intravention

[intravention]

I don't anticipate having the time to polish and post any of the fics I wanted to write for Gaiden week any time soon... I'll get something out next week if I'm lucky. Gonna drop the general ideas for now and post them whenever I have the time.

Day 1: Curse. Ayatsuji is the last witch in Tokyo - his job is to perform exorcisms on evil spirits. While on the train he bumps into a woman named Tsujimura, and notices a unique spirit has been tagging along for the ride.

Day 2: Yokai. Kyougoku and Natsume like to keep watch over Ayatsuji. It's a day in the life of two old men, really.

Day 3: Partners. Ango and his guards Are Going Through It.

Day 4: Festival/Gakuen AU. The Architect has a small dream: to see the robotics club around another year. To do this, the (two!) club members have to make a kick ass robot to steal the show at the culture festival. Will they succeed? Or is the dreaded Architect's dream going to be the Engineer's nightmare?

Day 5: Past. A story told backwards: On 20XX/09/05 10:32 JST, Ayatsuji was assassinated. Dame Agatha Christie sent a messenger to Ayatsuji as a memorial to his contributions in the Great War. When Ayatsuji was seven years old, over a quarter of the world population died.

Day 6: Unforseen. Chuuya uses Arahabaki in Tokyo. The results are devastating.

Day 7: Free Day! Actors AU.

[intravention]

started writing my halloween ayatsuji-witch fic for tomorrow. I barely remember anything from gaiden I'm winging this let's go

[intravention]

I went on another manga shopping trip.

I got the art collection book! Another volume might release in the uncertain future with more updated art, as this one is from 2016... hopefully it'll have more museum collab works featured, and more character design sketches.

Since I was going to buy the one book for BSD anyways, I ended up ordering a bunch of other stuff to make the shipping more justifiable.

I got manga special editions for Frieren volumes 7-11 (didn't get special edition volume 6 because I have no use for the 2022 calendar bonus), Blue Period volume 11 (special edition volume 8 was sold out by the time I was making the purchase) and Toilet Bound Hanako-kun volume 20. Picked up the novel adaptation for Twisted Wonderland Episode/Book 2 while I was at it. I've heard high praises about the novelization, so I'm really looking forward to reading it!

I like collecting special edition manga bonuses, if it wasn't already obvious.

The Frieren pins are pretty colorful! I'll try to fit them on my itabag if I have space.

[intravention]

a part of me dissipated writing "mori-laoshi", "dazai-shixiong" ngl

[intravention]

Im back in my "throwing random shit that makes little to no sense for background" era

[intravention]

Dazai can be so miserable. He reminds me of when shit gets worse before it can ever get better. Like a little void opened inside, and you can't shake the feeling that you feel nothing. You're numb to feeling, dissociated from reality, and there's not much you can do but wait for it to pass.

You're empty. How else can it be described? You feel isolated in a prison of your own mind. Dazai's like that, but on loop.

It's hard to put it in words, when it feels like that. Spiraling, maybe, the sort of existential angst at 5am while you watch the sun rise alone before you return to bed. Close to the kind of noiseless crying you do so that you don't bother anyone. Staying at a polite distance away from everyone.

The thing is, though - it can get better. I know it can, because it did for me. I think that's the big change in Dazai, that he has moments he can recognize as "good" for him, where life can be worth living beyond the meaningless absurdity of drifting by.

[intravention]

chibis of the gaiden cast i made for bsd gaiden week 2023 !!

go check it out if you're interested :D !!

[intravention]

What a wonderful time to be alive. Watched Frieren with some friends, ate mooncake (red bean, which to me is tied with matcha as the best flavor), and now I'm thinking about my Architect on Standard Island AU.

The Architect has to go out with a bang. What better reference than Standard Island?

It's highly idealistic for characters to say "end the war", but in that kind of environment where the time is looping back, I suppose it would be within reach of "end all wars". Or maybe I've been reading too much Cipher Academy...

[intravention]

Watched the last episode of season 5 with a friend! Overall, it's a good season finale. There's a lot of stuff going on simultaneously, but there's a lot that needs to be wrapped up to move on anyways.

Aya jumps off, yeah, we know... Fukuzawa and Fukuchi have their old man yaoi fight, more reminiscing of the past... Fukuzawa used One Order to save the world, Fukuchi dies, Fyodor is questionable, Sigma is on the floor... you can watch the episode.

Thoughts and questions I had throughout the episode:

Fyodor's lack of trust is, well, in character. Thought it really helps highlight the differences between him and Dazai, in how he refuses to put trust in Nikolai too.

Who is "that man", Fyodor mentions? In Japanese, he says 「太宰くんはあの男以来の敵」 which conveys the same information as the English subtitle. So like... whomst. What guy. Chuuya? Eh. I don't think so.

Chuuya's acting is really good! Maybe he got that from Lippmann. It also recontextualizes the whole thing with Dazai as this dramatic bitch moment.

Did they just leave Sigma behind? Bro???

What's going to happen to Nikolai then...? It'd be funny if he joins the ADA, but I don't see that happening.

