#sorry if this post is a dumpster fire

[head-empty-just-sigma]

so y’all remember this post i made about skk

well i’m gonna expand on it a lil bit because i swear i learn new things every day and one of those things is that Chuuya really deserves a fucking break (…/hj)

okay but seriously, the more i think about all the other skk moments where Dazai makes these big brain plans that ensure that, while it’s most definitely still dangerous, both him and Chuuya will win the fight and walk away from it alive at the very least. but in chapter 101… Dazai made and executed a plan that he thought had a good likelihood of defeating the enemy. but, it also put Chuuya in a situation where he actually could have died. and now Dazai’s in a perilous situation with, as far as we know, no one to help him. and i just wanna explore some new context and expand on a lil theory i came up with as to why this arc is important for skk (plus bonus theory! Dazai really fucked up this time and now he has to find a way to not actually die. i have a few ideas)

🔺spoiler warning for chapters 95, 98, 101, 105.5, 106 and 106.5 and the end of Beast🔻

god this is so long im sorry **i added a tldr under the cut for those of you who just want my rambling ass to get straight to the point 😭

TLDR because this thing is so FREAKING LONG OH MY GAWD

So while Dazai was in the prison, based on his reaction to Chuuya’s arrival being more anger than shock and his instigation of ‘one of them dying’ (talking to Fyodor), there’s reason to believe that Dazai and Ango had set up a plan involving Chuuya somehow breaking Dazai out of the prison on the same day Nikolai arrived. On top of this, Dazai’s character development is finally coming to the forefront in trying to save Sigma and keep him alive, as well as the remorse for trapping Chuuya with Fyodor in the water in order to buy himself time to escape ahead of Fyodor (instead of killing him there, since he knew that wouldn’t be enough to kill Chuuya as Dazai would never do that even if it meant sabotaging his own plans). And at the very end of chapt 106.5, his fall to his death could be prevented by a number of things including Chuuya coming out of vampirism and saving him, but it would also be interesting to see how skk’s relationship changes now that Dazai has to save himself and has so clearly changed from the time when he worked with Chuuya and relied on him to save him from danger (see: Lovecraft fight, Dead Apple & DA prologue). It’s also possible that Sigma will be used as a distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while skk work their stuff and Dazai 100% still has the potential to win even in the bottom of the elevator shaft so long as he can get the antidote to the poison.

Starting in chapter 95, Dazai was the one who initially mentioned escaping (or dying). It was as if he knew something was going to happen soon that would lead to their eventual conflict to escape or at least some kind of confrontation that would end with one of their deaths. However, he is still caught off guard when Fyodor disappears from his cell first, and then was also surprised when the floor was literally opened up below him by Nikolai. Considering Fyodor didn’t seem to be planning an escape at the same time Dazai had mentioned it, if his reaction to Dazai is anything to go off of anyway, it’s clear that he had not planned for Nikolai to be there to bail him out of jail early. Therefore, it’s more likely that Dazai knew someone was on their way to break them out, and was planting the seed of the idea that one of them was going to die in the process.

It's also further proof that neither Dazai nor Fyodor had planned on Nikolai being there when they take a minute to assess the situation before Nikolai explains his 'Gogol Game', meaning they had to deduce what was happening in the moment instead of relying on a plan they already had laid out. Nikolai pretty much set into motion that one of them will, in fact, be dying at the end of this game if the poison is real and there truly is only one antidote. It doesn't matter who outsmarts who, because even Dazai could win at the bottom of the elevator so long as he can get his hands on the antidote (through Sigma or Chuuya, perhaps?).

Then we have his confession that he listens to the voices in his head him telling Sigma that there’s an “angel” talking to him in chapter 98. We already know that the “angel” is actually Ango, and the reason why I’m bringing it up is because of the context of the situation here.

Sigma and Dazai both hear loud noises coming from the prison floors above them. Dazai deduces that it’s not being caused by Nikolai, and not a result of Nikolai and Sigma breaking in, but before he even makes this analysis he says “It’s an intruder”. I find it odd that he would say this, considering there’s no way for them to know if there is a new intruder or if it’s the prison itself going into some kind of lockdown, or if it is in fact Nikolai causing chaos. Sigma calls this into question as well, asking how Dazai knows this, and the funny man says “an angel told him”. Without knowing Ango is communicating with him from the outside, this could have been taken as a typical Dazai one-off response deflecting the fact that he’s just stupidly smart, but it’s not. It’s referencing Ango giving him information. However, when did Ango communicate the situation to him then if it’s unfolding that very moment?

