#cause that was worth it ( quotes )

[poisonousquinzel]

ngl real missed opportunity by DC to let Harley and Mr. Freeze become friends during her primary villain arc (btas or other) cause tbh I can't imagine he'd enjoy sitting in his cell listening to Joker brag about all the ways he's cruel, abusive and uncaring towards Harley, a woman who loves him, while Victor's entire goal is to save his wife who he loves dearly ya know ???? and it's not like all of them haven't been locked up together, the other rogues Know. Joker's not like most abusers who try to keep it behind closed doors, he's very public with his abuse.

And just that feeling of like "I am doing everything I can to save my wife, I have become a criminal and have done awful things in the name of love and I just want nothing more than to have her back and You Have Someone Who Loves You That Much, That Much To Become A Criminal As Well And You Repay That Love By ABUSING HER."

[designernishiki]

playing kiwami 1 and man. all jokes about majima everywhere aside, it means Something to me that after kiryu gets out of prison the first and only person to go out of his way to find and see kiryu after 10 years is majima despite the fact that being in the tojo clan and fraternizing with kazuma kiryu at that point is basically a sin worthy of god knows what punishment (and in broad daylight at that). and all just because, in his own weird way, he missed him a lot.

[anti-dazai-blog]

The three generations of Double Black and their purpose, or lack thereof

In honor of my birthday, I was planning on making an analysis of whichever character has a birthday closest to mine. However, it seems like my birthday falls directly in between Natsume’s and Mori’s birthday (February 9th and 17th respectively, with my birthday being February 13th).

Which means I gotta combine the two and turn this into a closer look at the three generations of Double Black.

[for the sake of clarity I’ve decided to use “double black” here instead of soukoku, since soukoku is used more in reference to the ship than the duo]

Please note that I’m getting a lot of information from the bsd wiki, which I know isn’t always so accurate, but going through every chapter and light novel with Natsume or mention of the original framework he set up would not be a doable amount of work for me to complete today.

Natsume is still a figure of mystery in the BSD universe. We don’t know much about him—although he’s seen as some ultimate “good” in the sense that anything he says or does is considered “correct” by the characters he has interacted with. Although it may sound extreme, he’s practically deified. Both Fukuzawa and Mori, two characters who are strong leaders and do not often take orders from others, would readily abide by Natusme’s wishes. 

The framework he created—the tripartite framework—is something that they both agree MUST be abided by. The framework itself is questionable—the basis of it was to handle the issue of the extreme rise in criminal activity post-war. Rather than working towards curbing crime in any more standard way, his solution is having a guy working for him in the criminal underworld, and attempt to put a stop to the worst kinds of crimes through him. 

Fukuzawa, being a former assassin himself, most likely is familiar with and agrees with the concept of some crimes being worse than others, and some people being enough of an evil in the world and enough of a threat that they need to be killed. Remember, he didn’t quit his job as an assassin due to feeling it’s morally wrong to kill; he quit because it’s morally wrong to kill just for the sake of killing. So it’s reasonable enough that he’d find the tripartite framework to be a valid way of handling things, and have no problem with Mori working from the criminal underworld to keep things under control from there. 

Regardless of how unheard of this method of crime-stopping is, and how Fukuzawa and Mori’s blind faith in him could be dangerous if he were to be misguided or more morally grey, this method seems to be effective in the bsd world. We see that the mafia has the criminal underground under control, while the agency deals with crime that comes up to the surface, and the government dealing with civilian issues. And regardless of what conflict Mori and Fukuzawa have currently, the tripartite framework is something that they’re both equally invested in and consider necessary. 

Out of the (so-called) “three generations,” they are the most successful. They have been working together and fulfilling their shared goal for many, many years. No matter what conflict may come up, the framework is their top priority. They will ensure Yokohama is safe, and they will oversee their respective segments of it. They are both aware of their own roles and have a mutual respect for the other’s role.

Which brings us onto the duo Mori created—double black. As Mori said, he’s forcing them to work together in an attempt to duplicate something Natsume explained to him. Double Black is, at first, Mori’s pet-project or side hobby. It’s formed for nothing more than curiosity at first, but with Chuuya and Dazai’s individual skillsets and abilities, they ended up working together as the feared mafia duo we know them as. This duo works as an extension of Mori’s role in the framework, and because of that it’s certainly not the next part of the tripartite framework. Or rather, it wasn’t when Mori made it, and it wasn’t made with that intention. 

After Dazai left the mafia, double black changed. Now it’s no longer a mafia subgroup, because half of it is no longer in the mafia. From an external view, it acts as a dangerous last resort—a final defense against major threats. The people of Yokohama can rest easy, since if everything were to go very wrong, all hope is not lost unless double black is defeated—something that will probably never happen. 

