#they match each other's freak so to say

[millenari]

For the ship bingo: tuggoffelees of course, but I also raise you the opposite, mistocavity

tuggoff my beloved

mistocavity

I'll be honest there have been a non-zero number of times I was putting myself to bed by crafting up some silly little tuggoff stories in my head and stopped myself halfway through like 'this is getting kind of angsty' and also 'tugger wouldnt even act like that' and then 'oh god this is a mistocavity fic. im drafting a mistocavity fic. how did mac even sneak in there'

[ko-odi]

here with a heavy heart to inform everyone that im currently cursed with mha hyperfixation

yeagh

ok bai :3

[sabh0]

Is skk abusive? Other than the name calling and banter that I just don't take seriously, I've seen people say that Dazai is abusive since he planned for Chuuya to be tortured in stormbringer and didn't help because it would be boring, despite having the ability to do so. There's also the whole manipulating the sheep thing.

I've also seen people say that Chuuya is abusive because of how violent he is, how he punched Dazai to wake him up in Dead Apple and called him inhuman(? Ngl, I don't remember that part) and because Chuuya shot him more times than necessary in Meursault.

Personally, I struggle to see them as abusive r toxic, if only because of how much they trust and understand each other, and how they rile each other up for fun without letting it actually impact their relationship, but I may just be biased? What do you think?

Ok im just gonna say - dont take this post ad some 100% real wisdom or anything. It's just my personal opinion and it's definitely biased as well because of how much these two mean to me but yeah

I wouldn't call them abusive in relationship terms because all that banter and most of their fights are just, as u said it, unserious.

They're both fucked up a bit tho, so yeah there's definitely some toxic behaviours anyway.

Dazai manipulating Chuuya to join the sheep always made me real sad, but if you think about it more - Dazai knew The Sheep aren't any better for Chuuya. Plus if not like this, Mori would get Chuuya to join PM anyway in one way or another, since it was a plan from the beginning.

Dazai planned the whole 'helping Verlaine' thing to buy time so the PM forces could get ready to protect Mori and Chuuya later. That's mafia they're in - lives are not equal. Also Dazai wouldn't put Chuuya in danger he knew the other wouldn't be able to deal with. Either way, his whole yapping about wanting to see Chuuya being tortured is yet again that stupidly weird banter of theirs. After all, he's trying to find him and literally stop him from doing something he would regret. (Sab is trying to make some points but that still doesn't make whatever Dazai did something good. Just sayin. I just don't feel it's a black or white situation.)

I said it some time ago but lord, Chuuya is not abusive. Look, he knows when it's alright to fight Dazai and when he should stop himself not to hurt him. Even if they fight, he never does it seriously. Basement scene? He could've very well just punched Dazai without warning there. But instead he literally invited him to fight - and Dazai very much agreed to that sht with a smile on his lips. They're just very much not okay in the head on both sides. Later when Chuuya actually got angry, he himself threw his knife to the ground, which only shows he doesn't really have any intent of hurting Dazai seriously (In the manga. In the anime they changed it for whatever reason and he did strike him with the knife. But anime skk is just. Anime skk.).

That Dead Apple argument is so funny bc??? Chuuya was literally UNDER CORRUPTION AT THE TIME??? Corruption literally makes him lose control. He could kill a person with one touch. Instead??? Corruption Chuuya in dead apple somehow managed to hold himself back just enough not to actually hurt Dazai. Also, Dazai f knew he's gonna punch him anyway. I mean, bro kinda deserved it atp tbh /j

Cant really tell much about the shooting thing in Meursault - i stil have no f idea if these were even real, considering the fact Dazai is moving normally and there's no wounds/holes/blood visible on him or his clothes. These were probably just a play like the whole headshot thing?? (Tho dazai's scream and expression after that arm shot say otherwise),, really don't know, call it a better impression on Fyodor or Chuuya actually paying Dazai back for the other times

Ok so ,looks at all that sht i just wrote and tried to still excuse it somehow, I wouldn't call them abusive anyway just bc I've seen actual abusive relationships in real life and that's just uhh different in a way i cant really put my finger on,, there's some toxicity simply from the fact they're emotionally constipated and won't talk things thru like they should but,,, welp. Tbh i see most of their usual fighting as something unserious that both of em r okay with. Usually when they actually get into an argument about something it's because one actually got hurt by the other's words (for example that scene with Chuuya punching Dazai after he made jokes about Colonel's death). And they apologize without really apologizing, too (Dazai going to find Shibusawa and trying to take revenge on Colonel's death and later Chuuya going to rescue Dazai and saying to 'wait for him').

