#but the title i'm thinking of is The Stormbringer

[bora-panda]

These are some OC's from a comic I've been working on recently. Some more art below the cut \(^v^)/

[several-breathing-eyes]

Do you think nicknames are a big thing in demigod culture?

There are lots of cultures where nicknames hold a lot of importance, like your family has a specific nickname they call you and your friends have a different specific thing they call you.

And in the world of pjo names/titles have power.

So maybe even more names/titles you have the more powerful you are. Like Poseidon also being known as Earth shaker and stormbringer, Nico being the ghost king, and Hylla earning the name Hylla twice kill.

So in demigod culture nicknames are a way to show you love someone but also a way to try to imbue them with power so that they'll be more likely to survive.

So for a demigod maybe there would be a specific nickname that demigod is called by their siblings (I'm pretty sure Luke calls Annabeth "Annie" at one point so maybe that's what her siblings call her?), a few nicknames used by friends (like when Piper and Leo called Jason Golden boy or sparky), and a nickname reserved for a demigod's significant other (seaweed brain and wise girl).

There's also the whole "don't name it or you'll get attached" concept that could factor in, considering how often demigods die.

So giving someone a nickname in demigod culture is a way of saying "I care about you, I want you to survive, so I'm going to run the risk of getting attached"

It would also explain why every time a new friend is made in pjo a nickname is one of the first things they get.

@fairytalepsuedonym

[starlightshadowsworld]

I do find it interesting how Agatha Christie in Bungou Stray Dogs is known as Dame Agatha Christie.

For those that don't know when someone is knighted by the ruling monarch in England they recieve a title with their name.

Men are referred to as Sir, for example Sir Patrick Stewart.

(And yes people are referred to as Sir despite not being knighted and yes it's confusing, welcome to England.)

Women are referred to as Dame. The real life Agatha Christie was infact knighted and given the title of Dame.

So this could simply be a reference to that. But I am curious about it given the close connection the Order of Clock Tower has with the British Monarchy.

As told to us in Stormbringer about how they are used to protect the Queen.

That kind of immunity and infamouy sets them apart from shadowy illegal organisations like the Guild and the Rats in the House of the Dead.

And makes them more like the Hunting Dogs. Which... I'm sure means they've got as fucked up a backstory as they do.

Nothing government sponsored ever goes well in Bsd.

I also wonder if Agatha was knighted after the Great War.

Given her real life counterpart was knighted and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Rather than for her literary work it would be for her fighting prowess.

Maybe, could just be a reference but the implications are fun to think about.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Dazai Likes People

Ok. So this is probably not the analysis you think it is. I'm not going to talk Dazai's dynamics with specific characters - I think that's better suited to personal interpretation and I've kind of already gone over my thoughts on Dazai's close relationships starting with this analysis here.

Instead, this is more about Dazai's thoughts on human beings in general, which, admittedly, can be a little hard to parse. There's a variety of thoughts on this amongst the fandom, ranging from the one extreme of "he loves people" to the other "he doesn't care at all".

This is merely my own thoughts on the matter. I don't know if this fully counts as an analysis, but I hope it at least sparks some discussion or helps piece some things together.

As you might've gathered from the title, I lean towards the idea that he likes people. There's always been things he's liked about people, as a matter of fact, but I think the nature of what he likes about them has changed across his development.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that Dazai's development as a character is, rather than a behavioural shift, instead based on his changing perception of human nature, and the value found in human connection. His methods are largely similar, however, the thought behind them and the direction they're given is different.

I'm going to be jumping around a bit with the timeline, so here's the core ideas in advance just so it's easier to follow.

Belief #1: "People are stronger in groups than individually." This has not changed across his character arc.

Belief #2: "There is a divide between myself and humanity that cannot be broached." to "Some of that divide may not be as wide as it seems." This development is still ongoing and key to his overall character conflict.

Belief #3: "Attachment is an incomprehensible motivator." to "Attachment is a reliable human drive." Take a close look at how his plans change as he ages.

Belief #4: "People just can't stop killing each other." to "There is beauty in the fighting human spirit." This one is a bit more conjecture based on hints in the story, but I think it holds some weight.

Belief #1: Groups over Individuals

This point requires very little explanation. If you look at the intro to the DHC conflict, linked here, you’ll find that he actually says it outright.

"What's more, you underestimated the power found in organizations. Humans are stronger in groups than they are as individuals. That's just the undeniable truth, Mr. One Man Army."

Again, in Stormbringer, Dazai confidently says the following:

"This is how the world works. It's an absolute truth no matter when or where you go. Groups are stronger than individuals...There's strength in numbers."

This is a canonical belief of his that he holds very strongly to, and at a young age at that. This is a primarily logical value to place on others. It's interesting though, because it goes beyond just "strength in numbers".

His further dialogue in the DHC prologue has him go on to respond to Shibusawa asking if the reason he joined the Mafia had to do with the strength in a group affirmatively. It ties in quite interestingly with what he tells Odasaku in The Day I Picked Up Dazai as the reason he should consider joining the Mafia, and Oda's own thoughts on the organization.

If one of their members is attacked by an outsider, they will turn into a row of fangs and bite the enemies.

"If you join, you will no longer be bothered by anything from your past. Because no past can touch that place."

He's said to speak with some pride about the organization in this scene. It's not just about strength. It's about safety. It's about knowing someone has your back. It is, ultimately, about trust.

So, really, it's no wonder that Dazai thrives in, and is honestly at his best, when working in partnerships.

The comfort in partnerships appears to have come rather quickly to Dazai in Fifteen; he works seamlessly with Chuuya after only a few minutes planning and is much more "alive" than in the previous scenes. We see a similar level of confidence, even unusually brazen cockiness, when working with him again in chapter 31. Dazai also works fluidly and has incredible faith in Kunikida, which explains their flawless teamwork in Entrance Exam.

He appears to be at his most confident when he is working with someone else. Look at these facial expressions.

So, it's no surprise that his response to crafting a way to protect Yokohama... is to create another partnership - this time between Atsushi and Akutagawa. And it's clearly not just for ability complements, but also some kind of genuine belief they have what it takes to support each other, if Chapter 84 and Beast are any indication.

It's about trust, in your partner and in your group. It always has been.

Belief #2: The Divide from Humanity

This divide comprises much of the fundamental core and conflict of Dazai's character - his disconnect and alienation from "humanity".

Again, this is not something I really have to defend - this becomes readily apparent to anyone who is the least bit familiar with the author's actual work, No Longer Human, from a cursory read through the manga, and is really quite obvious in the light novels, especially Dark Era, Fifteen and Stormbringer. As of now, it's still an ongoing aspect to his character, and if Oda's words are to be believed, he will likely always struggle with this disconnect to some extent.

However, there's a difference in how this aspect manifests in his dynamics with others across time.

Initially, it is a little like Dazai is unclear on how he differs from others; he only knows that he does in some way. He responds to Mori asking him why he wants to die with genuinely innocent confusion on why one would find worth in living, and responds to Chuuya stopping him from shooting the body with surprise and a simple admittance that not doing such a thing would be the "normal" way to think, before laughing it off.

By Stormbringer and Dark Era, Dazai is all too aware of what is "different" about him - that is, his apparent inability to connect with others in a meaningful way. However, I need to stress that this distance is also at least partially self-imposed. Dazai has internalized his differences from others, his lack of humanity, and decided to put up a front of being some inhuman mafia monster. Think "I am a man hated by righteousness" before repeatedly firing at Akutagawa.

Even with this initial uncertainty, there's one thing he's been quite clear on as different since the beginning: his high intellect, and he wields it like a weapon, appearing somewhat proud of at least this aspect of his distance from others. He's almost cocky about it, complains of boredom, and usually becomes interested in people when they sidestep or outright defy his predictions. It's something we see quite a lot of in his Mafia days and also a little in Entrance Exam. While he appears to grow more attached to people who live their lives in the midst of seeming meaninglessness than those who observe from the sidelines the way he does, he also comes off a bit envious in the same respect, especially when younger.

In some way, I wonder if this doesn't mirror Mykola's envy of those who "don't know they're stuck in a cage", in that sort of ‘how do people not see what I see’ kind of way, or 'if they do, then how can they deal with it'. Dazai’s intellect is rather like a double-edged sword - while it allows him a distinct advantage in prediction he enjoys, it’s likely also a strong contributor to his loneliness and separation from others, much like Ranpo. However, while Ranpo externalized his issues and thought there was something wrong with everyone else, Dazai internalized his and believed there was something wrong with him, which unfortunately caused him to isolate himself even further, rather as a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding the next point.

Dazai is a bit odd about his perceived inhumanity, because on one hand, he wields it when necessary much like his intellect, but on the other, he is almost dismayed by any reminders of his differences from "normal" people, even a bit hurt. A prime example of this is in the Dead Apple prologue, at Chuuya's "no one would believe that" line, but can also be found to a lesser extent in certain interactions in Fifteen, Dark Era, and Stormbringer. A lot of the complexity in Dazai's character comes from this juxtaposition - the mental superiority vs the human inferiority. So, he feels isolated in two ways: one is intellectually, which he tends to see as an advantage, and two is a bit harder to narrow down, but roughly has to do with the nature of the human self and its connections, for which he feels lacking.

Interestingly, Dazai seems to regard people with similarities to himself as threatening, and even gets uncharacteristically direct about how he is going to stop/kill them (Fyodor, Q). An interesting case occurs in Entrance Exam. Entrance Exam is really valuable for looking at Dazai's character because it is very much a transitory period for him, and there is one part in particular close to the end that gives me chills, both in the action and the implications of the action.