But Dazai and Chuuya themselves don’t share the same sentiment. Unlike the original heads of the framework, these two aren’t on the same page about what they’re doing or their duo’s current status. To each of them, it’s just a job. They both want to protect Yokohama, and recognize that Yokohama’s safety is a byproduct of their work—but they don’t see “protecting Yokohama” as their job. It seems like they see each job as a one-off commission work. Their job isn’t “protect Yokohama,” it’s “defeat this one specific enemy and then go home.” 

And additionally, they’re on different pages regarding double black’s current status. It seems that Dazai views double black’s inactivity as something that happened due to his absence rather than him defecting—and now that he’s back, so is double black—hence, him referring to Chuuya as his partner. On the other hand, Chuuya views double black’s inactivity as something that happened due to Dazai defecting—double black was a mafia subgroup, after all, so it makes sense that if half of the duo isn’t under mafia employment, the duo cannot be currently active. Hence, him declaring Dazai his “ex-partner.”

As things stand, they’re working more closely to the tripartite framework’s successors, since now they’re (1) positioned at opposite ends of the criminal underworld, and (2) working towards a common goal of protecting Yokohama. However, until they both realize that their official job and duty is protecting Yokohama (rather than that just being a biproduct of their work) and until they both mutually agree to work towards that shared goal together—each on their respective sides of things—they won’t be able to truly be the inheritors of the tripartite framework.

Now for Dazai’s “new generation of double black.” Whether or not Dazai’s fully aware of the tripartite framework, its origins and its purpose is up for debate. And whether he views himself and Chuuya as an extension of that is even more unlikely. So since we can assume he’s basing this “new generation of double black” off of an incomplete picture of what double black was and what it currently is, we know right off the bat it’s going to be flawed. 

There’s truly no reason for a “new generation,” especially when the “old” generation is around two years older than them, and significantly more capable and powerful. It’s clear from Dazai’s interactions with them that creating this new generation is both a fun hobby of his, and possibly a way for him to get other people to do jobs he’d be assigned to otherwise. It serves no real greater purpose than that. They’re convenient sometimes, but there are always other ability users who could easily do what they’ve done, but better. 

Only half of this new duo even has any idea of what they’re trying to replicate. Akutagawa has a vague idea of what double black was, and strives to mimic what he thinks they do. He doesn’t have a very complete or thorough understanding of them—as he tries to explain to Atsushi, to his knowledge, double black worked as “Dazai is Smart Guy, Chuuya is Strong Guy, they win by being Brain and Brawn.” We see that this isn’t really the case—both Dazai and Chuuya are well-rounded and each are individually capable of both physical combat and strategy. Yet all the new generation has to work off of is this game of broken telephone passed through mafia rumors, to Akutagawa, to Atsushi. 

And even so, neither of them understand any real greater purpose to what they’re doing—and it’s unclear if there truly is any purpose to it. They too see it as individual fights rather than a grander purpose, but in their case, they’re right. 

And to take it a step further, they aren’t a formal duo in the first place. They never officially formed. They’re just miming the roles that Dazai told them to play with no real understanding of what’d going on. “The new generation of double black” isn’t a title they’ve ever officially been given—sure they’ve been called that by Dazai, but it’s not something that would even go on any paperwork. Their opponents don’t see them as some feared duo, they see them as an unfortunate collaboration they now must deal with. Akutagawa’s outright ditching work to go do these jobs—at least with double black Dazai clearly has some contact through the agency for when he’s assigned to double black/ mafia collaboration missions. 

In short, no one outside of Dazai (and possibly Akutagawa) sees any connect between Akutagawa and Atsushi to any former well-known duos. 

In summary—the three “generations of double black” were formed for vastly different purposes, and even though double black is converging to align with the tripartite framework, the newest variant of it is way off base. 

Natsume will need to step in and sort this out if the newest generation aligns with his wishes, and if not, I think he should step in and sort stuff out anyway—things in the bsd universe have been getting pretty messy for a while now, and it would be nice to have a leader around who both Fukuzawa and Mori would listen to.

[e-m-p-error]

You've written about Val being disabled, but how much does Vox know about it and is he protective of Val because of it?

In Reference To This

[ Vox ]

Vox knows that Valentino was hurt the day his antenna got stripped. He knows that he was aching and hurting for months after. It took a while before it was able to move freely again, and he remembers when Val recognized that it was going to scar. All of this was the physical pain that he was very aware of. He is also very aware that touching the stripped antenna really, really hurts, it's a very sensitive scar.