I think we can tell when if we look at this specific page here:

Right before they hear the loud noise, Dazai is being his usual goofy and mildly insane self, much to Sigma’s dismay, and then he suddenly just stops and turns around. Even for Dazai this behavior is odd, and what’s more, he randomly wants to now go to the employee service room when he literally had no concrete goal in mind just a few seconds ago when he was dancing around with Sigma and saying he wanted to go sightseeing (in hell). There’s even a panel of him looking like he just found something out or realized something, but it barely lasts more than a moment and Sigma doesn’t call attention to it. I believe that one panel signifies Dazai reacting to Ango sending him some last minute information on the situation at the prison, like he does every day, but this time it’s that there is an intruder in the prison. Or perhaps telling him that Chuuya arrived?

Considering they already know Nikolai and Sigma are there, this explains why Dazai would deduce that the commotion is caused by someone other than Nikolai getting bored waiting for the two stupid smart people to start drowning each other. He also says there’s only one possible answer to who that intruder is, which I’ll get to later so just hold on to that thought for now…

Chapter 101 is where it’s revealed that Dazai doesn’t have escape as his top priority right now, it’s actually to kill Fyodor while they’re still in the prison. He also explains how Ango is communicating to him with the time-stopping ability user. So with that information, and the fact that it seems like Dazai can request time to be stopped as well given he uses his advantage of being a walking anti-ability entity to waltz into the central command room and knock out all the guards while time is stopped for them, there’s good reason to believe that he had been planning something already with Ango to get him out of the prison prior to Nikolai's appearance.

Of course, Dazai is confident that they can beat Fyodor even though he has Chuuya under his ‘control’ (which is questionable at best at this point), because he’s been coming up with ways to kill Chuuya for seven years blah blah typical skk stuff… But it’s also interesting that Dazai would say this now, when in just a few minutes when he thinks he’s trapped Chuuya and Fyodor in a room to drown, he acts like he hates what he did. I also think this is why he’s being so overly goofy with Sigma, because it’s his default method of masking how he’s actually feeling. Whenever we see him not goofing off, his expression is usually partially hidden from view, and/or much more serious. Another thing of note is that while, yes he was probably apologizing for 'trapping' Chuuya like this, he was also apologizing because Dazai knew that if he failed to kill Fyodor here, he was going to be the one in a perilous situation. This is what is currently going on in chapter 106.5, as Fyodor sabotaged the elevator to fall and Dazai prioritized saving Sigma over himself not once, but twice in the span of a few pages.

And what is the other consistency we usually see with skk? Chuuya is there to bail Dazai out of these situations. This is what happened during their fight versus Lovecraft, where Dazai got hurt because nullification wouldn't work, and Chuuya had to get them out. This is also what happened in Dead Apple where Dazai was literally dead until Chuuya showed up and risked dying to save him, and even in Dead Apple’s prologue when he had to save Dazai from an enemy organization.

But now, Chuuya isn't there. He isn't there and Dazai is falling to his probable death.

The elevator trap was set up by Fyodor himself, which is why the water set itself on fire in 106... But besides that, it's clear that Dazai tampering with the electronics in the elevator was probably him locating the mechanisms to open the doors, therefore making it so that there are 'no traps', and would explain how he knew where to shoot in chapt 106.5 when he shot the mechanism keeping the door shut.

Fyodor's comment on skk having a shallow bond feels almost out of place for him. He's not usually one to brag, much less about how he can wield someone's boyfriend better than them. I also think his little monologue here was partially payback for Dazai's guy speech back in chapt 101. However, I think Fyodor is wrong to try and say Dazai didn't foresee Chuuya getting out of the situation, because he absolutely would have. I think trapping them in the room like that was less of a play to kill Fyodor and Chuuya together, but to buy time in order to reach the exit. There’s no way Dazai would be willing to actually kill Chuuya just to get rid of Fyodor if he can help it, meaning he’s probably buying time and waiting for the poison to kick in since Chuuya wouldn’t be effected by it. At the end of the day, the one who is going to win will be the one with the antidote from Nikolai, and that could still be Dazai.