I am, of course, talking about the part where Dazai arranges Sasaki's death.

I'm going to expand on this later on once I do my analysis focusing on Sasaki herself, but her and Dazai have some pretty notable similarities between them that I heavily believe Dazai was aware of close to the end. For now, the most important similarity is the way they manipulate others - Sasaki's selective distribution of and often misleading info created situations that encouraged most of the people she contacted to act entirely on their own accord but also in the exact way she intended, without her having to do anything herself. This is quite eerily similar to the way Dazai tends to operate (though I'd say in his case with a bit more finesse that comes from Mori's strategic training).

And Dazai... he arranges her death using this same method. He kicks the gun, Rokuzou picks it up and shoots her out of revenge - and Dazai didn't have to do a single thing.

"She killed too many people."

So have you.

"That was the only way to save her. This was the best we could've hoped for."

........

I think I'll just leave it at that. There's a lot more to this complicated situation that deserves a thorough analysis of it's own, but I do think that the only means in his mind to save an empty, apathetic person who was responsible for too many deaths was to kill her says quite a bit about his mentality at that point.

But that appears to be changing.

I loved that Asagiri confirmed that Dazai's words to Kyouka in Chapters 34 to 36 are genuine. He's being probably as close to honest as we've ever seen. And we know this, because who shows up?

Why hello, Odasaku silhouette. Dazai knows full well how similar Kyouka and Odasaku are - their situations, even their dispositions, I'd say, and the way the both of them seem to unwittingly trigger character development in the people around them lol. But there's more to it than just that.

"Every person has their good and bad points, and your bad point happens to be killing. That's why you think you can't become an Agency member. That's just stupid."

"No one can know everything. That's what possibility is."

"You are not the only person with this kind of distress."

"Why do we fight? How should we live on? There is no one who can tell you the answer. All we have is our right to waver."

None of this is something I'd expect Mafia Dazai, or even Entrance Exam Dazai to say. This is someone who, from my perspective, has the barest, slightest will to live on.

"No one can know everything." In spite of his intelligence, in spite of his eerily accurate predictions, this admittance means that his perception of that intellectual distance is likely somewhat decreasing. He's still on a tier far above most other people... but he's closer to them than he is to a god. He cannot know everything.

It's similar to what he tells Sigma in Chapter 105.

"It's all a play of hands. I'm not a superhuman beyond the limits of human wisdom."

The emotional gap may also be closing a little. I think fondly of Dazai's dry "Don't you have any friends?" to Shibusawa in Dead Apple, then following up Shibusawa's dramatic 'I understand everyone so much that everyone bores me but don't understand myself' spiel with "You wouldn't be saying that if you had friends." Dazai really said friendless behaviour, pfft.

There's also his "I wonder how Kunikida-kun is doing~!" in the prison and his internal (and I thought oddly fond) comparison of Sigma to Atsushi.

Still, though, there is a significant gap in the way he removes himself from other people. Even as Dazai affirms his belief that it is the people who fight through uncertainty and live and breathe within it that create the greatest change, he still excludes himself from that category, placing himself, alongside Fyodor, above all others yet paradoxically inferior in the ability to enact real influence, sitting alone in a prison at the end of the world.

Belief #3: Attachment as a Motive

"I see... so it's all for your partner. Betraying the Mafia, spreading rumours about the old boss's resurrection, this fight we're in now... it's kind of hard to believe, to be honest."

Dazai, in his earliest appearances, seems to underestimate the drastic lengths people will go to in the name of the people they care about. The above line to Rimbaud, after he reveals he did all that he did to find out what happened to Verlaine, indicates that while he does understand bonds between others, he fails to grasp how that could be so incredibly motivating - whereas by contrast, Chuuya understands it instantly.

In fact, earlier in Fifteen, Chuuya's assistance is assured by Mori's capture of the Sheep members, which prevents Chuuya from harming anyone - Mori weaponizes this attachment and responsibility Chuuya has to great effect, and points it out to a bemused Dazai, who doesn't... really care. Dazai seems much more intrigued by the growing strife between the Sheep and their leader, and amusedly pinpoints Chuuya as a "sheep getting stared down by a wolf", before intentionally ramping up the tension. Dazai weaponized the cracks that were already showing between them, and while he seems to have started to acknowledge the importance of attachment as a powerful motivator, unlike Chuuya who sees it as honourable, Dazai at this point seems to regard it as a weakness to be exploited.

While Dazai absolutely shows budding signs of attachment himself in Fifteen and Stormbringer, it's nowhere near enough for it to be a key motivator of his own. He runs on logic. His plans are practical, precise and take no chances; a logical strategist much like Mori.

But that all changes with Odasaku. Odasaku's impact on Dazai was undeniably the strongest motivator for change he's had, but I want to talk a little about Dazai's side of things, and his unusual devotion towards his friend. For as much as Dazai is evasive, incredibly concerning, and apparently added some kind of stimulant to a dish he made for the trio without telling them (!?? bro.), when it comes down to it and things get serious, Dazai is, surprisingly enough, an objectively good friend to Odasaku. He gets panicked when he realizes Odasaku happened on Shibusawa during the DHC. He tells him immediately he doesn't need to use the Silver Oracle to ask for his help. He apologizes for killing the snipers in front of him because he knows Odasaku doesn't like killing (even if, at this point, he doesn't know why he holds this philosophy). He arranges for the kids to be hidden in a safe location once it becomes obvious Gide is targeting Odasaku. He tries to convince Odasaku he can find a reason to live, even though he doesn't, at that point, have one himself. He runs to him at the end, even when it is pointless, even when it is not logical, all because that's his friend. And this isn't even touching Beast Dazai, who wasn't even friends with the guy but saw that another him was, and decided he would do everything he did to protect that one person's dream (thereby missing what Odasaku wanted for him, which also, incidentally, was for his friend to live on, but I digress). Dazai is a surprisingly incredibly devoted friend to him. This guy experienced close friendship and it completely changed his perspective, because he'd never had anything like that before. Connection and understanding are extremely powerful motivators. He knows this now. It's in everything he does. The person is gone, but the bond remains, and it drives him to this day.

It's also important to point out that while we haven't seen the turning point in Double Black's dynamic where they went from uneasy partnership to that intense trust, Chuuya is the poster boy for attachment as a ridiculously strong motive for living. His decision to risk everything for the sake of those he has sworn to protect means that Chuuya is reliable. So, suddenly, Dazai doesn't need to make such stringent plans with him - they can be more loose about it, yet still perfectly in sync. "Chuuya is a reliable partner" is not an opinion to Dazai, it's a fact. Attachment as strength, not weakness. I feel reasonably confident in saying he likely learned this first from Chuuya. It gives him the power to persevere through the pain. It's not always fragile. It can be relied on. Chuuya struggles through his life and finds purpose in his bonds with others, and Dazai, both envious and admiring, picks up that he can utilize this in his plans.

Dazai making plans in the Agency is a little different to how he makes them in the Mafia. While there is still hefty reliance on logic and trickery, there's now an extra caveat of social and moral expectation. Dazai makes plans, knowing that people will carry them out because of the kind of people they are. He's making character judgements, not purely logical ones.

While Mori and Fyodor are also capable of much the same, it's rather unlike their methods, as they use attachment, often by leveraging it. Dazai can and does do this too, but notably, Dazai's allies are also regularly left to act in accordance to what they believe to be right without much direct interference - Dazai uses but also relies on this attachment to people and morality. It's odd, because in a sense, it's both an accurate logical prediction and a form of trust. Many of his plans in the present involve people doing what they would have done anyways given their character, but in a narrowed scope that comes from Dazai's influencing of them and the situation. He knows Ranpo will take charge when the Agency is threatened. He knows Atsushi will risk it all for his friends and family and people who remind him of his younger self. He knows Kunikida will never accept lives being lost if there is something he can do about it. He, highly unfortunately, knows Akutagawa will do anything to gain the recognition he seeks.

It's odd, because while undoubtedly still a manipulative tactic, he also has to know, for certain, that these people will act on their morals, drives, and bonds, otherwise it quite literally would not work. Is it manipulation? Is it trust? I lean towards both. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that Dazai finds at least some value in attachment (even if he, again, still largely detaches himself from pure expressions of this kind of motive - Odasaku was the major exception).

When Fyodor says people are sinful and can't help killing each other even when they know they're being manipulated to it and Dazai replies with yes, and? "What's so wrong with that?"

The way Chuuya wins against Verlaine, because he cared for people and Verlaine, in spite of everything, had at least one person he didn't want to let die. The way Gab might not have met such a tragic end if he'd had the chance to connect the way Atsushi had. The way the isolated Sigma ultimately falls, and Tachihara finds new purpose and drive from his conflicting bonds that should've weakened him but instead gave him conviction.

Attachment can be a foolish thing. It can be logically irrational, and in certain cases leaves one vulnerable, but it's not inherently a weakness. It can also be the source of incredible strength and perseverance. Human connection is the beating, bleeding heart of this series. The Agency barely took a breath after being framed before they were preparing to hold their own and prove their innocence - because the Agency meant something more to them than just a workplace. It's their place to belong. They rally to protect it and each other, just as Dazai knew they would, and he, too, is taking great risks to protect it.

Which brings me to the last point.