Unpopular opinion but i honestly feel that in the future they could very well form a normal, healthy relationship. They just really need to talk. Bickering and calling each other names for fun isn't imo really a form of abuse, when both sides know it's not meaning to hurt the other fr (if it was, then me and most of my friends would be fr abusing each other unfortunately) (and I don't feel abused even if we call each other names and say we hate each other, while watching cat reels together at the same time) (consider this some sibling-like stuff)

If nothing of whatever i just said makes sense, don't eat me please, it's just really hard for me to explain what i really think without being able to just talk for 5h straight while considering every ppint of view

[clever-name-change]

I got bored of editing...so I wrote a version of Marvin and Whizzer's first "meeting" (although calling it such would be a bit generous). Here's a segment of it >:3

[ratatatastic]

men who have a normal relationship with each other and the cup

[laurelwen]

Texts in Like Minds: Sally's Books

After her first encounter with Alex, Sally returns home and consults a stack of books while listening to the recording of their discussion.  Of this stack, only two titles are discernible.  The first book is shown briefly and set aside, and the second is opened to a bookmarked page.  This large tome is titled Principles of Criminal Psychology (Fifth Edition), by George R. Booth and Andrew Porter.  Sadly, I cannot find even the tiniest scrap of the existence of this book online.  It is clearly a textbook, and presumably one she would have kept from her school days given that it’s directly relevant to her career.  The bookmarked page is titled “Chapter 27: Gestalt Theory”, and the opposite page features photos of Leopold and Loeb, who I have discussed elsewhere.  The text itself is unfortunately not clear enough to be readable. 

Returning to the first book we see, there is much more information to be found online.  It is titled Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism by Claudio Naranjo, first published in 1993.

The recording Sally plays during this moment is their exchange regarding gestalt.  This concept is one that the movie highlights in this scene and again at the end during Sally’s address to her peers, but it does not clearly define or explain the idea of “gestalt” for the audience.  Gestalt first arose as a philosophical principle suggesting that the experience of the parts of something cannot fully represent the whole of that thing, like the notes of the song versus the experience of the song itself.  A cursory search of various articles online can give a brief overview of the core ideas of gestalt psychology.  Wikipedia says this:

Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking psychological phenomena down into smaller parts would not lead to understanding psychology.   Instead, they viewed psychological phenomena as organized, structured wholes.  They argued that the psychological "whole" has priority and that the "parts" are defined by the structure of the whole, rather than the other way round.  Gestalt theories of perception are based on human nature being inclined to understand objects as an entire structure rather than the sum of its parts.  

This gives us a more thorough explanation of Alex’s very brief description of “gestalt”, but does not provide much insight into the meaning of his hints to Sally or why gestalt would have any bearing on his relationship with Nigel.  The implication we are left to surmise is that these two separate boys have combined as individuals to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, and Sally lampshades this idea at the end in her speech referencing the movie title.  However, examination of these two books has given me some new thoughts about the use of gestalt in the film and about Sally’s conclusion regarding the dynamic between them.  

Alex’s next words to Sally feel extremely significant and should be considered thoroughly: “It’s not what it is.  It’s how you use it.”  Given that both these books reference “gestalt therapy” specifically, it’s worth looking beyond the core theory of gestalt psychology to see how therapists actually use these ideas in practice.  I found a clear explanation on this page:

Gestalt therapy is an existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation. It emphasizes personal responsibility. Gestalt therapy was co-founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s–1950s.

Gestalt therapy is built around two central ideas: that the most helpful focus of psychology is the experiential present moment and that everyone is caught in webs of relationships; thus, it is only possible to know ourselves against the background of our relation to other things.

I think we can already see some connections with the story as Alex presents it.  Alex and Nigel are inextricably entwined in a web of relationship, and we the audience find it impossible to understand either character outside of this context.  

Here I would like to suggest some Doylian interpretation which I believe to be possible or even likely, but for which I can offer no concrete evidence.  We know that Greg Read initially intended to make a documentary about the phenomenon of two people who match each other’s freak so well that they enable a worsening of sociopathic tendencies to the level of violent criminal behavior.  In one interview, he referenced a paper he read about gestalt psychology which opened doors in his mind and led him down this path.  He had developed the documentary idea enough to show it to other people, and someone told him it would make a great fictional movie.  Based on this, I assume he must have acquired additional materials beyond that first paper, conducting extensive research on the idea in preparation for the documentary.  I posit that the books Sally uses in this scene are Greg’s books, or copies of the same books he had referenced.  All of Sally’s scenes were filmed in Australia, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he simply brought (or already had) his own books on set.  

