper. I see Shirahoshi and the Megalodon. I see Leo. I see Loki! We see several ships, too! All of these people fighting against one big demon and one tiny ship with just a handful of people. The world has turned on the powerful few.

In conclusion… I think this is a sort of history-prophecy thing like with Alduin’s Wall in Skyrim. These aren’t “worlds” per se, but Ages. It just gives that illusion because it feels like how humanity speaks of bygone eras as totally different worlds. I think this is the Void Century, Imu’s reign (specifically Imu, because clearly something or someone was calling the shots before them. Perhaps the Nerona were ruling? And Imu formed the alliance of the 20 Kingdoms when the Nerona family was being threatened by this “Serpent of Hell”? Maybe Imu was the only survivor of their line and refused to let go of their power?), and Imu’s downfall respectively.

I… really don’t think Nika brings the end of the world. I think he just brings in a new Age.

I’m going to go on my “Imu is an eternal child” soap box when I say that I think Imu is embodying a sort of foil to Nika (a moon god/dess mythical zoan, maybe?). Both Nika and Imu seem… childish to me. Nika is all the positive things we associate with childhood. Play and laughter and imagination. While Imu… Imu is all the negatives. Selfishness and moodiness and “I’ll break my toy so I don’t have to share it” mentality. You get what I’m saying?

Again, this is by no means a comprehensive thing. This purely just me spitballing things.

Thoughts are absolutely welcome.

its been like that lately

Endlessly fascinated with the contrast between the (obviously) iconic Corruption Chuuya laugh and the fact that, for almost all of its use time, Chuuya remains neutral to focus/determined during Corruption:

there are actually only 2 panels where he's laughing, notably only after he's defeated his foe, before Dazai steps in:

If you watch the Dead Apple Corruption scene, Chuuya never laughs maniacally, remaining focused the entire time (as he was focused on finding Dazai instead of destroying everything around).

On other side, in Storm Bringer, we see Verlaine laugh while under Brutalization, in the middle of the action when he's already started decimating his enemies (with little resistance). His laugh is described as inhuman and compared to various powerful sounds of destruction.

Chuuya, for his part, smiles his wicked grins when the battle is at its peak with the sharing of blows, but otherwise is only described as howling and yelling (much like he was doing in Dead Apple).

I cannot argue how iconic the mad-with-power laughter of Corruption is, but I find it very interesting how we, the fandom as a whole, have fixated on such a small part of it to the point of assuming the laughter is a constant presence.

Cheng Xiaoshi's Death Analysis — PART 1: Cheng Xiaoshi's Character Analysis

Why is Lu Guang so desperate to save him? Let's analyze!

I think it’s Lu Guang himself who killed Cheng Xiaoshi in the original timeline.

⚠️ Part 2 here ; Part 3 here [note: you can skip to part 3 if you want me to get to the point]

Why do I think that?

Starting off with season 2:

let’s begin with the part where Cheng Xiaoshi is informed by the officer that Lu Guang’s rescue failed, he died.

(now this will be a bit long since i'll be contrasting their personalities, so please bear with me. if you want me to get to the point then skip to part 3)

Cheng Xiaoshi, after breaking down in tears, seemed to have been struck by the same exact idea as that of Lu Guang — to go back in time and save him.

However, the difference between Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi in this case (where the thought processed was awfully similar) is that Cheng Xiaoshi did not execute this plan/idea of his.

I know you’re aware of all what I’m saying right now but hear me out…

isn’t it very odd?

now I’m sure you guys might say/think: “we already know that.” “that’s because they’re so attached to each other!” “Link Click is full of plot twists! So it’s not odd for them to surprise us!” “Lu Guang’s got feelings too y’know?!” “Maybe Lu Guang really just does care.”

Wait. Listen.

I’m not trying to imply that Lu Guang doesn’t have feelings, that he doesn’t have a heart — of course he does, he’s a human. But compared to Cheng Xiaoshi, he’s less emotional.

Cheng Xiaoshi is known to be the more sentimental, sensitive, and selfless one of the two. He usually allows his emotions to control him. He wears his heart on his sleeve. (at least that's what the donghua shows us)

But, somehow, he was able to restrain himself from letting his emotions take over him and dive back in time (all because a glimpse of Lu Guang, reciting the rule, flashed before his eyes)

He, Cheng Xiaoshi, the so very attached to Lu Guang Cheng Xiaoshi, was able to restrain.

