The Pope Has Not Experienced Any Further Crises Following Yesterday’s Bronchospasm. This Morning, He

Some study work

lol

Defying God - a parallel between Fyolai and Stavrovensky

The Demons brainrot is taking over, and you know what happens when I acquire a new interest: my brain WILL find a way to connect it to my other interests, whether I like it or not!! And this is essentially what it's about xD I've come here to present a parallel I found between Fyolai (Fyodor & Nikolai from BSD) and Stavrovensky (Verkhovensky & Stavrogin from "Demons" by Dostoevsky). Before I start I want to clarify a few things:

• I don't think these two pairings are similar, I just love picking up any crumbs of connections I can find between my interests, even if it'd count as reaching.

• This interpretation (in either character's case) is in no way "the only true way of looking at it". It's merely one interpretation out of many and I chose to focus on just a few aspects out of the many others there are to explore in these complex characters. 

• Feel free to add onto or disagree with anything I say! I'm interested in your thoughts :D

WARNING: There will be spoilers for Bungou Stray Dogs and Demons.

The reason Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor is because he feels affection for him. Emotions are a prison to him, and he basically seeks the opposite of what his emotions make him want to do. Thus, in the face of affection, which makes you want to be closer and wish the best for your friend, he does the opposite and decides to kill said friend, going directly against his feelings in an attempt to prove free will. But here I want to focus more on the "You want to defy God in order to lose sight of yourself" part, specifically the bit about God.

One part of my interpretation is that Nikolai associates God with control. If there is a God who controls all, how can there be a free will? He wants to go against Him and His creations (the human mind, morality, etc.) to prove that it's possible. But God is very abstract - the idea of God is influential but varies depending on cultures, etc. For this point, I'll use the example of the biblical God, or, more specifically, some attributes commonly assigned to the idea of God:

• omnipotence (all-powerful)

• omnipresence (all-present)

• omniscience (all-knowing)

What I am leading up to is the fact that these traits can, in one way or another, be applied to Fyodor. Fyodor's character represents everything Nikolai wants to defy. Nikolai hates control; he wants to fight the idea of God and prove the possibility of complete independence. Fyodor (though not in a "direct" way) could be seen as a symbol for God. He knows everything, he is always present (metaphorically and sometimes literally, the way he spawns sometimes I swear-), and he seems to control everything. Only few people actually see him, but he pulls the strings behind the scenes, and his power is felt everywhere. For Nikolai, to kill Fyodor is not just a protest against his feelings of affection, but can also be a symbolic act of defying "God", of killing "God", by killing Fyodor.

This is supposed to be very symbolic and not taken literally. I feel the need to repeat this because I personally dislike the notion of Fyodor as a literal God (and disagree with the idea of him having a God-complex), so this is merely about the God-like traits he possesses, like a "substitute" for the idea of God, and how it interacts with Nikolai's philosophy. (I've also exaggerated some points for the sake of simplification - for example, I don't actually believe Fyodor is in control of absolutely everything, etc.)

Moving onto Demons:

Pyotr Verkhovensky grew up religious and (assuming based on Stepan's description) with a fear of God.

Now he's an atheist and very anti-religious. He plans to overthrow society, and destroying religion + everything it preaches is part of that plan. But interestingly enough, he picks not himself as the official future "ruler", but someone else: Nikolai Stavrogin. He chooses Stavrogin to be the role of the leader in Verkhovensky's ideal society. But not exactly the "leader" in the traditional sense, because he wouldn't necessarily give Stavrogin all the power. He would simply use him as a "pawn" (for lack of a better word) while himself pulling the strings behind said society. With that, Verkhovensky puts someone else above himself, in a God-like position, but he wants to do it while still keeping full control over Stavrogin. By doing so, he would overcome his childhood fear of God because instead of being controlled by God, *he* will control God.

(Same case here, not the literal God, but the character who he assigns God-like traits to.)

I am undecided (with both Nikolai's and Verkhovensky's character) whether this could be read as a solely subconscious intention or if it would make sense as a conscious one as well. Given that both have a different "main" goal (Nikolai focuses on emotions and Verkhovensky on the revolution) I lean more towards thinking it's subconscious (if present at all - like I said, just interpretations!)

It doesn't help that Verkhovensky describes his vision of Stavrogin's leadership as "hidden": Everyone believes in him and his power, but only very few people are said to actually have laid their eyes upon him. When I first read this part, I was honestly reminded of Big Brother from Orwell's 1984, but eventually realised that similar things can be said about God as well.