Working from that assumption, the ideas found in Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism might be taken as extremely influential on Greg’s thought process in writing this film.  While the whole text is not available online, there are a few excerpts one can read for free here.  (The book itself is available through multiple websites for around US$40 at the time of this post.)  If we examine the excerpts below within the context of the movie, a few things really stand out (emphasis mine):

Perls sometimes stated the principle entailed in such strategy as one of absolute validity: You never overcome anything by resisting it. You only can overcome anything by going deeper into it. If you are spiteful, be more spiteful. If you are performing, increase the performance. Whatever it is, if you go deeply enough into it, then it will disappear; it will be assimilated. Any resistance is not good. You have to go full into it—swing with it. Swing with your pain, your restlessness, whatever is there. Use your spite. Use your environment. Use all that you fight and disown.

This sounds remarkably like the process Alex goes through with Nigel, resistant at first and gradually leaning into the swing, learning to embrace and roll with all the things he was fighting against.  A case might also be made that Nigel partakes in this process as well: he too is resistant to Alex initially, but the train scene marks a turning point in which he seems to make the decision to lean into the violence that Alex offers.  

Returning to Alex’s assertion that it’s not about what gestalt is, but how you use it, these passages take on a whole new meaning.  Sally’s speech at the end of the movie suggests that she arrived at the conclusion, based on her belief in Alex’s version of events, that Nigel essentially used the techniques of gestalt therapy in a twisted, malicious way to manipulate Alex towards the culmination of the film. As she says,

“What follows, through a system of either intimidation, manipulation, or coercion, is the dominant individual begins to focus and influence the thoughts of the subordinate partner.  This process nurtures a subjective gestalt where similar thoughts, fantasies, and other interlocking elements conspire to form a greater and more volatile whole, therefore, a merging of like minds.” 

Now read the excerpt below in light of these descriptions: 

In the strategy which pervades Gestalt practice, the therapist is leading the patient through a process similar to that through which a child that is learning to sit on a chair needs to discover that he can sit only by giving his back to the chair, not by moving towards it. While this is a discovery that many make at a certain point in a typical session, a spectator may not share the insight. The patient discovers that his resentment was a diluted and devious form of healthy aggression, for instance, but this spectator may be frightened by what he sees as destructive loss of control; what the patient experiences as a rewarding and cleansing explosion of grief, brought about by the exaggeration of emptiness, the observer without familiarity with Gestalt may fear that the therapist, by urging on the patient’s symptoms, may lead him to suicide. The therapist’s ability to bring a patient to the turning point where his disowned destructive energies become his own purified strength will depend, in large measure, not upon technique alone, but on his experiential knowledge that this is possible, and in the consequent sense of trust in the constructive drives of which pathological manifestations are a distortion brought about by unhealthy denial and which can heal by itself in the presence of awareness. Such trust will enable him to pursue a given course of action to an effective degree, in spite of the patient’s chaos, rage, or loss of control—and will be important, too, in eliciting the necessary trust in the patient for him to let go. Gestalt therapy is based on the principle that to alleviate unresolved negative feelings like anger, pain, anxiety, and resentment, those emotions cannot just be discussed, but must be actively expressed in the present. Without that, psychological and physical symptoms can arise.

These passages represent the intended healthy expression of these principles.  If we take these ideas and techniques and twist them into an unhealthy, intentionally manipulative and toxic dynamic, it maps quite clearly onto the relationship between Alex and Nigel and the actions they take throughout the film.  Sally assumes that Nigel is in the role of the “therapist” leading Alex the patient through this process.  The movie’s ending presents itself as a twist and suggests that these roles were in fact reversed, particularly in light of Alex’s first interview with Sally and his ominous and vague statements about Nigel's death being a necessary means to an end.  If we accept that conclusion at face value, then consider how Alex “urging on the patient’s symptoms” may have actually “led him to suicide”.

The Gestalt therapist contrives experiments that lead the client to greater awareness and fuller experience of his/her possibilities. Experiments can be focused on undoing projections or retroflections. They can work to help the client with closure of unfinished Gestalts ("unfinished business" such as unexpressed emotions towards somebody in the client's life). 