And please do keep in mind that the emotions he experienced when he discovered Lu Guang’s death must have been unbelievably strong and unbearable; overwhelming beyond words because it’s like losing a source of happiness in your life.

He must have been so scared because he’s already experienced the horror of being abandoned by the most valuable people in his life such as his very own parents — and I bet he doesn’t wanna re-experience it.

Despite all that, he was able to restrain.

But Lu Guang couldn’t.

⚠️ continue in PART 2 here.

[keep in mind that these are just mere conclusions drawn from close observations, assumptions, and theories. i can be wrong too since sgdlr loves surprising us with plot twists! so feel free to express your opinion in the comments!]

Lu Guang's words to Cheng Xiaoshi during the Li family dive in episode 6.

Evidence in support of the theory that season 2 is uncharted territory for Lu Guang. Whether that's because it's post Cheng Xiaoshi's date of death in the original timeline or because the timeline has been changed.

i love that Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling like- canonically know almost nothing about Lu Guang and they're... totally fine with it

bc of course they want to know more about him but they don't need to to know they love him yk? -> they love having him around and that's enough

anyway- i just think it would be really funny if Lu Guang wasn't actually intentionally secretive, he just- forgot a lot of stuff about himself due to how many times he's looped

Xu Shanshan, writing in a notepad: How old is Qiao Ling? Lu Guang, immediately: 22 Xu Shanshan: And Cheng Xiaoshi? Lu Guang: He's 21 Xu Shanshan: How old are you? Lu Guang: .... *raises hand to chin* Cheng Xiaoshi: WHY IS THAT THE ONE YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT!?

Arc 4 is barreling towards us and we’re all wearing airpods

The Man-God: BSD’s Dostoyevsky and Demons’ Kirillov

So, I finally read Bungou Stray Dogs. And y’all, I freaking love this manga. It’s got themes of life, grief, death, trauma, and is chock-full of literary references and puns. 

Shocking no one, one of my favorite characters–the reason I started reading the story–is Dostoyevsky, since I’m… rather an admitted fangirl of Dostoyevsky’s novels. I’ve reread each of them at least twice and some (C&P) up to five times. Clearly BSD’s Dostoyevsky not the hopeful, faithful author, but he’s definitely a fascinating antagonist whose arc is digging into the themes of Dostoyevsky the writer’s novels–with a particular focus on the two novels that are my very favorite novels ever written, by anyone, in history: Crime and Punishment and Demons. 

But in truth, it draws more from Demons than from Crime and Punishment, right down to having BSD!Dostoyevsky directly quote it.

Demons is far, far less popular that Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and even The Idiot, so I was really surprised to see how often it’s been referenced in BSD (The reason it’s less popular is honestly justified: the first 100 pages are paced… horribly, but the rest of the novel is so powerful that I can overlook that). It’s been translated under a variety of titles as well: The Possessed, The Devils, and the most recent is Demons so that’s what we’re going with in this meta.

Pssst–look at how often BSD!Dostoyesvky is associated with demons or devils:

Yet Demons has been popular with literary theorists (one well-known critic has described it as containing “the most harrowing scene in all of fiction,” an assessment I’d agree with–and this is the scene I’m going to discuss in detail) and existentialists like Camus (sorry Camus). Anyways, I have a soft spot for Demons because it contains my very favorite character in existence: Alexei Nilyich Kirillov, who is the character BSD!Dostoyesvky directly quotes.

@blackandwhitemusician did a great analysis of the similar philosophies BSD!Dostoyevsky shares with Crime and Punishment’s Raskolnikov, but I want to talk about how BSD!Dostoyevsky is also modeled after Kirillov’s philosophical ideas. This isn’t to say he embodies them, because Kirillov is decidedly not a villain unlike BSD!Dostoyevsky, but BSD!Dostoyevsky definitely draws heavily from Kirillov’s ideals.