This is probably the most serious we’ve ever seen Dazai for a prolonged period of time. And it’s not even because he’s focused on saving his own life in order to escape the prison.

It’s because he’s focused on saving Sigma.

I believe his plan here is to allow Sigma to be reunited with Fyodor and/or Nikolai, but now with the knowledge that they will most likely be planning to kill Sigma by the end of it so no one knows what happened to Dazai. However, the fact of the matter is that the two of them believe Sigma would not try to kill them first, and I don't think he's going to do something like that either. I think Dazai is most likely using Sigma as some kind of distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while Chuuya comes out of his vampirism. If Chuuya was conscious enough to understand Dazai’s speech in chapt 101, there’s no way he’d sit by while Dazai falls to his death. A lot of people have been pointing out this box in this official art:

Saying that the box looks a lot like the elevator:

Which is a vital component of the prison that Dazai or Fyodor would have to use in order to reach the exit, and the marking on it looks similar to the markings that appear on Chuuya during Corruption. This could be hinting towards Chuuya slowing or stopping the elevator somehow with Dazai inside of it, but I’m not sure how since Dazai would have to not be touching the elevator for that to work, but if the elevator stops while he’s floating in it, it would be no different than him hitting the ground… So I guess we’ll see what happens.

Moving on from the chapters, here’s my thoughts on Dazai’s reaction to Chuuya being at the prison: he’s not shocked, he’s angry. Why? Because he and Ango had probably been planning on how to get him out of the prison for a little while now in order to stop the vampires, and potentially nullify the effects of the page before Fukuchi can write on it a second time. Similar to Dead Apple, Ango probably called on Chuuya in order to do this since he’d be able to get to Meursault the fastest and would have the best chance at protecting himself from the vampires along the way. So then, how did he get infected? Well, we already know how loyal he is to the Mafia, so he could have been protecting Mori from the vampiric Mafia members and eventually got overwhelmed. As far as we know, there isn’t a single human member anymore (besides maybe Mori), meaning Chuuya would have had to fend off potentially hundreds upon hundreds of vampires dead set on biting Mori in order to cripple the Mafia entirely and remove the threat of Mori’s ability and intelligence coming to the aid of the ADA. Meaning instead of going to Meursault of his own will in order to nab Dazai and leave, he was forced to break in and aid Fyodor under the influence of the vampire virus. Another option was he was simply not working and had no idea the Mafia was infected, as he's not wearing his typical executive attire, he's in something similar to his 15 outfit, making me think he was either going to one of the Mafia's bunkers (Verlaine's, perhaps?) on Mori's orders because he is an executive, or he just was on his day off and suddenly found himself surrounded by familiar vampire faces.

This would explain why Dazai said there’s only one option in there being an intruder in the prison, because he was already waiting for Chuuya to arrive that day to initiate his escape. That is why he told Fyodor it’s about time to figure out which one of them is going to die, because it should have been Fyodor, meaning Fyodor would have been taken out of the ‘game’ while Dazai continued playing, but now alongside everyone else back in Japan. But this didn’t happen, and now Dazai has to change his entire plan on the fly just like Fyodor is doing, taking away any upper hand he would have had with Chuuya.

106.5 also isn’t the first time we’ve seen the words ‘I leave the rest to you’. We saw it in Dead Apple, for what it’s worth, coming from Ango when he sent Chuuya to his potential death to save Dazai. The second time we see it is in Beast, just before Dazai replicates the season 1 opening scene, those are his final words to Atsushi and Akutagawa, before he falls to his death. Does this foreshadow Dazai dying or being fatally injured? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Killing such a major character in this situation would be somewhat out of left field if it’s Dazai, since he seems to be getting some character development with Sigma in the prison. However, he has pretty limited options here:

Chuuya, if he is no longer under the vampire’s influence, could slow the elevator’s fall like a lot have been predicting because of the official art hint, and the trend of Chuuya bailing Dazai out of situations like this. Dazai might also be able to jump out of the elevator if the doors are still open enough and land on a floor like he pushed Sigma on to, or grab the rungs on the wall of the elevator shaft that some have pointed out. Another option, in my opinion, is to stay in the elevator, because as we saw set up at the beginning of the Gogol Game, the elevators only go between two levels, meaning he would only be falling down one level instead of four. Depending on how much space is between levels, he might be able to survive inside the elevator with minor injuries if he braces himself against the floor of the elevator and prays it doesn’t collapse in on him when it hits the bottom of the elevator shaft. I also toyed with the idea that he could shove the elevator using his body weight and tilt it in order to scrape against either side of the shaft and slow the fall, but given he pushes off the wall to save Sigma and it does nothing to the elevator itself, I’m going to assume the elevator is too heavy for him to tilt like that. However, Chuuya could accomplish a similar feat by hitting the outside of the elevator with the help of a little gravity manipulation, so it’s still possible he could save Dazai. However, what I’m more interested in seeing is how the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya changes after these events… With Dazai now really showing how much he’s changed and developed as a character, and what effect those developments will have on skk going forward.

Anyway, those are all of my current thoughts on the matter! Holy crap this post took forever to finish for some reason BUT it’s done now and until we get a new chapter (in like a week) I don’t have to make my brain hurt mulling over how elevator physics works :’)

[rokurookajima]

what happens in the HVAC is DEFINITELY NOT staying in the HVAC now

see the mess they have found themselves in on bluesky 🙈

based on this conversation w @katkastrofa & @shadelorde yesterday which cannot be summarized into any fewer words than 🗑️🔥

[acekindaneat]

some wawa art from twt :]

[spiderman2-99]

Would you consider yourself touch-starved?

Weird question, but I'll take it. I guess so, given I fit the... requirements? Though I also don't really like being touched at this rate.

[tgshydestan]

IM GOING TO BE A BIT OF A HATER FOR A SECOND. A BIT OF A DEBBIE DOWNER SO TO SPEAK. PROCEED WITH CAUTION

i have never seen someone having a crush on their friend end well. like. ive heard of it. but i have NEVER seen it end amicably. either they convinced themself they liked each other then realised "ehhh not rlly ur just rlly cool" OR the friendship is never the same, entire friend groups fall apart, the drama is INSANE. OR. they break up but still pine for each other for eternity and never get over it and its super dramatic. OR. its one sided and tragic. the first option is the best option. if you have a crush on one of your friends you better pray you get over it so help me god. especially if they have a partner already. if you have a crush on your friend STOP. THINK ABOUT IT FOR A SECOND. WEIGH THE RISKS. THINK "IS THIS WORTH ENDING OUR FRIENDSHIP AND POSSIBLY OTHER PEOPLES FRIENDSHIPS OVER?". AND THEN PROCEED HOW YOU WOULD LIKE.

honestly. this is probably just me being a fucking hater im a 13 yr old girl whos never even held hands with a boy what the hell would i know. do not take this as biblical truth. do not incorporate this into your worldview. just. be careful if you have a crush on your friend y'all. it will most likely change your relationship with them and all of your mutuals friends forever, for better or for worse. so. whatever

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

everyone in the jrwi fandom who is so desperate for well written female characters should stop trying to force their hcs into canon and start reading worm

[galacticnova3]

hello! coming from pokefarmq to ask WHY IN ARCEUS’S NAME DO YOU HAVE

TWO THOUSAND DHELMISES?!

THATS TOO MANY

1. I just think they’re neat

2. Actually I currently have 2390 Dhelmise with more on the way. You know how it is with melanistic hunting

[lillyanne4writes]

JJK/Gege Akutami appreciation post

Yeah, you read that title right. I get it that the entire fandom is upset with the latest leaks but I've seen so many angry/hateful comments toward Gege and it's making me sad. So here's a post to highlight some things I like about JJK. :)

This is in no way a complete list, so feel free to add on with your own takes too! Also, it's a long post, so I'm putting the meat of it under the cut.

The characters & their dynamics

Jjk has a huge cast, and yet every character is so unique and compelling. The reason I got into this anime (and later the manga) despite not really being into anime in general was how charming the main four characters were. Yuuji, Nobara, Megumi and Gojo immediately hooked me; I could probably watch 10 seasons of a slice of life show that's just them getting into shenanigans.