What is the climax of this movie if not Nigel creating a violent type of closure with his unexpressed emotions toward his parents?  “It’s how you use it.”  Did Alex use gestalt therapy techniques to draw Nigel into this violent chain of events as “a means to an end”?  If so, what actually was the “end” he desired?

Incorporating this information into our interpretations of the movie still does not necessarily force us into accepting Alex as Mastermind as the only reading.  I think you can certainly see that dynamic, but it doesn’t preclude Nigel as Mastermind.  In my further reading regarding gestalt therapy, I found this passage in a blog post:

A thirst for experience is part of all life. Often though, this takes the form of a wanting to move on and on to other experiences than those at hand. A craving for more replaces the need for depth that could be our natural mode of contacting the world, had we not become desensitized to it. Intuitively seeking that depth or fullness of awareness that is on our birthright, and not finding it, we seek the substitute of environmental stimulation: spicy foods, rock climbing, high-speed sportscars, competitive games, tragedies on the movie screen.

This describes Alex perfectly and speaks to his own need for the gestalt therapeutic approach.  We could argue that Nigel addresses this drive for more experiences by bringing Alex into a focus on the depths of the present moment, existing in the now that Nigel creates for him as he attempts to understand his own feelings and reactions.  As the book puts it:

The Perlses believed that it is not our responsibility to live up to others' expectations, nor should we expect others to live up to ours. In building self-awareness, gestalt therapy aims to help clients better understand themselves and how the choices they make affect their health and their relationships. 

 My own interpretation is one of equal partners both playing the role of therapist and patient to each other.  Gestalt therapy relies on the ability of the therapist to set aside their own interpretations of the patient's experiences in favor of allowing or guiding the patient to arrive at their own understandings and conclusions. I do not think that sole responsibility can be placed on either Nigel or Alex, and the events of the movie could not or would not have transpired without the active participation of both boys in each other's lives.  While the context is a dark expression of these ideas, both Alex and Nigel help each other build self-awareness and achieve a better understanding of themselves.

Like Minds Masterpost

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

.

[nevesmose]

So I challenged myself to write a fic as time-efficiently as possible with no revisions or edits allowed, only ever moving forward. Like a shark. I think it's fair to say that this has a very different vibe from my usual stuff so please do check the tags.

For the past six or so weeks I've been working on my summer exchange fic. I think people are going to have a fun time reading it in August but there have been Thoughts and Feelings bubbling away that just don't fit into the kind of story it turned out to be.

So I thought I'd set them down here instead before I make my last big push on the exchange fic to get its final chapter over the line. A little clearing of the decks before the final showdown so to speak.

The title is from, as is so often the case with me, a Bloc Party song.

[legogender]

caught up finallyyyy. that shit was FIRE

[millenari]

Give me your mistocavity headcannons pls pls

I like the idea of Misto and Macavity finding something in each other that they don't get anywhere else, even in a platonic context. They share a lot of parallels with each other that the other cats don't have, and I like the idea of them being connected somehow. By fate or the Everlasting Cat or something like that-- I've seen hcs where Misto was made as a punishment or counter for Macavity specifically and I kind of like that.

Also theres something kinda funny about 'this guy was made as a personalized cosmic punishment for my evil deeds & represents everything I could have been if I hadn't decided to be so self-serving and cruel. we bone sometimes.'

Misto can actually be pretty brutal, though you may not get that impression from him if youve read my gold rush fic. He's pretty susceptible to ideas like justice and rightful vengeance, and is rarely upset inherently by the sight of violence.

However if he thinks a situation isn't Right, he'll stop at nothing to prevent it from happening, so Macavity has to be careful about what he lets Misto see. Not because Misto's a delicate flower who'll change opinions of Mac if he sees him Do A Violence, but because Misto will come out guns blazing if he thinks Macavity is being an asshole, and Misto's basically the only cat in London who can rock Macavity's shit if he so desired (without suffering major damage in return, that is)

On that note, by virtue of being able to teleport, Macavity cannot force Misto to do anything or keep him anywhere.

This pisses him off so fucking bad.

This makes Misto very smug.

The only way Macavity can 'make' Misto do anything is by virtue (virtue?) of manipulation, which unfortunately for Misto he tends to be pretty susceptible to. They are constantly playing 4d chess with each other, and Misto tends to assume anything that comes out of Macavity's mouth is at least 30% untrue and 80% said with an agenda.

Weirdly though, he finds that kind of freeing. Misto struggles with implication sometimes and worries a lot about being patronized/misled/etc by his peers pretty much constantly. But with Macavity he knows Mac is trying to fuck with him, so it kind of just takes all of the worrying about if it is happening right off the table.