While these are parallels, they don't come without differences. Nikolai needs Fyodor dead, Verkhovensky needs Stavrogin alive. Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor for a sense of freedom, Verkhovensky wants to keep Stavrogin for a sense of control. Yet both symbolic goals are bound to fail:

Fyodor turns out to be unkillable, and Stavrogin ends up dead.

At the end, "God" stays untouchable.

Got soukoku on the mind. More specifically, their abilities naturally making them crave each other. Let me explain.

I love the idea that No Longer Human inherently feels cold. When Dazai touches someone and deactivates their ability, it feels like a wave of ice water running through their veins. It might unsettle some people and make them more reluctant to touch Dazai, subconsciously avoiding that feeling of all the warmth being sucked out of them as well as the feeling of being powerless without their ability.

I also think it's an interesting idea that Dazai also feels that icy sensation. He naturally runs cold (perhaps because of No Longer Human always being active), but whenever he nullifies an ability, he feels that chill run through his body as well. Depending on how powerful a skill is, the colder he feels, some even leaving him shivering, which he tries to hide.

I think Chuuya would be the opposite with his ability. Whenever he uses For The Tainted Sorrow, it feels like a rush of strength in his veins, hot and powerful. He also just runs hot, which is why he often sleeps without a shirt. It was very helpful when he was living on the streets and all of the Sheep cuddled up with him for his warmth. He knew they were only doing it to stay warm, but it felt like being loved, so he didn't care.

When Dazai meets Chuuya, he is very much drawn to his natural heat. He tries to touch Chuuya a lot, deactivating his gift and keeping his hand pressed against his skin just to feel the warmth it brings. Sure, that feeling of cold might wash over his body after deactivating Tainted, but his hand feels hot against Chuuya's flesh, so he keeps it there until it's smacked away. Chuuya doesn't want to admit that the cold feels nice because he thinks that Dazai is just doing this to be annoying. It's the first time he's ever felt this cooled off, and it feels strangely good, even if he doesn't admit it.

Anyway, when Chuuya uses Corruption, I imagine that it takes that hot sensation and turns it up to 1000. As a singularity, it keeps building on itself, burning hotter and hotter the longer he uses it until it feels like he's burning alive. That is until No Longer Human washes over him, squashing the flames and putting an icy chill on his wounds. It feels nice, like when someone places an ice pack on a swollen injury. To Chuuya, it feels like care and protection. He's safe from Corruption, and now, someone is tending to him. He doesn't have to worry anymore.

To Dazai, nullfying Corruption leaves him feeling colder than ever before, shivering like he's caught in a snowstorm with dripping wet clothes due to the sheer amount of power that he has to nullify. Because of this, Dazai craves the warmth that Chuuya naturally produces, touching him to try and warm up. When Chuuya is knocked out, Dazai reaches out to hold his hand for a little while. Presses a hand against his cheek. Lays him in his lap. Anything to soak up that addictive heat to combat the chill he feels from his ability.

Chuuya gets tense when he's too hot, the feeling too close to Corruption. Dazai feels that the icy sensation that his ability naturally possesses makes others reluctant to touch him, possibly making him feel more inhuman. But they naturally reach out for each other and take comfort in what the other might not like about himself. I love it.

Redrawing an official design

@itsnotevenreallyfunny

twas with atticus and his dad the other day and i was abt to buy this and then atticus's dad was like. uh- write it yourself dumbass

so i might...

Arcane art style study with Fyolai

“ even Dazai forgot to breathe as he watched the storm that was chuuya decimate the battlefield “

Okay Dazai pack it up, the closet is g l a s s. Anyways, this took me three days and 5hours to fully complete (don’t ask,wrestled with Chuuya’s pose for a day and a half). The sillies💘

Dazai: Ranpo~ I need your deductive abilities! Ranpo: *eating a snack* hmm? what do you need? Dazai: I need you to deduce if Chuuya likes me? Ranpo: *confused* like as in toleration or like as romantically Dazai: oh i know he tolerates me... the other one Ranpo: *still confused* Chuuya Nakahara, the mafia executive? Dazai: yes? Ranpo: you want me to deduce if Chuuya Nakahara, the mafia executive has a crush on you? Dazai: yes! Ranpo: the man that is currently behind you, hugging you? Dazai: *looks at Chuuya* yep this one Ranpo: the one that you have been married to for like 4 years? Chuuya: actually its been 5. Ranpo: *baffled* yeah I think he likes you Dazai: awww Chuuya! Chuuya: ok me next, Ranpo I need your deduction Ranpo: *facepalm* do you want to know if Dazai likes you? Chuuya: yeah... Ranpo: *throws glasses* im done!

do you want the world to explode, chuuya? :( i dont think so