Fun interactions aside, my favourite thing about the characterisation is how everyone in this manga is allowed to have their own view on the world, especially on what it means to live a good life and die a good death. The narrative allows those views to clash without preaching about who is "correct". Characters disagree and learn from each other and their views develop organically (not necessarily in a positive direction, but always dynamically in a response to the situations they find themselves in - Yuuji's arc on how he views himself and his goals comes to mind). That stuff is really hard to write.

And it's not just the main cast either. The supporting characters are very memorable too; even minor ones have distinct personalities and clear motivations and often a backstory to explain why they are the way they are. My personal favourite background characters are Mai, Noritoshi and Tsumiki.

The worldbuilding

Can we talk about how creative the concept of curses and cursed energy is? Negative emotions accumulating into physical manifestations of things that people fear, hate, etc. is a hell of a cool idea. This is why the curse villains are my favourites in the series: from Mahito as a representation of the worst of humanity in his childish glee and sadism and cowardice to Jogo's philosophy of curses as "true beings" because they don't hide their nature and Hanami's almost sympathetic care for nature are all interesting explorations of how we view the world around us that would not be possible in a different kind of magic system. Add to that the array of creative techniques that sorcerers possess, the cursed objects, and the grade system that conveniently allows us to keep track of the danger levels of all this - you get an impressively complex magic system that still remains understandable (and fun to watch even if you don't want to keep track of the nitty-gritty and are just here for the spectacle).

Not to mention that jujutsu society is, well, a society. We get a sense of who the powerful and the oppressed are in this community, how their powers factor into that, how different characters feel about this, what they are doing to change it or on the contrary, to keep the traditions going... Every character exists in the web of a clear power structure which they interact with, influencing it and being influenced in turn. This results in a super interesting dynamic where certain characters can be enemies one moment (for example when the Kyoto students try to kill Yuuji during the exchange event on Gakuganji's, and by extension the higher-ups' orders) and allies the next (when it's time to pull together against a curse).

I'm reserving my judgement on the plot, themes and overall character arcs for now, because those things can only be really analysed once the story is complete. But even if I'll be unhappy with the ending, I'll still be very grateful for this unique world and its loveable inhabitants.

Of course, you might disagree with me on all this, and that's fine. Dropping the manga because you don't like the direction the story took is fine. Choosing to live in fanfiction delulu land is also fine. Gritting your teeth and sticking it out till the end despite disliking the plot because you're too invested to quit is also fine. Criticism and jokes are fine. The one thing that isn't fine is hating on the creator for the way they are choosing to tell their story.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Tl;dr: If you're upset about the direction JJK is taking, please try to remember why you cared so much about it in the first place. And remember that Gege is just a person sharing a story with us, and disliking someone's story is not an acceptable reason to hate on them.

[arcticmist0324]

IT’S FUCKING GONE!!!!! I win.

[pap-da-coconut]

hi! have you moved to a different blog or are you just not posting anymore? :)

Hello! uh.. yeah, i have to come clean: I've kind of abandoned Tumblr right now - just... not because I wanted to.

Ok sorry this might be a bit of a infodump - probably not what you wanted but anyway.

I kinda fucked everything up, huh? It all started with some mental health issues, which then spiralled into shame because I didn't respond to so many lovely asks. So I started avoiding opening Tumblr completely. (good idea yes)

And then I had to start preparing for my uni entrance exams, making my portfolio and such. Then the second rounds of entrance exams (which take three gruelling days). All this time I've spent thinking about Tumblr and I was horribly ashamed.

And when i finally thought i could return and... fix (?) things I've realised that i've yet to graduate high school, which. uh ohs. i haven't done anything for that + our teachers just straight up abandoned us in this one so its kind of a... DIY process and i'm. breaking down.

ANYWAY! I'm supposed to have the speaking exams (the final part) on the 17th of May and THEN. THEN i'm gonna be FREE of this GODDAMNED INSTITUION (which lowkey is one of the things that ruined my mental health in the first place) and then I want to start posting again. for real this time. I just hope that they'll let me pass (even if solely on the basis of having straight As all 8 years XD).