Kirillov is a character who, like Raskolnikov, embodies the contradictions of human nature, but in a hyperbolic way. He’s noted to have a “calm but warm and kindly expression"and adores children, playing with them, and he even helps his friend Shatov’s wife give birth (he’s endearingly awkward and scared for the whole ordeal). He affirms that he is “fond of life” and yet he is determined, from the moment we meet him, to shoot himself as suicide because in doing so he will save himself and the world. 

Kirillov’s reasoning is complex and at the same time, spotty, and stems from a deep despair and disgust with human sin. Sound familiar?

Time is also a major motif with BSD! Dostoyevsky and with Kirilllov. He does not believe in time as more than an “idea.” He insists that “life exists, but death doesn’t at all… [I believe] in eternal life here. There are moments, you reach moments, and time suddenly stands still, and it will become eternal.”

(Clocks constantly appear in BS chapter 42, Dostoyevsky’s introduction, as well.)

Kirillov also draws from other philosophies such as Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am,” affirming that “man is unhappy because he doesn’t know he’s happy… If they knew that it was good for them, it would be good for them, but as long as they don’t know it’s good for them, it will be bad for them. That’s the whole idea, the whole of it… They’ll find out that they’re good and they’ll all become good, every one of them.”

In other words, reality is what Kirillov makes of it in his own mind, which is what BSD!Dostoyevsky hints his ability is (but it isn’t).

It’s still a belief BSD!Dostoyevsky holds: that his beliefs create reality.

Kirillov muses, in conversation with his friend Stavrogin (bold is Kirillov):

“He who teaches that all are good will end the world.”

“He who taught it was crucified.”

“He will come, and his name will be the man-god.”

“The god-man?”

“The man-god. That’s the difference.”

In BSD, anything written in The Book becomes truth, and Dostoyevsky plans to use it to rid the world of the sins of ability-users. Similarly, Kirillov plans to use his decision to set people free, and Pyotr plans to use Kirillov’s mental instability and philosophical suicide to erase consequences for his own sins. And as Kirillov also believes this will make moments heaven, Dostoyevsky expresses (using religious language) that this will make a heavenly reality as well:

As Demons goes on, we find out that Pyotr Stepanovich had struck a deal with Kirillov. Since Kirillov really tries to believe that everyone and everything is good, when Pyotr asks him to kill himself and write a note specifying something Pyotr won’t specify until the time comes, to help Pyotr, Kirillov agrees. Pyotr notes that he doesn’t tell Kirillov what he plans—to have Kirillov take the blame for the murder of their mutual friend Shatov, which Pyotr commits—because he thinks that if Kirillov knows in advance, “Kirillov could not be relied upon.”

The irony, of course, is that by seeking to prove the ultimate will in the universe is of the individual, that the individual is his/her own god, Kirillov becomes an unwitting tool in Pyotr Stepanovich’s terrible plots. He contributes to the unjust death of someone he cares deeply for by taking the blame. And Kirillov did not want this at all. When Pyotr comes to collect, he realizes what he’s done (bold is Kirillov_:

“He is dead!” cried Kirillov, jumping up from the sofa.

“He died at seven o’clock this evening, or rather, at seven o’clock yesterday evening, and now it’s one o’clock.”

“You have killed him!”

…

“You are a strange man, though, Kirillov; you knew yourself that the stupid fellow was bound to end like this. What was there to foresee in that? I made that as plain as possible over and over again. Shatov was meaning to betray us; I was watching him, and it could not be left like that. And you too had instructions to watch him; you told me so yourself three weeks ago.…”

…

“I won’t write that I killed Shatov … and I won’t write anything now. You won’t have a document!”

Pyotr refuses to leave until Kirillov is dead, and Kirillov explains that “I won’t put it off; I want to kill myself now: all are scoundrels.” The exact opposite of what he expressed before about things being good.

“He’s guessed the truth at last! Can you, Kirillov, with your sense, have failed to see till now that all men are alike, that there are none better or worse, only some are stupider, than others, and that if all are scoundrels (which is nonsense, though) there oughtn’t to be any people that are not?”

And then we see what motivates Kirillov is a desperate need to have a reason to match his desire to live. It’s literally one of the main themes of Bungo Stray Dogs (bold is Kirillov):

 “If you stopped yourself, you become God; that’s it, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I become God.”