Belief #4: Beauty in the Fight

Fyodor and Dazai are foil characters - they are intellectual equals, and their methods of thinking and planning tend to be very similar. However, motivation-wise, they are very different - Fyodor says things like the above, clearly with a low opinion on most others. While Dazai agrees with the statement, he disagrees with the sentiment.

"What's so wrong with that?"

But I'll be honest: I don't think he always felt that way. In fact, I suspect he used to feel similarly to Fyodor when he was younger.

In Fifteen, Dazai describes the situation with the Sheep as similar to the "Undercooked Meat Theory" to Rimbaud, which acts as an analogy for violence - everyone wants to eat more of the meat, so one takes it earlier to get more than everyone else, then another takes it even earlier to get more than that guy, and so on and so forth until they are all eating undercooked meat. Here are some key points from that conversation:

Dazai: "If one person stops, he alone will end up with less meat than the other two. Therefore, each of them is trapped, forced to eat the undercooked meat and nothing else, even though all three know that perfectly cooked meat tastes much better."

Dazai: "It explains at least half the misery in the entire world."

Rimbaud: "I see... in other words, since everyone pursued what was best for them, they couldn't achieve what was best for the group..."

Rimbaud: "Violence and war are not necessary for survival... if everyone agreed to stop fighting and banned all weapons - then violence would be no more. But that isn't realistic. No matter what, someone will break the rules to get ahead of the rest... everyone else... would have to maintain their stance on fighting back only when provoked."

Although Dazai expresses his interest in the criminal underworld as a "thrill", there's cause to believe this dog-eat-dog world is something that Dazai himself personally does not like. After all, shortly afterwards, when Chuuya crashes onto the scene and proclaims that "the strongest always win", Dazai disgustedly says,

"It's people like you who turn the world into undercooked meat."

In a way, it almost reminds me a bit of what Teruko proclaims about what a rubbish society it would be if those with the strongest violence always ended up on top. That's her purpose, as a Hunting Dog - to use violence to stop criminals - but violence to maintain order is still violence. Violence begets violence, but you can't just not defend yourself in a world that wants to hurt you. And so the world goes round, and people still kill each other, often quite needlessly.

It seems both Fyodor and Dazai shared the mentality that people are all the same, self-centered and out to protect themselves at the cost of others; sinful, boring beings. Except Fyodor, a more proactive person, decided he was going to try and fix the problem. Dazai, prone to inaction, did not... and saw nothing interesting in the world worth living for.

"It explains at least half the misery in the world." I wonder, does it explain some of Dazai's misery too? He appears to be drawn to the Mafia, not because of the violence in itself, but because of the honesty with which it is approached. You know what you're getting, with organized crime - there's going to be crime, and death, and murder. The proximity to death is a removal of the veil of social acceptability; the mask over the world - Dazai is hoping that by getting closer to the cruel world's "reality", he'll be able to find that something that the people around him would kill for in order to live.

Unlike Fyodor though, who still sees people as boring for their foolishness, Dazai apparently seems to find them interesting by this point. What changed?

It's worth noting that even though Dazai genuinely thought Chuuya was just an arrogant, violent kid before the confrontation with Rimbaud, in an earlier fight scene, Dazai goes breathless at Chuuya's battle prowess. That sheer display of life and energy and raw destruction is something captivating to him. And that's interesting, because that fight there was one he had just previously been deriding Chuuya for starting - it was pointless violence, to him - and yet, he can't help but watch.

So, when the Arahabaki reveal happens and Dazai suddenly realizes he'd been mistaken about Chuuya, it triggers a shift. Chuuya wasn't looking for power. Chuuya was looking for himself.

In Fifteen, Dazai is intrigued by Chuuya's situation. In Stormbringer, Dazai is invested in Chuuya's story.

Once again, Dazai watches Chuuya fight as he relinquishes control to use the full power of Corruption, carefully watching the progression of it all. When Chuuya turns fallen angel, Dazai says to himself, "That's Arahabaki's - that's Chuuya's true form." This incredible show of strength is not just the result of a raw power. This is the will of a human who has something worth fighting for. Chuuya is not a blank vessel for Arahabaki. Arahabaki is Chuuya's to wield. This is all Chuuya, through and through.

Chuuya, caught in the act of dying, in a last-ditch play that could easily be a self-sacrificial one, surrounded by death and destruction, is nonetheless fighting with all the life within him to defend the lives of his people, with the symbol of his stubborn will to survive (that is, Arahabaki, the singularity that should've killed him) on full wrath and display. To the death-obsessed kid who wanted a reason to live, who did not see why people would fight so hard to live on, such a sight would be breathtaking.

Dazai is drawn to the people who struggle through hardship, and the ones who rebel in the name of valuing life. He becomes interested in Ango when he finds the reports he made on the DHC dead, that he made to preserve their lives even without Mori's permission. Dazai does not want to compromise Odasaku's morals, and is deeply fascinated by the juxtaposition of his Mafia status and his no killing rule, though he doesn't pry for the reason. With Kunikida, much as Dazai does not care much for ideals, he sees how Kunikida keeps on pushing through against every setback and horribly cruel reality check, and I honestly think he respects that.

Then there's this bit when Atsushi has just succeeded in getting Q's doll safely to Dazai after the curse on Yokohama.

"It was your spirit that emerged victorious."

He likes it when people succeed. He wants to see people triumph, against all odds.

I find it fascinating because Dazai becomes most invested in the aspects of the characters that we tend to get invested in - we, the readers, which makes a lot of sense given his consistent observer status. The story is never actively about Dazai, but he's always there, watching others' stories unfold, growing fascinated with the struggles they face and the development they undergo, and feeling pride and admiration when they learn to overcome.

But the tragedy in Dark Era in part was a vicious reminder that the story impacts him too, no matter how much he tries to detach himself - to become invested and connected is to open yourself up to the inevitability of getting hurt. But it's also in this struggle to find balance that we are open to make change, and to live.

Fighting to save a life - even and especially when that life is just your own - there is beauty to be found in that fight.

[lippmannssplatteredblood]

Was it ever confirmed Lippmann was based on Walter Lippmann?

No.

But wait, there's enough evidence! (Ty anon im using this ask as an excuse to ramble and getting these off my chest)

As we all already know, most of the characters in BSD, especially ability users, are based on real life authors. Stormbringer explicitly stated that bsd!Lippmann was "an extremely powerful skill user" so he must be based on someone. And guess what? There happens to be a writer with the exact name as his.

Walter Lippmann was an American journalist, politician, and writer. He was deemed as "the most gifted and influential American political journalist of the twentieth century". His works mostly took the theme of public relations and stuff. Sounds familiar?

I'd like to add this part from the etymology section of his(bsd) wiki btw, just in case you didn't know.

Does it end there? No, not quite.

Let's take a look at his most popular work; Public Opinion.

"...The pictures inside the heads of these human beings, the pictures of themselves, of others, of their needs, purposes, and relationship, are their public opinions. Those pictures which are acted upon by groups of people, or by individuals acting in the name of groups, are Public Opinion with capital letters."

"The pictures in our heads", page 29

People, generally, have some sort of "persona" of themselves that they would try to plant on other people's minds. Kinda like the Japanese "three faces" proverb, you may say. And how do they achieve it? By only presenting that persona; by masking; by acting.

"Royal personages are, of course, constructed personalities. Whether they themselves believe in their public character, or whether they merely permit the chamberlain to stage-manage it, there are at least two distinct selves, the public and regal self, the private and human."

"The pictures in our heads", page 7

Simply said, him being an actor might be a reference to (or a representation of) that human nature which P.O. talks of. An actor acts—they dive into the role of another character that's not them. (Which, when you think about it, is just what us humans do on a daily basis, except they do it professionally and for a living, which when you think about it again—)

Mr. Lippmann also published books titled "A Preface to Politics" and "A Preface to Morals" which is....interesting.

Okay, "preface" and "face" technically are different. Though they still share somewhat a similar meaning.

But hear me out. Let's go back to the persona thing. Generally, what people would want to be perceived as is as the perfect, ideal versions of themselves. To make that happen, they would have to put on a good first impression. And what's usually the first thing that people notice about a person? Correct—their appearance; their face.

Lippmann(bsd) was multiple times described as "perfect" (like okay asagiri, he's pretty, we get it), especially regarding his looks (and capabilities). See what I'm saying?

Lippmann was the stage face, the public image of the Port Mafia. He was the preface to the Port Mafia. He created the pictures in people's head of the Port Mafia.

As a verb, however, "face" has another meaning:

He negotiated with front companies, met and talked with political figures, and even dealt with the press if push came to shove.

I feel like this might be merely a coincidence or a pun, though. But the fact that his field of work in the Port Mafia was specifically negotiating with the "real world" is definitely not something Asagiri just pulled out of thin air—or so I believe to be the case, at least, having read this paragraph.

"This is the underlying reason for the existence of the press agent. The enormous discretion as to what facts and what impressions shall be reported is steadily convincing every organized group of people that whether it wishes to secure publicity or to avoid it, the exercise of discretion cannot be left to the reporter. It is safe to hire a press agent who stands between the group and the newspapers. Having hired him, the temptation to exploit his strategic position is very great."

"The nature of news", page 344

Oh, by the way, remember this scene?

It's just a silly, filler interaction that seemed not to reference anything, but just you wait.