I apologise to all of you who have sent asks and din't get a response. I do appreciate it and I love all of you but sometimes I'm just a dumb brick that can't deal even w simple things.

And lastly, thank you anon for sending this ask, which broke through my massive wall of shame and finally forced me to..god, to open this site after like half a year? sfgfhd oh no im so sorry fhghm

[pinkartwitch]

The announcement I put on my blog that I wrote for Instagram - I expect to spend a lot more time here on Tumblr in the future.

[jillybean-seighdrasov]

As I was typing up my story last night, I had remembered that I forgot to add something to the Dawning when I wrote it (I pen and paper it first). So, I started adding it in and my brain started working overtime. I thought of something that one of my triplets will be able to do now that she is getting older. She is going to be able to work her magic. It is something that happened through one of the other seasons with Seighdra. But this...is going to blow her parents minds. I'm not sure if anyone really cares, but I just wanted to share a little glimpse into what is to come in my fanfic for those who are interested.

I have been feeling a little down right now. I get happy and excited for my story and then start thinking, does anyone care? And doubt fills my mind and I sometimes wonder if I should even keep posting it or even writing it. (even though I do love Crow)

Usually, this time of year I go through a HUGE self-loathing, worthless feeling, can't do anything right, what am I even doing with my life, depression. It lasts for a few days to a week and then I find happiness again. Three times a year this happens, and I hate it. March, July and November.

So, when I thought about my story, I got excited for me and then for the people who read it, but then I thought, who cares. So here I am down on myself.

I don't have anyone to talk to about this, my husband would just tell me to not feel this way. Like that is going to happen. I don't have any close friends anymore, so I pretty much sit in my house all week-long writing, cleaning, cooking, shopping and taking care of kids. I gave up all my dreams to get married and have kids and now that they are older, I feel worthless. That is one reason I get so down on myself...ugh.

You're an angel if you made it this far and I thank you for taking the time to read my long self-doubt. I just wanted share to make myself feel better, really. I can't be the only one who feels like this.

[yourlocalsewerdragon]

looking thru my notes app and i wrote

"im sorry that i loved you the choice was mine to make i dug a grave for two just so i could be close to you and i couldn't live with my mistake"

and now im js thinkin abt it

[beatingflowers]

Also my glasses broke this morning but honestly that’s fine. I’ll just grab some trial contacts at work so I can drive home. (That’s if my tires can be momentarily aired up. I’m already on my spare bc I haven’t had time and money to replace my other tire). But like. Damn this week yall.

[theeborealowl]

And Now, Enjoy this Mantis 💕

[crockersbian]

NOT all headcanons are valid some actually kinda just suck

like not even in an offensiveness sense, its that there IS a quantifiable difference between “headcanon that’s actually nicely thetical to the text. this makes this better and people will probably try to claim its ‘coding’ even though it fucking isn’t that wasn’t on purpose you dolts”, “not really even that big a change. doesn’t alter much of the character like at all. not WRONG just. there.”, and “that’s literally not what was going on with that guy at all” any fucking ambient transmisogyny or whatever going into it is just a bonus

adding this thing in even after all them tags but like. i bring up “ambient (translation: unintentional or accidentally on the part of the person most immediately headcanoning it, carried over from broader cultural atmospheres or character precedence) transmisogyny” not to say that this is still a “its evil to think she isn’t a trans woman >:(” thing but rather that its NOT that really for 90% of remaining apologists and instead i just fucking think your headcanon so sucks because its out-of-character and just kinda cheapens their whole “canon” thing without creating an improved alternative. its roots as what probably WASN’T intended as an outright attack on transfems like some insisted  but WAS still just a colossal bungling that on top of removing the possibility of a characters transfemininity (while giving 2 or 3 others of the ‘main’ options Officialization and pseudocanonicity. like you can get detrans TME roxy but the actually textually plausible trans woman? wha?) in either an act of astonishing ignorance or an attempt to be clever ALSO served to villify and CISMOGRIPHY the only canonically gay man in the whole fucking comic by framing him as transphobic also good god the homophobia shit just. theres so much more to it than just making the gay guy incredulous at the existence of transmasculine nonbinary people i stg even homestuck itself was on this reverse greek shit when it came to men feeling affection towards other men. Oops! That Got Away From Me!