…

“Let it be comfort. God is necessary and so must exist… But I know He doesn’t and can’t… Surely you must understand that a man with two such ideas can’t go on living?”

And of course, this is BSD!’s Dostoyevsky in what I am betting is a direct quote from Demons as translated into Japanese: If god does not exist, then I am god.

His man-god belief, like Dostoyevsky’s in BSD, are explained thusly (bold is Kirillov):

“I’ve always been surprised at every one’s going on living,” said Kirillov, not hearing his remark.

…

“Hold your tongue; you won’t understand anything. If there is no God, then I am God.”

“There, I could never understand that point of yours: why are you God?”

“If God exists, all is His will and from His will I cannot escape. If not, it’s all my will and I am bound to show self-will.”

“Self-will? But why are you bound?”

“Because all will has become mine. Can it be that no one in the whole planet, after making an end of God and believing in his own will, will dare to express his self-will on the most vital point? It’s like a beggar inheriting a fortune and being afraid of it and not daring to approach the bag of gold, thinking himself too weak to own it. I want to manifest my self-will. I may be the only one, but I’ll do it.”

That’s a direct quote.

BSD!Dostoyevsky manipulates human will to lead people into committing suicide, and is killing them to create a new world without the sins of ability-users:

Kirillov says this right before he finally writes the false confession to Stavrogin’s murder and kills himself:

“Man has done nothing but invent God so as to go on living, and not kill himself; that’s the whole of universal history up till now. I am the first one in the whole history of mankind who would not invent God. Let them know it once for all…

“I am awfully unhappy, for I’m awfully afraid. Terror is the curse of man.… But I will assert my will, I am bound to believe that I don’t believe. I will begin and will make an end of it and open the door, and will save. That’s the only thing that will save mankind and will re-create the next generation physically; for with his present physical nature man can’t get on without his former God, I believe. For three years I’ve been seeking for the attribute of my godhead and I’ve found it; the attribute of my godhead is self-will! That’s all I can do to prove in the highest point my independence and my new terrible freedom. For it is very terrible. I am killing myself to prove my independence and my new terrible freedom.”

Yet Kirillov is inventing god: himself. He signs the paper and then does kill himself, but it’s not without the last terrible, terrifying realization that he does not want to die. He wants to live. And he fights Pyotr, biting his finger nearly off, before committing suicide. But Kirillov, as wrong and tragic as his philosophy is, is the one who recognizes the theme of Demons.

“Stavrogin, too, is consumed by an idea,” Kirillov said gloomily, pacing up and down the room.

The point of the entire tragedy in Demons is basically if you are consumed by an idea, it will turn you into a devil. Kirillov is, along with Shatov, perhaps the most likeable main character in Demons (others are far more horrifying as their various political, religious, and philosophical ideas take them over). And so is Dostoyevsky in BSD: consumed by his ideas, convinced his will is all that matters.

It won’t end well.

Synonyms or Antonyms: Dazai and Dostoevsky

From the moment they meet within Bungou Stray Dogs, Dazai and Fyodor are set up as foils. 

Foil Definition. In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character. The objective is to highlight the traits of the other character.

That is to say from the moment they are drawn in panel together, the audience is naturally meant to compare and contrast them. Their entire first scene plays their similarities and differences up. First, Dazai dresses as Fyodor not only as a joke but to draw the eye to how similar they are, both of them dark haired skinny males with pale complexions who wear overcoats. 

Dazai explains he was able to predict where Fyodor would end up, because if he were in the same situation it was what he would do. When he says that, Fyodor shows Dazai the same smile he showed him earlier, like Dazai is looking in a mirror. 

Dazai and Dotsoevsky are able to read each other so well, knowing the other like they know themselves. Which allows both of them to continually one up the other and predict the other’s movements. However their relationship extends far beyond ‘Being the same’, or just the fact that they’re both highly skilled manipulators who are able to pull off complex plans. It’s even much more than Dazai and Fyodor are just smarter than everybody else in a way that isolates them. They are each other’s inverse in almost every way while appearing to be exactly the same. I’ll elaborate in detail beneath the cut.

Keep reading