"Men cannot long act in a way that they know is a contradiction of the environment as they conceive it. If they are bent on acting in a certain way they have to reconceive the environment, they have to censor out, to rationalize. But if in their presence, there is an insistent fact which is so obstrusive that they cannot explain it away, one of three courses is open. They can perversely ignore it, though they would cripple themselves in the process, will overact their part and come to grief. They can take it into account but refuse to act. They pay in internal discomfort and frustration. Or, and I believe this is to be the most frequent case, they adjust their whole behavior to the large environment."

"Intelligence work", page 383

Then again, these are but my interpretations and/or speculations which I'd like you to take with a grain of salt, as I could very well still be wrong (because Asagiri loves to trick us, apparently).

I could go on and on and on and on and on but I'm afraid I'd just be blabbering nonsense at some point. Thank you for reading my (hopefully coherent) ramblings.

[int3r3st1ng]

HOO

Since the series has brought the PJO books back to life, I was suddenly struck that I needed to get this off my chest.

I read the HOO books years ago, after the PJO books as well, and I liked them. Unfortunately, there were many parts I disliked.

This post will probably infuriate so many people and I will be referencing to future books, but I'm not interested in angering you, I'm more interested in what your opinion is after reading mine.

Don't write hate comments and don't strart hating my opinion just because I don't have the same one as you.

Battle with Gaea:

This was the biggest let down.

The battle with Kronos was gorgeous. It was beautiful with a great build up and so many emotions. I adored that entire battle. It literally lives on an invincible throne in my head.

I had high hopes for the battle with Gaea, after all she is more powerful than Kronos, right? It must be harder to defeat her, right? She has to fall to storm or fire, right?

Wrong!

Piper, don't worry I like her character, has so much dam power in her charm speak that she can put a primordial goddess to sleep. Unfortunately, I explicitly remember the prophecy not even mentioning her.

"To storm or fire, the world must fall"

Then Leo and Jason were fire and storm, but I'm pretty sure that "Stormbringer" is Poseidon's title. I get that Percy isn't always meant to be the hero, but he learnt that lesson. He wasn't the hero in his own book series. He stepped back in the Mark of Athena so Annabeth could be the hero. He knew that he couldn't always be the hero, so why did Rick make his arc be he has to learnt he isn't always the hero?

To be honest, I think that if Rick had written it that Piper didn't lull the goddess to sleep, but the seven all fought together again, that would have been better. Imagine the seven all working together. Imagine Percy and Jason creating a storm together. Imagine Leo ending Gaea in one fiery end.

It is honestly such a shame that nothing can shine on this fight, not when it will always live in the shadow of an undefeatable throne.

Ships:

(Not exactly sorry for what I say)

Percabeth, although cute, is not a perfect ship. They are not the "It" couple and they most certainly not what I would look for in a relationship. I don't want a girlfriend/boyfriend who gives me a nickname that constantly downgrades my intelligence. I don't want a gf/bf who judo flips me onto hard gravel. I most certainly don't want a bf/gf that is scared of me. I don't hate Percabeth, but Percy and Annabeth deserve better. Percy deserves someone that he knows he can talk to about Gabe while Annabeth, even if Percy chose her and gave her love, first needs familial love before romantic love.

Jasper/Jiper, was so bad. Jason got with Piper out of duty and they did break up in the end, but Rick got them to get together in one book. Secondly, Piper is so possessive and obssessive. I don't hate either characters, I just feel that Leo x Jason would have been a much better ship because at least Leo doesn't have fake relationship memories. For Piper, I would give her a girl. First, they would complete the quest then Piper settles down with a girl, like Rick did in Trials of Apollo, which I'm really happy about.

Frazel is cute. I thought the ship was adorable, but once again it felt like Rick was focusing on ships too much. They've known each other for two-three months and are dating by the end of a week. Not how I would plan that. I once again think that them getting through the entire quest would have been much better.

Caleo, in my opinion, is the worst. Leo wanted romantic love to fill the void he felt due to his lack of familial love. Why the hell did Rick think that giving him a love interest was a good idea?! Leo felt like the seventh wheel so Rick should've fixed that by, like, making the other seven want him around. You know, like a family? As for Calypso, I believe she should have either joined the Hunt or she was an asexual lesbian. Either way, I believe she would want to experience the real world before trying a relationship.

Solangelo was, quite frankly, my least favourite. Look, I love Nico and Will. Both are cool characters with so much potential, but it once again felt rushed. It felt wrong that Rick had Nico get over Percy only to get with Will like a week later. Secondly, Will and Nico didn't fit like yin yang. I know you're all thinking "Hey! That's my ship you're sinking!", but you have to admit that Will saying that the loneliness Nico felt at camp was fake. Nico was literally avoided because of his dad. The hell you mean, Will? I believe, Will and Nico shouldn't have gotten together. Nico should have gotten with someone else while Will explored his bi-ness.

Friendships:

There were so many friendship potentials.

Percy and Leo 1. Percy's burn proof-ish 2. Sass 3. Literally both met Calypso so why did Leo hate Percy when he left for the same reason? 4. Should've talked it out and figured it out 5. Bonded over having excellent mothers

Nico and Percy 1. Rick you butchered this entire relationship 2. Percy did trust Nico and had this relationship that essentialy said "The only person who gets to kill Nico is me" and even then Percy wouldn't have killed Nico 3. Took a dam prophecy to save Nico 4. Saved each other's lives 5. Deal with shared trauma 6. Like, cousins? You gave Nico and Jason time, can you please give Percy and Nico some time. They deserve to talk things over and figure things out 7. Percy did what he could for Nico to stay at Camp 8. Percy's response to Nico's accidental trick was completely fair because would you trust the guy who said they would help you but (accidentally, which Percy didn't know) led you to a death trap? 9. Top two most powerful demigods 10. Literally my fav characters (until the Nico fanbase made Nico feel so overrated, still love him though)

Leo and Annabeth 1. Two badass geniuses 2. Two book smart people on a giant boat 3. Both searching for love (Annabeth was hurt by her family and Leo lost his) 4. ADHD madman and ADHD Annabeth "Stay up till 5AM to work" Chase 5. Where was the friendship between the smartypants?

There are more but these are my top 3 platonic relationships that Rick would have explored.

Thanks for reading! You can say your opinion, but no hate comments.

[pleucas]

good evening. it is me again, skk hater - no air quotes because i am completely genuine in my hatred. this will be a long one.

i shall first begin with a thanks. i do write pretty often, and my ego has been sufficiently stroked. i suppose even the most despicable people have taste - at least in matters besides ships.

you have asked for my reasoning behind my vehement hatred of skk, and i think it's time for me to provide.

i'm going to be completely truthful - it's all Akutagawa's fault. i love him and his stupid victorian child fashion and british accent and dumb haircut deeply. so, naturally dazai is the bane of my existence.

now, even though i hated dazai more each time Akutagawa appeared, i actually didn't mind SKK for some time. i didn't get it cause Chuuya rarely actually shows up in the manga, which i read straight through without detouring for any of the light novels, but i was fine with it. they're fruity in most all their interactions, i shall never deny that because it's clearer than glass and i'm not that delusional, but i didn't see much substance beyond that.

then i read the novels and slowly came to the conclusion that i actually hate dazai even when Akutagawa isn't in the picture. and when i say HATE i mean HATE. he is the pebble lodged in my shoe, the lego on my cousin's floor, the table leg i stub my toe on, and so forth.

Chuuya, on the other hand, i love. he's great. amazing. stormbringer? peak. so, OBVIOUSLY, he could do much better than dazai. soooo much better. i mean, look at him

every time dazai and Chuuya have their objectively gay moments with each other, i feel like im watching my friend crawl back to their toxic ex.

that's how i feel with most dazai ships, and this is because dazai is always a smug prick towards the person he's being shipped with, and because i love Akutagawa i am not amused by this in the slightest. feels like he's rubbing salt in the wound. i actually like dazai more as a character when he's on the back foot. a (nonromantic) example would be him in The Day I Picked Up Dazai (A Side). dazai and Oda's dynamic is probably the best one dazai has in my eyes - though i don't ship them in the slightest. additionally, i think i, if only for a moment, actually liked dazai when he got ""killed"" in that one chapter. because it was a loss for him. in that moment, he (well, at least we're led to believe) got what he had wished for so often during the series, though it was not on his own terms. therefore, it felt almost like poetic tragedy - i thought it would have been a fitting end for him, and if it truly had been, i might like him now. this, as you know, was not the case.

furthermore, dazai is a fruitcake with or without Chuuya. it's not specific towards him, so i don't think anything real can be drawn from the vaguely homoerotic behaviour. i mean, dazai ballroomed danced with Sigma five minutes after meeting him. man just likes men, i don't know what to say

in conclusion, i feel like their relationship is unbalanced. dazai is never really shown to be all too worked up by Chuuya, even when he seems to be on the losing end of their bickering, but Chuuya is constantly harassed. while it's admittably funny, i don't like it in a romantic sense, nor do i see it in anyway that's different from Kunikida or Sigma.

that's about everything i can say without going on an unorganized tangent. i could bring up more specific issues i have that stem from Stormbringer and the Fifteen novel, but i have actual things ive been putting off writing - there's a whole book being sidelined by SKK right now. this has been a good way of procrastinating, but it must come to an end eventually

as for titles, you can call me Rimu. like the tree,

so, with an abundance of hate, Rimu <3

(ps: you might noticed that dazai's name is not capitalized at all in this ask. this is because he does not deserve that level of respect.)

holy hell Rimu. Hello, formally I guess — I will follow in your footsteps and leave dazai's name uncapitalized, because that was very funny

i've been putting off responding to this for a while but please believe that i have been thinking about it and periodically re-reading it. it's one of the most entertaining asks i've received LOL

to actually respond without completely proving your point of skkers procuring essays (though i'm sure you realize the irony upon review of your own accolade), i'll keep it brief. you had me in the first half, ngl, cuz i'm pretty sure 89% of us [skkers] agree, on a generalized scale, that dazai is the worst and Chuuya deserves everything and more (and better). he's the type of character that i enjoy as pure fiction, bc i know that if i knew him in person i'd hate him. same goes for my opinions on irl dazai — so asagiri did a (rare) justice for his authors there ig

abt everything else tho (imbalance, not being as affected by chuuya, similarity to other ships, and lack of intrigue)... i had a lot of responses prepared but really all of it can be summed up here as this:

like ngl man. LOL. i do blame the anime and its horrendous adaptation of dazai's character and skk's interactions, but that's another can of worms... that i have... opinons... about.

thank you for sharing your thoughts Rimu, i enjoyed reading through it a lot. keep it going!

with a mutual abundance of hate, Cas <3 <3 <3

[bungoustraypups]

Fictober Day 1: Brother (Let Me Be Your Shelter)

@fictober-event

Read on Ao3

Chuuya gets an unexpected visit from Paul Verlaine — the man who insists on calling himself his older brother — a day after he pulls off a difficult mission. They talk.