When Macavity is being Relatively Normal he frequently reminds Misto of Tugger and it kind of freaks him out.

That being said, they tend to enjoy each other's company in good times. They have a similar sense of humor, and Misto's (fairly small) mean streak sometimes lines up with Macavity's.

Macavity kind of has this vision in his head of his Ultimate Relationship which is kind of this unconventional throuple-slash-harem with him, Misto, and Demeter- but he knows it wont ever happen because if he ever successfully captures Demeter Misto will let her go. So if he wanted to keep Demeter he'd have to run Misto off first.

So his options are either have all of Demeter (only if he succeeds in taking her) or have, like, half of Misto willingly. It's a constant conundrum for him.

Due to his particular singular focus and trend towards obsession Macavity will frequently neglect grooming himself (those uncombed damned whiskers) and due to being an insane neat freak Misto will just follow him around and comb through his tail or whatever. so youll have macavity getting a Mission Report from Henchcat #253 standing there Menacingly with his arms crossed but right behind him is this small man who's holding up all 35 billion metric tons of his fluffy tail doing the cat equivalent of giving him a blowout.

Misto frequently joins Macavity for varying jobs but doesn't contribute or anything. Sometimes he wanders off part of the way through but most of the time he just kind of watches. Oftentimes judgmentally. Like so:

[rickyyysaurus]

Holy shit i can't believe the most romantic scene in all of cinema happens in the first episode of Chima between 2 absolute morons

[hazellvsq]

was like "haha took luke years took marie levesque 6 months" then i was like "hmmmm i wonder where luke ended up in the afterlife" and then i had a truly truly heinous thought.

[wraithsoutlaws]

Idk if you talk about nsfw when talking about dagger x dumdum BUT

How freaky are they. Like I saw the sandpaper fleshlight comment so I know they get wild 💀 But I need more please. I’m having insane brainrot about them.

Like do they ever get soft or do they always go full crazy 100% of the time??

Idk I just need to know EVERYTHING about them

OH yes they are pretty freaky UwU so dagger has a warped perception of pleasure and has a hard time getting off without some element of pain. its normal for him to scrape/cut/stab himself during sex, even if there's already an element of pain. and i hc that dum dum keeps his pain editors up pretty high due to chronic pain from all his chrome, so he also needs a lot of intensity to feel and they both deliver for each other in spades. (shockingly dagger is also a bit of a sadist so he likes to dish it out also. knifeplay and bloodplay both are big on his list and dum dum has fun with this also. dagger definitely encourages his violent side and it's not unusual for them to physically fight before sex).

that being said they DO have some moments of softness, especially as their relationship grows. vulnerability is a bit hard for both of them, so it takes them a while to get there and neither of them is really used to it in the beginning. the first time they take their time and find comfort in each other without all those added layers it's really a profound experience for them both, and it's much different, much slower, more tender and unsure, like they've never done it before.

and sometimes it's just silly! and drunk and stupid and fumbling and getting interrupted because cockroach keeps rummaging in the gun stash carrying grenades around or dagger keeps dropping his cigarette and having to re-light it (because you know he can't go 10 minutes without a smoke)(but he also uses cigarettes during sex too so...) anyway you never know what you're gonna get with them tbqh but one way or another they make it memorable.

[whatohitsonfirewelp]

the brooklynn being ben's gf theory (i was not in on this theory but i already hate it and agree w you it would be terrible route for the story to take): you said something about biphobia? are people being biphobic about ben having a gf instead of a bf or something?

Yeah, it’s a really sucky thing to see. I’ve seen some bi fans make posts about hey, Ben could be bi and the response from other fans…

It’s not been great.

It’s also a little disappointing that people are acting like Ben can only be gay or only be straight.

I totally get if someone hc Ben as gay and is upset that that isn’t canon (currently, this could change!) but, that doesn’t automatically mean Ben isn’t queer.

I’m hoping we learn more about this gf or meet her.

[butchrjl]

tbh i think of wolfstar as soulmates but in the worst way posssible. they are soulmates in the way that they can never get rid of each other and will always end up finding their way back to each other and they Have to make it work & it’s not easy but they are somehow the best for each other and !!!!

[lilacxquartz]

quick question - will this kenny fic include non con?

nope! the reader is equally odd & even grows on him, so anything that develops will be consensual. he is lightly yandere in this one but it is 100% reciprocated.

the dead dove tag is there for the described violence.