As far as the extent of Valentino's hearing loss, however, Vox isn't totally sure. He knows that Valentino complains of people talking on his left side because he can't hear them as well. He is completely deaf on that side, and Vox kind of understands that much, but he doesn't know how his hearing works now.

He is not aware of Valentino's tasting issues, though he is very acutely aware of how he smells. He likes to get his antenna right up in Vox's cologne and rubs his face in it whenever he smells it. It's the main/only reason Vox knows about this from Val and not just in theory.

Vox is most aware of Valentino's poor eyesight, and he monitors how it gets worse over time. He's working on solutions for it because he can't stand the thought of seeing Val go entirely blind. It is important to him to do what he can to help Val in the meantime.

Actually, yes. Vox is incredibly protective of Val, especially in a fight. He always makes sure that he's got Valentino's left side since he can't hear on that side and his sight is very poor. Val is a good shot despite his eyesight, but Vox knows there are still weak spots that can be exploited.

That said, he's still trying to figure out how to give Val his hearing back, but he's been playing with a few ideas that he hopes will help.

[flamebearrel]

I don't know enough about the whole scope and lore of the Life series to understand why fanon makes some of them creatures and beasts but may I suggest: BigB as a stone golem

[incorrect-agatha]

ik this is an incorrect quotes account but just wanted to say for fellow U.S. residents, make sure to vote and stay safe

and if you don’t live in the U.S. make sure to participate in your area’s causes/elections/politics/etc however you can and stay safe

sending lots of love and support all y’all’s way <3

[alter-bridge-fanatic]

"I don't feel like I really hit puberty until I was almost 17. I'd go to dinner with my family, and I'm 15 or 16 years old, and the waiter was still giving me the children's menu" - Myles Kennedy

[secret--history]

the whole 'there are not very many Great Causes worth fighting for these days' from Julian scanned as WAY more out of touch than the moon landing thing for me the first time i read tsh

[bluechrysocolla]

post those incorrect quotes 👹👹👺👺

I think I know what you're talking about and I think I know who this is and I'll post some of them when I get the time lol

Or I'll post a link to an ao3 fic with all of them or smth like that

[stragglewort]

"Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"It's never easy with you people."

Taxi Driver and his crew got caught smuggling Militech property (It's Taxi, he's the property)

[do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas]

Anyway! Still glad izzys dead <3

[harbingerofsoup]

some years into adulthood and it’s pretty funny to see my parents slowly realize that between me and my brother i was the true problem child all along because like yeah he’ll leave in the middle of the night, but he never actually gets into real trouble, meanwhile im the one who told him how easy it was to sneak out because i was doing it to steal all the trump signs in the neighborhood…

[e-m-p-error]

"We had beautiful things, things that you couldn't understand,and we'll have them again once you stop poisoning him against me "! (Vox, just had to combine the two brood quotes, they just work too perfectly together).

THE BROOD (1979) directed by DAVID CRONENBERG.

[ Vox ]

"Beautiful--"

"Beautiful things, huh? That's a laugh! That's a riot, actually! I think that is the funniest fucking thing you have ever said in my presence!" Barking a loud, showy laugh, he leaned forward a little, his grin barely faltering, but his voice was distorted when he spoke again.

"It's hilarious that you think you are worth any kind of beauty in this world. You, my dear, are a relic of the past so far removed from anything even remotely close to him. Is Valentino perfect?"

Another laugh, cruel, maybe more distorted.

"Fuck no! He's not! But he's mine. He's never been yours. Daddy lets his slutty little Bunny play with his toys but in the end? This," Drawing his hands over his chest, he tapped it with one hand, "Is the man he wants. The man he's, dare I say it, invested in. He can play on his cock carousel all he wants, but this," At least he had the sense not to grab his own dick, "Is the one that he always comes back to."

Reaching out, he pulled Adam against his side by his shoulders.

"What do you think he sees in you? A man of substance? Substance abuse, maybe." The last sentence was said quieter, but nowhere near inaudible, "He looks at you and he sees dollar signs that he can fuck. He looks at me and he sees his future. We are not the same, and we will never even be on the same playing field, Adam."

Finally, he turned his head to offer a smug smirk.

"And I want you to fucking drop it." His left eye pulsed the bullseye that permitted him to use his powers, "He doesn't love you. And he'll never love you. He has a lover. All he needs out of you is money and dick. Remember your place."

[nevermindset]

I've read somewhere;

"Life is too short to fantasize, without each other, about our memories. Life is too precious to spend it like two strangers."

HELL YES!!!! JUST LIVE IT!

[boopjuice]

I can't speak to the alternatives offered here, but I can speak to not joining the U.S. military from the perspective of a military brat.