Prompt number: 1. "that was good work"

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Rating: T

Warnings/Tags: Nakahara Chuuya & Paul Verlaine (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Paul Verlaine (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Bonding, Family Bonding, Sibling Bonding, Brotherly Bonding, Awkward Conversations, Nakahara Chuuya & Paul Verlaine Are Siblings (Bungou Stray Dogs), Older Sibling Paul Verlaine (Bungou Stray Dogs), Good Sibling Paul Verlaine (Bungou Stray Dogs), Alternate Universe — Canon Divergence

Notes:

song in the title is "Brother" by NEEDTOBREATHE & Gavin DeGraw

october is gonna be a busy month for me but i'm gonna try getting as much done creatively as i can so here we are with this! i've also wanted to write for verlaine and chuuya specifically for a while so i'm fulfilling that desire too. i really do love them, especially in my fic 'verses

this fic is set in BSPverse, and happens about two years before safe & sound, so chuuya is about 16 here, and verlaine is about 30 (he's 22 when chuuya is 7, as far as my writing goes). this is also set before the canon-divergent events of what would be stormbringer according to the timeline

also chuuya has heterochromia here, as does verlaine. they both have full heterochromia (one blue one brown eye) but chuuya's brown is speckled with blue and vice versa, whereas verlaine's are a total split with no other colors in either eye.

also also the adoptive father of chuuya who is referred to here is an OC of mine, Sean Thomas Connery, who is loosely based off of James Bond and named after the man who played him the longest (and most famously) irl, Sean Connery. you'll see more of him in some of my other pre-hateful eight fics, and he'll be mentioned quite a bit throughout BSPverse

don't forget to leave a kudos AND a comment! comments fuel me now more than ever <3 reblogs here on tumblr are good too

and yes i am currently dealing with hurricane aftermath given that i live in SC so i do apologize for possibly getting even slower in the days/weeks to come :( but hopefully i'll post enough to keep my fics/me as an author from being forgotten

"That was good work."

Chuuya pauses in the middle of lighting up the cigarette in his hand when he realizes he's not alone. Blue-brown eyes pick up movement in his periphery, so he turns his head fully towards it, his expression as unsurprised as it is unimpressed.

The figure emerging from the darkness to stand at his side is none other than Paul Verlaine. Ever since they met officially a few weeks ago, following the man's return to Japan from a mission he'd been on overseas since before Chuuya was brought into the Port Mafia and subsequent promotion to the position of Executive because of that very mission, he hasn't been able to get away from him for as long as he's at work. Considering this same man was once a government spy, who still holds the title King of Assassins and has no plans to ever relinquish it voluntarily, that isn't a surprise.

Furthermore, the reason why Verlaine keeps hovering around Chuuya like some kind of homicidal mother bird isn't a surprise nor a mystery to him either. He isn't at all baffled by it, nor does he not understand why like some of the people he knows assume, either.

Chuuya finally settles on responding to Verlaine's statement with a quiet huff, finishes lighting the cigarette he'd nearly forgotten about, then mutters, "I think you're trying too hard to be nice to me."

Verlaine squints a little, an emotion caught between concern and confusion evident in his expression. "You misunderstand my intentions. I want to be good to you."

He frowns. It's not an angry frown, but rather one more familiar to the kind Chuuya's adoptive father might've made if he had been the one to catch him smoking instead of Verlaine. "I do suppose I could still be trying too hard to do that, and as such, I won't argue it."

The frown that twists Chuuya's face is irritated, as his voice when he hisses out, "Okay, and? What's the difference? Is there really a difference?"

"Being nice and being good to someone can indeed go hand in hand, but much like kindness and niceness, the two can also be done separately. In my eyes, being good to you, in this case, means praising your accomplishments as I see fit."

Chuuya growls at him, a sound coming from low in his throat, soft and half-hearted. "I don't need praise for doin' my job and acting on orders from the Don. You might as well praise me for breathing, if you're gonna do that."

"Would you like me to?"

The earnest look on Verlaine's face and tone of his immediate response catches Chuuya off-guard for half a second, and his response comes out bewildered despite his best attempts otherwise.

"It wasn't a request. I was tryin' to point out how ridiculous doing that would be."

Verlaine stares sheepishly in response, but says nothing in his defense. For reasons far beyond his understanding, it makes Chuuya feel bad, and he looks away, exhaling smoke from the cigarette.

"... my praise is far from baseless. You did do a good job. Outside of necessity, I do not make it a habit to lie to people. I wouldn't want to lie to my little brother, either."

Chuuya bristles a little. "You're still on about that 'little brother' shit?"

Verlaine's expression remains the same, outside of a deep sadness appearing in his eyes as he replies: "Regardless of whether or not you truly were a clone made from code in a laboratory as I was, or whether you are the child of a veteran who was stolen from a seaside village… the fact remains that both of us exist as we are right now for the same reason, as a result of the same desire, shared by scientists motivated by Ability research done on behalf of their wartime governments."

"And you think that's enough to make us family?"

"Last I checked, there was no need for two people to be close in any way for an adoption to take place."

The smile on Verlaine's face is longing as he continues. "Sean only knew you for a few hours before deciding to adopt you, did he not? I knew I wanted to adopt you the moment I laid eyes on you, as well." He pauses, hesitating, then says, quieter now, "Deciding to let you go after that, rather than hold onto you, was being kind to you, rather than good. It was that very action you told me made me a bastard in your eyes when we first met."

Chuuya rolls his shoulders. "I call lotsa' people that."

"You were angry, then. I could tell. It was well within your rights to be, too."

They both lapse into silence. Chuuya shuffles his feet, while Verlaine remains still. There's a distance between them of about three feet, and despite his clear desire to come closer, it's Verlaine who seems to be staunchly maintaining the distance, shifting away an equal amount whenever Chuuya unintentionally leans closer with his side-to-side motions when he shifts his weight and other unconscious little movements.

"Look, it's not you. Only Da praises me like that. He's the only person who ever has. It's weird to hear someone else do it."

"Perhaps it will become less 'weird' with time, then. Assuming time is something you are willing to give me."

Chuuya's breath hitches.

Verlaine continues, "As it stands… if I truly wanted to be kind to you, I would stop trying to stay close to you. I have never had any success in maintaining connections, friendships, or relationships of any kind outside of my beloved Arthur, and that is most certainly no coincidence. A being created on the whims of another such as myself, who cannot truly call himself a human, isn't meant to have friends, or family. Even Arthur was once nearly taken from me. I fear the same may happen to you, as well, someday."

"Don't."

Verlaine fixes Chuuya with a curious stare right as the boy looks up to meet it, a challenge burning in his eyes as he speaks.

"We're both members of the same organization, aren't we? If I'm good enough to earn your praise, you should know by now that I'm not gonna give up without a fight the second some fucker decides to make me a target. Besides, any fate that befalls me in the end? Is gonna be of my own doing. The only person who gets to decide when and how I die is me, and I don't mean that like how that bastard Dazai means it at all, either."

Now, it's Verlaine's turn to let out a short huff of disdain. "I would never assume you to be in alignment with that so-called partner of yours as it is. That would be insulting."

For the first time since they've spoken, Chuuya laughs, a real laugh, a bright smile stretching his face as he crushes the butt of his cigarette under his boot. "Y'know what? Maybe you and I really are��brothers, after all!"

As he says that, Chuuya closes the distance between them so he can throw an arm around Verlaine's shoulders, like Albatross sometimes does to him and the other Flags, that earns him an elbow to the ribs on a bad day and an affectionate eye roll on a good day whenever he chooses Chuuya as his victim for roughhousing, and—

For the first time he can remember, Paul Verlaine thinks he just might have what it takes to truly be worthy of becoming a person, a human, of his own right.

[cease-this]

Title

God works fast but fucking-michaell works faster. Whipped this baby up in 2 hours.

Warnings: Stormbringer spoilers, language

‼️This is a tickle fic, if you're not into that kind of thing then SCROLL‼️

"G-gyahahaha—! W-wait!" Chuuya clenched his fist tightly. His face pressed against the jacket of the man holding his wrist. 