Bram being Aya's knight is. Huh. This is the only Vampire Knight I will accept.

A lot of good quotes and references in the conversation between Fukuzawa and Fukuchi. One Order is the last thing Fukuchi left to Fukuzawa, so of course he can't get rid of it.

Who SENT the code 36 years ago? Natsume? Someone else?

Akutagawa's costume upgrade looks cool, but that's out of left field.

The last enemy wears a mask that reminds me of Fukuchi's mask from the Decay of the Angels colorspread. Food for thought. I don't think it's Fukuchi, but it could be his body being manipulated like a puppet.

Love Teruko. Her scene this episode was moving. Tecchou is alive too! The Agency is fine for the most part, nobody there seems to be dead or in a questionable state of not living, though we don't get to see Yosano this episode.

Um... is Jouno dead??? Did I miss that?

[intravention]

catch me watching bsd s5 last episode and cheering if dazai dies for real. I'd drink to that! (this is a joke. idk how to feel abt dazai's dying)

[intravention]

hooooooooo wow I have a lot of heavy lifting to do (literally: hit the gym more often, and metaphorically: cramming russian and program-specific code)

I will try to work on writing between all that and the mess that is my chew on air vs engorging on words schedule... I say that every month. I really want to start a series based on character birthdays and japanese holidays, but I don't want to be writing for the sake of just that, because then I'll burn out real quick... sigh.

[intravention]

my suspension of disbelief is suspended like mykola's (nikolai's) body in the new DoA color spread. he has such insane core strength! it's impressive enough being able to support all your body weight with a one handed bar hang, but he somehow manages to do that and position himself in a way that looks like he's casually sitting on air...? there's no visible tension in his body, he looks very relaxed... this guy is strong far beyond average, what the fuck. he has to be ripped underneath that outfit. think about the (delusional) implications here!

what is his workout routine. seriously. I want him to drop it.

for references:

this is how harukawa explains how he's holding himself up (image attached below for those who can't open the link):

and this is a video with a guy recording himself doing the bar hang with one hand for over 2 minutes. skip to around 7 minutes into the video, and you can see him try to adjust the rest of his body to a posture about halfway to the one in the color spread (albeit more realistic and nowhere as casual; this guy's grip slips and he falls shortly after).

[intravention]

Chapter 110 is shorter than previous chapters have been, but it sure is something.

Mostly Aya and Bram focused, which I'm okay with. My question is: when is Agatha Christie going to step in :(

The sword is a holy sword, I suppose, so maybe only the wielder can take it out of Bram? I don't know if sheer force is enough to remove it. Aya jumps off (ideally she will land on the edge of the table and adding more force to the rope... that rope better not break). And, well. It was forged from an ability user. Ability users aren't exactly known for following the principles of nature.

30 seconds until the world is truly beyond saving. Forget about what Fyodor, Fukuchi, Bram and whoever else have going on, someone needs to stop that warhead.

Atsushi is about to be bitten by Akutagawa. We don't see the fangs penetrate into Atsushi's jugular, but they're grazing close enough to that.

Not too many thoughts this chapter. Aya's reckless ambition to save the world is a sort of callback to BEAST!Dazai, both taking the dive for others. But it also highlights her own character, how loosely she regards the weight of her life against that of the world, in the speed it takes to make her decision. She's 10 years old. No child should feel that way.

Something I want to point out: while her eyes are open, they are always light. Even when the rest of her face is covered with a screentone, her eyes remain bright while they're opened. The only time they're not in this chapter is when her eyes are unseen or closed, like the moment right before she jumps off.

This would also be a great time to awaken an ability. I believe in you, Aya!

[intravention]

When the girlies are alone in prison

[intravention]

"I don't know how to explain it, but I think that people are happiest when they do something truly good."

_____

In other words, I watched this movie AGES ago- forgot about it for years, remembered it last night, watched it twice and then spotted a familiar name in the credits-

[intravention]

I've been a bit away for a while because Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint was literally eating at my heart and soul whilst breaking my brain and gluing it back together with craft glue (why I chose to read a 1.1 million+ book during a busy time? I don't know), and of course I'm gonna relate BSD and ORV together now.

Not gonna ramble, just gonna say, I think if you like BSD, you'll like ORV.

Chaotic humor ✅

An unhinged group of mentally ill adults + kids with questionable morals ✅

A protagonist that's been alone most of his life ✅

Partnerships that will mess you up ✅

Writing/story/literary references and themes ✅

Found family ✅ ✅

Arcs that will grab your brain and shake it like a piñata before stuffing it with new perspectives ✅

A fish nickname ✅

And ORV does it better don't come at me I still love BSD

Listen.

If BSD made me fall in love with literature all over again, then ORV made me fall in love with reading and writing again. If BSD takes the existentialist themes in literature and emphasises the search for meaning in life, then ORV takes the theme of a story to break it down and relate it to the makeup of humanity itself.

And I love both very much.

[intravention]

mm yeah trauma sized dazai fic (I have far too many wips sorry) got me feeling numb again idk when imma revisit to add a bit more flavor. obon or whatever fic we revisit