Three Is A Pattern, Shanks!

but i don't know how to walk toward the past or future! — it's simple. feel strongly. that's what you do when you want to experience the past.

the fact that atsushi saw akutagawa was alive and thought 'i must save him', not out of 'i must save him so we can defeat this villain' but simply out of 'alive. must save'

which is his default thinking at any point but isn't it ✨️refreshing✨️ for akutagawa to be part of this mindset

Okay but Jimbei is like, an old pirate. Joining the Strawhats is basically his retirement job. He’s like “ugh man I’ve been doing all this political maneuvering for decades it’s so exhausting” and Luffy pops up like “wow lame wanna join my Funtime crew instead? I’ll let you punch whoever you want” and Jimbei’s like yeah. I do want that actually.

"Usopp Pinocchio imagery", this "Usopp Aesop imagery" that.... What about Usopp Odysseus Imagery? I never see enough of it.

Y'know, Odysseus, who sailed the world going on grand adventures, always thinking of his little home island to return to. Odysseus, whose main trait was being a wily, clever teller or tales, who would often trick his enemies to win. Odysseus who boldly lied to a Giant to save his crew. Odysseus, who put on a disguise and pretended to be someone else, with only those close to him being able to recognize him, confirming his identity to the rest of the world with a feat of sharpshooter archery!

Or what about Odysseus' main character flaw being his tendency for hubris? Hubris in the original ancient Greek sense (ύβρις); overconfidence and bragging in the face of gods, calling yourself greater than gods even as a mortal, and offending them. Like perhaps claiming you have "8000 Men" under your belt while facing opponents much greater than you, or earning the title of "God" when you're not one. Or more cheekily, calling yourself the "Captain" of your crew in the face of Sun God Nika.

I wonder what Penelope, patiently waiting for Odysseus back home in Ithaca, and rejecting a gaggle of suitors, reminds me of. vvvvv

I'm sure there's something about the Veggie Kids being his Telemachus in there, too.

Aaa Siblingss

I’ve always wondered if Kyouka and Chuuya ever interacted during her PM days bc she’s literally Kouyou and Verlaine’s mentee

Anyway, I would love your thoughts on a family dinner of those four it would be insane

oh, I have lots of thoughts about Verlaine's les enfants

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Concept:

The dynamic of Ranpo and Yosano as kids is really interesting to me.

You have Ranpo who thought he had an ability and it saved him. He flaunts it to the public and takes great pride in displaying it.

He’s smarter than anyone else and he made that a strength of his instead of something to fear.

And then you have Yosano who has an ability and it hurt her. Her ability was abused and she was locked away when she tried to run.

She knows she can do so much good and that terrifies her.

I personally don’t think that Ranpo understood the weight of having an ability until they met.

Yes he was kidnapped for it and I’m sure Fukuzwa told him tales and the importance of this gifted business permit.

But I like to think meeting Yosano reminded Ranpo that he’s not untouchable.

That even now he’s still human.

I like to think they saw pieces of themselves in each other. Parts of them that they had long since lost.

Ranpo saw in Yosano the fear of one in a world full of monsters. Yosano saw in Ranpo her earlier confidence, when her ability was a point of pride.

That Ranpo tries to return to her with that butterfly pin he found in the wreckage.

Because you are human.

Because you are extradionary not because of your gift but because you are kind.

You wanted to help them.

And now I’m going to help you.

There's so many layers to this whole scene but this exchange in particular. When experiencing the story for the first time, it's obvious that the attention is going to be directed to the reveal of Dazai having been Akutagawa's mentor, a fact up to this point unknown to the audience. But on a second rewatch, and knowing everything we know about Akutagawa and Dazai's relationship… I feel like the thing that might have actually sent Akutagawa over the edge might be Dazai simply addressing Akutagawa as his former superior; Akutagawa being someone he doesn't recognize anymore. Whereas after all those years (and after this scene, too) Akutagawa has kept considering Dazai to be his one and only mentor still. Here, Dazai saying that he's his past mentor must have came as experiencing the trauma of abandonment all over again for Akutagawa. Which might explain why it's something that pushed Akutagawa's most hurting buttons so much, to the point he'd even retaliate by punching his beloved mentor and most respected person.

About that, i really like how physical Akutagawa's reaction is during this scene. He punches Dazai twice. And to me it really uses to express how conflictual and oxymoronic Akutagawa's state of mind is. He loves Dazai, but he's also enraged at him, feeling so betrayed for having been left alone without a word, all those years. He craves his recognition, but right here and now even that can't placate the relentless rage boiling inside him. The overwhelming feeling of frustration for himself before anyone else, because it's his fault for being so weak and incompetent that Dazai left him behind; and yet he can't help but take that frustration out on Dazai himself, symbolizing just how overbearing Akutagawa's emotions are, how he's not in control of them. I just think this scene is neat.

Girl time

the thing is not only akutagawa regaining his memories by having atsushi throw himself to save him like he did, but also that akutagawa's eyes have never been more clear