Chuuya was currently sat behind Albatross, one hand held hostage while the other pounded at his back to try to get him to let go. Though it proved useless. How did Chuuya get into this situation you may ask? Well..

~~~~~~

"Chuuya!" The older of the two exclaimed as he entered the apartment, without knocking of course. The ginger grumbled. 

"No." The younger was layed across the couch on his stomach, blanked splayed over him. Despite the fact it was 2pm, he was still in his comfy pajamas. And sleeping. The room was completely dark, thanks to the black out curtains. Chuuya grumbled and shoved a pillow atop his head to hide as the lights switched on. He was not in the mood for this. "Get out."

"Eh? What's that all about?" The strawberry blonde raised an eyebrow at the response to his presence. "What're you hungover or something? I told you to lay off on the wine, but'cha never listen do you?"

Chuuya peeked out from under his pillow to glare. He was certainly not in the mood for a lecture. "I'm not hungover. I'm tired." 

"Uhhh-huh." His eyes glanced over to the wine glass on the table. Though it was still half full, maybe Chuuya hadn't gotten drunk enough to have a hangover. It didn't matter either way. "Cmon, get up."

Chuuya gave only a drawn out grumble in response, gripping tighter to the pillow so he could drown out as much light as possible. Albatross tsked. 

"Allright, if you're gonna be stubborn then you leave me no other choice. Swiftly, one hand snatched Chuuya's wrist. Where the ginger usually wore gloves he had a distinct lack, considering he was in sleepwear. 

"Fuck off." The gravity manipulator complained as he shoved halfheartedly at Albatross's back. In his state, he hadn't figured what was obviously coming for him. 

"You're certainly mouthy today." Chuuya's eyes shot open as he felt one finger drift across his palm. Then two. Then five. 

"G-gyahahaha—! W-wait!" Chuuya clenched his fist tightly. He pressed his face into the jacket of the man holding him hostage. "I'll k-kill you—!" 

Chuuya's voice shook and his words were stammered as he tried to even out his speech and not giggle. He didn't find this tactic very fair at all. 

"Still feisty, even when you're being tickled~" He snickered quietly at the way Chuuya threatened him. "And this isn't even a bad spo—"

"Do‐nt even th–ink about it!" Chuuya shuddered. He knew that his hand wasn't even close to as bad as… other spots were. Unfortunately, he didn't hold much sway here. 

"Oh I'm thinking about it." The strawberry blonde man grinned, turning and pinning Chuuya's hand down above his head. Usually, he'd be able to fight it off. But he was Unfortunately weakened by the tickles. "I'm definitely thinking about it.." 

Chuuya squirmed as Albatross sat himself on Chuuya's hips, straddling him. One of Albatross's hands wiggled fingers above the back of Chuuya's waist. "Feel like getting up yet?"

"Go to hell." Chuuya growled. Not only did he not want to, but it was a game now. And he was gonna win it. Albatross grinned wider, hand launching for Chuuya's helpless side, squeezing right against the dip in his waist. This method included him squeezing up and down, from Chuuya's ribs to his. Uh oh. 

"WAITWAIT!" Chuuya gasped out, cackles spilling from his lips as the olders hand found a sweet spot above his hip. The one that, before this moment, only shifty Dazai knew about. "StOHop I'll geHET up! ILl get UhUp dammit!" 

"Oh you will, huh?" The squeezing didn't stop as it zeroed in right on that sweetspot, causing shrieks and cackles from the ginger, as well as a stream of threats that would be terrifying if not for the fact that Chuuya was currently laughing. "How do I know you're not lying just to get me to stop? And besides, maybe I wanna keep on now that I've found your little soft spot~"

If not for the frantic laughter, Chuuya would've told him off for being a terrible negotiator, that Chuuya had already given in and he shouldn't be so cruel. Unfortunately. "NOhHO NOHO nNOhO! NOHoT thEHERE!" 

"Hmm tell ya what, I'll stop ifffff…." He trailed off, grabbing hold of Chuuya's other wrist as it came back to fight as well. He pinned it under his knee, giving the other wrist the same treatment before both hands zeroed in on the spot on either side. Chuuya hoped nobody was around to hear the embarrassing scream he gave at it. "...you agree to do my paperwork for the next month." 

Chuuya groaned internally. Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to bribe him. "G-gOHO tO hEHEll!" 

"Fine then.." he sighed before grinning, moving down a little to sit on Chuuya's Thighs, alternating between squeezing and massaging the back of Chuuya's Thighs and Kneading into his hips. And though his wrists were free, Chuuya had no means of escape as he shrieked and cackled. He tried to push himself up, but only slipped on the couch cushions, falling flat on his face. The way he couldn't get used to it was driving him crazy. 

It went on for about another 3 minutes before Chuuya gave in. 

"FIHINE! FIHINE ILL DO YOUR STUHUPID PAPERWORK NOW LEHET UHUP!" 

"You will?"

"YehEs!"

"You proooomise?~"

"FUHUCK SAKE YES!" 

After that colorful statement, Albatross let up, standing up and ruffling Chuuya's ginger hair once. 

"Cmon, get a move on, we've got a long day ahead of us, and you've got plenty of paperwork."

Chuuya groaned. It really was going to be a long, long day. He wouldn't have it any other way.

[quetzalpapalotl]

Quality wise (ie plot, characterization, narration), could you rank the idw phase 1 comics? Is RID good?

I'm a bit confused by this as because RID by John Barber is not phase 1, so I'm not sure if that question is besides the phase 1 one, if there's a confusion about when RID was published or if there's a confusion between IDW1/IDW2 and phase1/phase 2. So sorry, but I'm going to explain what it what just to make sure we're on the same page.

IDW1 or IDW05 is the continuity that spans the main comics published by IDW from 2005 to 2018. It's also the one called just IDW because when it was publishing there wasn't another IDW continuity and people called it that. It's divided by the editorial in 3 phases, I will try to summarize:

Phase 1, started in 2005 with Furman's -ation series (Infiltration, Escalation, Devastation) and some spotlight issues, after Furman the main writer became Shane Mcarthy with All Hail Megatron, and then Mike Costa took over with the 2009 ongoing called just The Transformers. There were other comics and mini series that took place in this continuity during this time, including Last Stand of the Wreckers, which is considered the best of all the phase 1 stuff

Phase 2, begins in December 2011 with The Death of Optimus Prime one shot, this starts the post war stage with John Barber and James Roberts writing two concurrent sister ongoings called Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets the Eye respectively. This marked a shift in the comics and popular opinion is that this is when they started being actually good (and I'd agree, but more on that later), there were more mini series, one shots, mini series and spotlights published. In 2014 they changed Robots in Disguise's name to just The Transformers so it wouldn't be confused with the 2015 cartoon and that's why the fandom calls this whole ongoing "exRID". Later they brought Mairghread Scott to write the Windblade series.

Phase 3, in 2016 Hasbro went on to make a "Hasbroverse" with all the new licenses they got, so this phase is full of crossovers, this was not a popular move. They also decided to relaunch all their main titles, even though they continued the same story. The Transformers (exRID) became Optimus Prime, More than Meets the Eye became Lost Light, and Windblade became Till All Are One. Till All Are One was the first series to end, it was all wrapped up in an annual and a year later Optimus Prime and Lost Light also ended. The last chapters of Optimus Prime occur concurrently with the Unicron miniseries, that was also set up in that comic, with the whole continuity ending in 2018.

Being done with it, IDW launched a brand new continuity from scratch, led by Brian Ruckley under an ongoing called just Transformers. It wrapped up in 2022 because Hasbro lost the license, but it had a good run, I think. Fans call this IDW2 or IDW2019 for lack of a better name.

Now to answer your question.

Obviously the #1 best comic in phase 1 is Last Stand of the Wreckers and I say this very confidently because it just doesn't have anything approaching competition. That comic is very good and everythign else is... well, is bad. You asked for my opinion and they're bad.

Characters are flat, execution is boring, plots are mediocre, dumb and usually deeply reactionary and then there's the racism. There are things I enjoy about them, some moments, some ideas, the fact that I'm lore obsessed and I filter my reading of those comics through the lens of what came after so I project aditional depth that originally wasn't there. I won't say is all unsalvageable, there are concepts in them that are pretty good, some are key to my interpretation of the whole continuity. But if you as me if on their own they are comics of quality, no I can't say they are.

I can be fun to see the ways they fail, but I don't think about them enough to confidently rank them from the top of my head, I would need to re-read them all and I... don't want to do that.

I'd say Stormbringer is the best one on the basis is the one I have less issues with and even if it can be a bit dull and the narration tries to hard, it's just 4 issues. Really, the -ations are probably the best of it, but don't quote me on that.

The worst is probably... Mike Costa whose worse crime (besides the racism and all of that) it's that is all so uninspired while also being the longest running. It's just a constant stream of empty dolls going through the motions of doing a comic that's not fun and doesn't make sense. Again it has its moments, but I feel like most of the interesting stuff from it got picked by Barber who actually made something out of it, and on that topic...

exRID is so good. I love exRID. I like it more than Mtmte at times, I certainly like Optimus Prime more than Lost Light and I'm the kind of person that puts a lot of weight on a story's ending. I will use Mtmte as a point of comparison not to throw shade but because I consider both of them of the same overall quality and the "best" IDW1 has to offer (I mean also the Wreckers series, but that one os made of 3 entries thatw ere thought final and not an ongoing, so it's different).

Character-wise, exRID is not as strong as Mtmte, not because it has bad characters, but because it's more plot-focused. A lot of Mtmte's charms comes out of characters interacting and bouncing off each other even in the more plot-heavy parts, and it has kind of a sitcom-y feel. That is not something you will find in exRID, and I think that's why a lot of people who first read Mtmte are dissapointed when they pick up exRID. It has less space to breathe, not that it doesn't have interesting dynamic or funny moments, it's just that moment-to-moment Mtmte is more enjoyable, and Mtmte's dialogue is just so good.