I watched as my mother put her work above my siblings, me, and probably my dad too, hoping that if she just worked a little harder, a little longer, she could get that next promotion, she could move up and not have to work as hard and spend more time with us. I was there, watching but not allowed to interact with her as she went through DLI and tech school. I was there when she was deploying for six months at a time. I was there when she came home, devastated because her boss decided that she wasn't dedicated enough to make senior after giving over 20 years of her life to the military.

I was maybe eight when she sat down and told me that the military didn't care about our family. That we were just numbers on a list to someone thousands of miles away that would never see our faces or know our names. And she still left again and again. Some of the time the choice was out of her hands. Sometimes it wasn't.

I don't remember the house I was born in. I was told that my mom got orders to a different state, but my dad didn't, despite them being married by that time. My dad had to leave the military in order to take care of me and stay with my mom.

The second memory I have of my mom is a pre-recorded message of her telling me she has to be gone a little longer. I was barely two years old. She was crying.

I was six when my mom started DLI. She had a spot in the house dedicated to her. It was her desk and her computer, and she would spend any time not cooking, eating, or sleeping studying at that desk. I wasn't allowed to bother her, talk to her, make too much noise.

I was seven the first time I remember having a mental breakdown. Dad got mad about something, definitely feeling the stress of having two kids as a stay-at-home, homeschooling parent, and he took it out on me. Yelled, screamed, terrified me. Mom wasn't there to see it. I don't think Dad thought much of it. Mom wasn't to be bothered. She had to study.

I was nine when I promised myself that I wouldn't make friends at my next home because I knew I would have to leave them behind eventually. I tried as hard as I could to avoid it, and I did a good job. I still have trouble making friends today.

I was ten when my mom started deploying regularly. It started as one or two months as a time. Then three. Then five or six. Her down time started getting smaller, once with only two months between her deployments. Sometimes she'd get back from a deployment only to go TDY a couple weeks later. Dad had to work and I was in public school for the second time in my life. We got a nanny, and when I said that she could come over for movie night like Mom I didn't understand why Dad was so upset.

I was eleven, at most, when I had to become the second parent. Set up breakfast, change the baby, do your chores, help get the two children in the car, watch them for a while while Dad goes to do something, keep them entertained at the bank once a month so we can pay our rent, etc. Mom was still deploying, and when she wasn't deploying she was flying every other day. Six hour flights. Twelve. More. Two or three times a week, she'd have to drug herself in the early afternoon so she could get up early in the morning to fly. It was around that time I started to really understand that she might not come home one day.

I was thirteen when I found out she could choose some of her deployments. She chose to leave for a long one a few months after the Twins were born. She would miss their first birthday. She knew it. She cried on my shoulder for the first time when I found out. I couldn't feel angry until later. I had to take care of the Twins. Get them up, dressed, fed, in the car for the day's activities, I had to get my own schoolwork done too, once we got home. I was there the first time my brother had a seizure. The second time, too. She wasn't.

By the time we got to my most recent home, my ninth, I didn't know my mom. I knew her name, her face, her voice. I knew I missed her, I was always missing her, even when she was a room away. I knew I was angry at her, once she got back. She abandoned the parent role, left it to me to raise her kids, then got mad when I was reluctant to give back the one thing I'd had to distract me from missing her.

I was sixteen when she got denied that promotion, after putting her family second my whole life. I was seventeen when they gave her that promotion, too scared of losing her because they realized just how much she'd done.

They pulled my mother around to and fro as they pleased, strung her along by promising that she could advance, get paid more, get more for her family, if she just worked a little harder, gave a little more. They yanked all the rest of us around after her, uncaring of the pain they caused her, how exhausted she was, how it transferred onto us.

And my mom was Air Force. My biggest worry was that her plane would stop working and go down. I never worried about my mom getting shot at, or blown up, or taken by whoever she was told to fight against. I got off easy, as it goes. Plenty of other people don't. Sure, the military has resiliency events, tells the kids with a little pat on their heads "your mommy/daddy is doing an important job and it is good and right that they are not here because their job is too important for them to stay here with you."

When you hear that the first time, maybe it helps a little. When you hear that for the tenth time, you start to hate whoever is tearing your family apart. By the twentieth, you swear you're never going to be the reason anyone has to go to one of these stupid family resiliency events.

The military does not care about you. It never did, and it never will. They treat you like a chess piece and move you around as they please because you practically signed away your personhood for the duration you are enlisted.

Do. Not. Join. The U.S. military.

[sassyandclassy94]

Girls Only

I think I understand what Janene Crossley meant about “the long fingers of an angel.”