While exRID has a much more utilitarian approach to characters, where everyone serves a specific purpose towards the overall narrative, they have enough characterization and personality to not be flat and give their actions meaning most of the time, althought everyone is kind of a jerk, exRID it's very sympathetic to its characters. Even when people are being unreasonable, they usually have a point or a reason to feel the way they do. For the most part, the narrative really isn't concerned in having someone be "right" and everyone is some manner of flawed, even the Autobots.

This results in a better narrative econony and thematic consistency, which is really where exRID excells at. Barber had something he wanted to tell and focused on achieving that, while Mtmte kind of starts falling apart at the seams due to everything JRo threw at it and some of it's main characters felt like their arcs were dropped. I feel much more satisfaction towards exRID/OP as a complete story, it does feel like, for the most part, ever small part of it contributes to the whole. While Mtmte deals with the war and it's consequences, the setting creates a distance from it, so it's more about how the characters process it on a personal level (and on this sense, it fails when it tries to work through it on a bigger scale it's not designed to handle), in exRID the consequences are very physical, the peace threatens to break at any moment and the plot is carried out by how characters react to these circumstances, for which we get very different perspectives. Really most characters just want to be safe and happy, but given their story, getting along is not so easy.

Now, problem is that to get the most out of most of exRID, you really do need to read the bad comics of phase 1 (and some of phase 2) and Barber is a continuity freak. Which honestly works great for me, but no so much for other. It is genuinely interesting to see how Barber tackles some of the concepts introduced earlier, especially when Optimus Prime re-enters the scene, as he's a fascinating character work that tries to consolidate all the other writer's portrayals. Similarly, the Optimus Prime ongoing took the brunt of all the Hasbroverse crossovers, which range from good, to mediocre, to bad. You can probably follow the plot even if you don't read any of that, but it does make much more sense if you read all the side stuff.

I'll stop now. But yeah, that's my opinion, I hope you found it useful.

[lesbianyosano]

ahhhh i didnt think anyone would really be interested in this but im happy to explain!! there aren't that many interesting ones, most of them sound exactly like in english or have very slight differences that dont really change anything (for example light snow is just "snowflakes"). there are however 3 that i think are fun to look at!!

"no longer human" is translated as "zatracenie", this wasn't a choice made by the bsd translators, it's the name the original novel is translated under. this word can be translated in a few ways, most dictionaries offer "perdition", as in eternal punishment/damnation, but i think a more accurate one (at least in this context) would be "to lose oneself/one's sense of reality" or something along those lines. unlike the og title or the english one, humanity is not mentioned or even alluded to with this phrase

kunikida's ability is great, because it uses a word with a deeper cultural meaning. instead of "lone poet" (which would be "samotny poeta") it's "samotny wieszcz", meaning "lone bard/prophet". i'm unsure which word to use exactly because while bard is the most common translation, the verb that the word derives from (or maybe the other way around idk) is "wieścić" meaning "to prophesize". the cultural context is that this word is only ever really used to describe a specific group of romantic poets (here's some more info on that if you're interested). it's a very charged word, closely associated with romanticism and polish messianism. in one of the translator's notes it says they chose to do it this way because his ability is basically writing something that will later come into reality

the last one is chuuya, although this maybe isn't as interesting. instead of "for the tainted sorrow" it's "tainted with sorrow". so it shifts who the expression refers to. i doubt this was done in reference to chuuya's backstory and rather becaus eit'd be hard to translate it verbatim, but i think with the context of stormbringer it just hits extra hard

that' all sorry this got so long adgsdfa

I love you translator notes I love you translators caring that I fully grasp the meaning of the original text I love you translators adding cultural context and specifics so I can better understand what's going on I love you long rants on why a joke is impossible to translate I love you translators adding their little comments to the scene I love you translators feeling human and involved in the material I love you translating as a form of art I love you little t/n abbreviation

[cousticks]

what do you think about verlaine's whole "waiting for a storm" thing at the end of sb? do you think we'll ever see him in the main storyline?

I saw a really interesting take on the storm Verlaine is waiting for being Chuuya a while ago that's stuck with me. Its a really interesting concept and a good read!! I can't say for sure what kind of storm Verlaine is waiting for, but it has to be something truly Earth-shattering. But the title of the book, the Chuuya-centric book, is called Stormbringer. I have reason to believe whatever it is, Chuuya will be sorely entrenched in said mess.

I really do hope we'll see him in the main storyline in some major upcoming arc, because one can't leave a loose end like that open to never be tied. Even if he's just referenced, he'll have to pop up eventually (I hope.) A lot of the light novels are kind of independent to themselves, but Stormbringer (or at least, the battle with Verlaine) is mentioned in The Day I Picked Up Dazai Side A, when Oda and Dazai are trading stories. So there's already a precedent of Stormbringer events being mentioned elsewhere. I can only believe these will be called back later, at least in another novel.

As far as the main storyline, no matter how much i want to and would like to see Verlaine in the main story, realistically... I can't exactly say for sure. Verlaine is heavily tied into Chuuya's story, is a part of Dazai's past. We sometimes forget that Chuuya and Dazai aren't the focus of the main plot. They're a side-story, they're lore, they're old news. The main plotline is about Atsushi and Akutagawa. And Verlaine... doesn't have much of a place there, or at least not one that's been established yet. The most we have is Verlaine training Gin to become an assassin. I want Verlaine in the main story in at least a cameo. But if he actually turns up is pretty up in the air. I'd put money on him turning up in a future novel if he doesn't show his face in the main story, though.

Sorry I don't have much for this one. I'm so far behind in the main storyline I can't point any arrows at a coming storm just yet. Someone remind me to revisit this when I get the time to get caught up.

[hannahhook7744]

Hannah Hook Verse masterlist part 2;

Part 2 to my descendants oc's masterlist.

🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

Requested;

Hannah and Luke art request:

Summary: what the title says.

Treycor art request:

Summary: what the title says.

Info on characters;

For your OC Remi de Vil, Carlos's younger brother;

For your OC Hope Sid;

For Hannah Hook:

For the OC ask game for Haul and Hannah;

About your character Jenny who was killed by a shadow in Neverland;

How does it look when Storm Bringer crew goes out for an ice cream?;

Hi. So, I'm interested in knowing more about your OC Herlando ( that is his name, right?)?;

Which of the Hook siblings, both in canon and in your AU, are the best at actually talking about feelings?;

From your fanfiction The Failed Shovel Talk;

What is the relationship between Mal and her younger brother, your original character Treycor? ;

Why Hannah doesn't get along with the core four (at first);

In Haul's mind, he had to go;

How does Haul's family react to what happened in the 7 years he was gone:

Random fact about Alex Aoratos-Sinclair:

Random facts about Hannah Hook;

Random facts about Hannah Hook part 2;

1st descendants oc?:

What about Fiona?:

Hannah Hook's enemies;

Moxie and Hope info;

Random facts about the stormbringer crew;

Reasons why Hannah Hook ranaway;

The magic of friendship part 1:

What the Stormbringer crew is going to be for Halloween;

The Stormbringer crew's favorite Halloween candy;

Are Stormbringer crew doing anything for Halloween?;

Soulmate Marks (Storm Bringer Crew Edition);

Genesis and Evelyn!;

Noah info;

Plushies;

You have the following items;

Hopxie's wedding in a nutshell;

Storm Bringer Crew Friendship aesthetics part 1;

What is the most flashy thing Hannah did to torment Judge Frollo?;

Eugunzel kids and Hannah's relationship;

Do you have any AK ocs?

What are the ages of Mal's siblings? Mal at sixteen is one of the oldest, right?

next time, think twice;

Frollo must pay;

What does your version of Cj think of my oc, Hannah Hook?;

Do you have a backstory for Remi de Vil?;

Hannah Hook character heights by the end of d3;

Hannah Hook's Auradon class schedule:

Meet the characters;

Meet Hannah Artemis Hook;

Summary; Meet Captain Hook's Adoptive daughter, Hannah Hook.

Meet Prince Lucas Larson Tremaine-Westergaard of the isle;

Summary; Hans and Drizella's son, Lucas "Luke" Tremaine-Westergaard.

Meet Isaac William Cipher;

Summary; meet Bill Cipher's son, Isaac William Cipher.

Meet Fiona Freeland Foundling;

Summary; Meet dark fairy, Fiona Foundling.

Meet Noah Sage Napoleon Bradford Aoratos;

Summary; Meet Persphone and Hades' son, Noah Sage Napoleon Bradford Aoratos.

Meet Treycor Zagreus Adonis Fae-Aoratos;

Summary; Meet Treycor Zagreus Adonis Fae-Aoratos, the son of Hades and Maleficent.

Meet Remington Phoenix de Vil;

Summary; Meet Remington Phoenix de Vil, the son of Cruella de Vil.

Meet Phoebe Anne-Marie Gothel;

Summary; Meet Peachy Gothel, the daughter of Mother Gothel.

Songs;

Evil Hannah Hook aesthetic and song;

Lands Hannah can't be!;

Other;

Descendants Detention slips (oc addition);

Descendants Detention slips (oc addition) part 2;

Descendants Detention slips (oc addition) part 3;

Hannah Hook Barbie Posters;

Aesthetics;

My oc bedrooms part 2;

My descendants oc ships part 2;

My descendants oc aesthetics part 6 (for Hannah Hook's crew);

My descendants oc aesthetics final (for Hannah Hook's crew);

Hannah Hook universe stories:

Dr Jiminy part 2;

Summary: where Jimmy Cricket had a show that is a mix of Jerry Springer, Dr Phil, and Murray.

The Hooks are terrible narrators and Hannah Hook is no better;

Summary; this is what happens when you let Hannah Hook narrate.

Hannah Hook Narrations part 1;

Summary; this is what happens when you let Hannah Hook narrate.

She has a way with words (with her feet? Not so much);

Summary; Hannah Hook is clusmy.

An odd meeting;

Summary; Hannah Hook meeting Captain Magnum.

James Hook facing Hannah Hook's teenage wraith;

Summary; What the title says.

[roses-are-blue16]

Hi! I just saw your timeline of Dazai/Chuuya being made executives, I'm 95% sure the "Chuuya became an executive before" is actually bad info that came from a mistranslation in the Dead Apple light novel adaptation.

When Chuuya is introduced, they say he's an executive, and I have no way of telling you what the original text said, but the manga was clear that they were both "candidates", so I'm pretty sure none of them were executive before that.

Also, Stormbringer vaguely mentionned Chuuya getting a gift for being made executive, and Higuchi was there for that, so it happened rather late I think...

Yeah the info does seem unreliable, especially when making the timeline and seeing it laid out how much stuff Dazai was involved in. I know Mori gave Rimbaud's hat to Chuuya as gift for joining the mafia and I think the coat was Dazai's for joining. I don't think they got anything for making executive (that I currently remember). I also vaguely remember something about Higuchi and if she was there than that puts Chuuya's timeline to sometime after Dark Era.

Ahem feel free to ignore the next part in which I got carried away and has nothing to do with the timeline chat. (I'll make this a separate post at some point ^^")

However this does not mean Chuuya replaced Dazai because in current time during the Guild Arc it is revealed Mori had kept his position permanently open for Dazai specifically and intends to keep it open. So probably a promotion happened if another Executive got killed.

So the current fanon about being treated as second best is not accurate to me. Especially since Chuuya was accomplishing a lot in his own right and at rapid speeds as an executive candidate faster and at younger age than his peers. Let's not forget Chuuya is also an exception even if Dazai flares too brightly in comparison that it gets overshadowed by the fandom.

Dazai himself got promoted probably because of the Dragon Head incident took out the Executive Colonel. Mori has no reason to remove executives for no reason. Everything is based on merits and opportunities otherwise how else do you keep subordinates motivated and dedicated to making the Port Mafia prosper and keeping feelings of resentment and mistrust from forming. Executive is a very important title with A LOT of power and needs a lot of things considered that is separate from how much influence and power you carry as a candidate although it certainly won't hurt you and increases your chances of being taken in consideration. Otherwise Dazai would have been promoted way sooner than that considering everything he already knows about Mori. He still had to show his worth for two years after joining, not even taking into consideration the stuff he did before he even officially joined. The hardest most complicated jobs involving setting up the very pillars of the Port Mafia (probably used to this day and allowed future operation s to be set up) always went to him and even then it took another Executive getting killed that led to him probably getting promoted.

I think the narrative that Chuuya is this second best constantly underappericated and overlooked subordinate is not only not accurate but ironically overlooks, underapprecitaes and diminishes not only Chuuya's accomplishments and importance but also Dazai's during that era.

Let's also not overlook the great lengths Mori took to not only get Chuuya in the Mafia but also keep him there through much surveillance and hostages as shown in Stormbringer. I think people need to remember how Chuuya alone was such a serious threat that caused significant damage to the Port Mafia and reread the bar scene in the beginning of Stormbringer (everyone thought Chuuya was going to lead a coup that would split the mafia). Nakahara Chuuya was THE number one danger and person of interest in his first year as a mafia member and still made executive candidate. Very young and very perfect and saw leading one the most profitable market for the Port Mafia as child's play considering the markets he controlled and lead as a King of a much smaller organization that he lead into being a power house the Port Mafia had to take action against.

Still everything will be made clear if we get more info about the Dragon Head Conflict and the aftermath as well as the two years leading up to Dark Era that we currently have no info on.

Thanks for sending this anon! Also sorry about the rant that's off topic in the middle once I get thoughts I can't seem to stop 😭😭.

[screeching-painter-witch]

wait the origins of the detective agency light novel is from ranpo's pov?? omg i need to read it (i got stormbringer as my first light novel for some reason and i'm gonna read it as soon as it arrives. idk why i made this choice as a first one but it sounded like a cool title and ppl recommended it but now i know it's apparently going to hurt me.)

my faves are chuuya <3, ranpo, kunikida and atsushi, also dazai because i relate to him the most and he gives me gender envy. i also relate to ranpo (yay for audhd). chuuya and kunikida i like because kunikida is very interesting to me (his ideals and borderline self-sacrificing tendencies as coping mechanisms are so fun to analyse), i like chuuya bc of how intense and angry he is and because i think he looks rlly cool. atsushi bc he reminds me of a younger me and i just want to give him a hug

i have a lot of faves and tbh i haven't even finished the show yet but i think these ones will keep being my faves

i also like poe but i don't know him well as a character, and i like akutagawa and kyouka (i love that she's tiny and cute but also very terrifying. best combination of traits to have) but they're not quite my top faves. i have a feeling i'm gonna love nikolai but we'll see (i'm at the first half of season 3 currently). i also have brief recurring periods of just. Thinking about odasaku because i love himb but he didn't get enough screen time to be a Favourite yk?

ok this got long but i love talking about these characters and the above is me trying to keep it brief lmao

hey i'm bored so. can i ask who your favourite bsd character is and why you like them?

(sorry if this is weird i don't tend to send asks much)

OMG HI! okay i love ranpo because he’s autistic coded and i relate to him and i love love love the way his thoughts are mapped out in the origins of the detective agency light novel. and then. chuuya. mf chuuya nakahara my beloved. i’ve been putting off reading stormbringer because im Scared. i think ive imprinted on him because he gives me gender envy and i also just think he’s cool, more analysis to come after stormbringer

[ikiyou]

Okay, honest question, because you are the resident bsd expert - how shippy is stormbringer? Like much subtext can my fangirl heart read into it? I am also assuming that it might be better to read the fan translation than the official book? Which for the record I have already bought because we gotta support our favourite franchises. Thanks~

Well, I'm truly honored if you think I'm a BSD expert!  I can point out others who may have finished the Japanese source material, and might be able to have more insight on that front.  While I am reading and translating the novel in the original Japanese, I'm nowhere near completed.

I did watch both the Japanese and English subbed stage plays for Storm Bringer.  I am making an educated guess that the stage plays are pretty close to the novels in their accuracy.  The beginning of Storm Bringer certainly was, at any rate.

As with all of BSD, you know that it's not really a shippy kind of anime/manga. That holds true here as well - which is great if you aren't into ships and also great for leaving the door open for them.  Since it doesn’t seem you’ve seen too much about Storm Bringer, I don’t want to spoil it for you.  But I think it’s fair to say that Dazai has Chuuya’s back in very Dazai ways, despite their so-called ‘hate’ for each other, finding potential solutions for him, and supporting his desires.  Dazai believes in Chuuya’s humanity, despite Verlaine’s insistence that both of them are inhuman.

I think in the end, you can read as much subtext into it as you want.  I started BSD and saw nothing between Dazai and Chuuya.  After I became a soukoku fan, I can read a lot more into it… but it’s nice to have had both perspectives because I have more insight into lines where some fans like to go wild about – in the end, where you personally sit determines the way in which you view content, and not how that content may be intended (not saying BSD is NOT intended to be shipped >.>).  It’s also safe to say that canonically, Dazai and Chuuya have a very special, unique relationship.

(Soukoku aside, though, you might check out the relationship between Adam and Chuuya because that… is very nice >.> however you choose to take it.)

As for fan vs official, if you are talking about reading the fan-translated English vs the official-translated English, you are right in that regard.  I’ve heard from other fan translators that the official English does some disservices to the source material.  Fan translators tend to have a better grasp on the characters and material, and more time in which to do the translation.  Tis the nature of the business: translators have very little time in which to turn around a piece of material on which they have little to no background in the story or characters – that’s a true anecdote from a translator in my Japanese course.  It’s why we have such gems as “Twin Dark Sidekick” making its way into official material, when other official material has already listed “Double Black” or “Soukoku” as the preferred titles.  There’s little cross-checking in ‘official’ English translations, folks.  Please dis on the official English all you want, it’s a sport.  But DO buy it because it helps support BOTH sides, and shows that the non-Japanese fans are a lucrative business and want moar.  And the way in which you convince Asagiri and creators to give us their content WITH English is to buy it.

And that’s awesome that you’re supporting the franchise!  Honestly, that’s where all my stray money goes >.>  And I’m hoping that this recent trend of having content virtually available - like the Storm Bringer stage play (in ENGLISH even!), and recently the Granrodeo concert, is a trend that’s here to stay!

Thanks for your ask!! 😊😊😊