Sskk And Skk Were In The Top 100 Ships This Year

los perros malo

Happy birthday Ranpo! We went to Hitachi Seaside Park together hehe

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.

YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYY

@fyodorsushankaaa

@lemonyyys

@uzi-x33

@skydoesthings

shh, they're communicating

king of obliviousness fr

On BSD’s Poe and The Cask of Amontillado — methodical violence

For all that Poe is characterized as soft (and rightfully so) I’ve always thought it was curious how easily he is given to violence, especially as it relates to Ranpo.

For the below analysis of Poe, I will be comparing Poe to the narrator of the Cask of Amontillado, Ranpo to Fortunado, and Poe’s novel to specific part of the catacombs where Fortunado was walled in.

1. The Motive

Poe spent 6 years plotting the murder of a man who beat him in a detective competition, which I’m fairly certain is a reference to the narrator in Cask of Amontillado (abbreviated hence as Cask)

when [Fortunado] ventured upon insult I vowed revenge

Fortunado is the man the narrator kills, and for a similar reason to which Poe wanted to kill Ranpo (humiliation). In fact, this entire first paragraph delves into reasoning that Poe follows in his revenge against Ranpo. Notably:

[A wrong] is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

And Poe makes it very clear to Ranpo that he felt humiliated by Ranpo, and what he felt humiliated by. He tries to make himself felt to Ranpo, and we see this with how he tries to remind the detective of their history.

2. The Identity and Treatment of the Victim

Both Ranpo and Fortunado are:

1. Better than and are arrogant about a skill which the narrator also takes pride in. Ranpo is astonishingly brilliant (moreso than Poe) while Fortunado is someone who “prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine” and the narrow is also “skilful in the Italian vintage”. Ranpo also repeatedly brags about his intelligence/super-deduction and calls other people stupid, just like Fortunado insists that he is the better expert on wine than the other people the narrator brings up, and calls one of them “an ignoramus”.

2. Killed (or attempted to be killed) by in a test of the aforementioned, shared skill. Ranpo is lured into a mystery novel while Fortunado is lured into a cellar to taste wine.

3. People who will be missed, “unlike” the killer. Ranpo is the agency’s pillar while Poe works for the guild which is all “money and violence”. Poe even remarks that he envied Ranpo’s praise, and that he himself cannot stomach the world much. Fortunado was said by the narrator to be “rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed”.

4. “Lucky” people. Poe viewed Ranpo as lucky for being the holder of glory and praise and for being blessed with the super deduction ability, unlike the “disgraced” Poe. Fortunado’s name literally means fortunate.

5. Locked in a place to die where others have already died. As the novel’s murderer, Ranpo likely would’ve been one of if not the last person to die, and when he did he’d have died among corpses, much like Fortunado died in the catacombs.

6. Meant to be slowly killed. Since again, Ranpo(‘s character) would’ve probably outlasted everyone else it’s likely that it would’ve taken a while for him to die, while Fortunado is literally walled into the cellar and presumably died of dehydration/starvation/suffocation/etc. It’s also possible that has Ranpo not figured out the killer, he would’ve died of the same cause (since, who knows if there was food in that novel).

3. Method of Madness — fair and escapable, up to a point

To me, the above similarities that Poe is like the narrator as well. This in mind, and considering canon actions, I do think that Poe is intensely and easily given to violence when moved to be. However, I also think this happens only in regard to Ranpo.

However, I also think he is principled and intentional about this violence. He gives Ranpo a fair chance. He has all the Guild’s resources at his disposal and probably could’ve done more to kill the man of all he wanted to do was kill, but no—he wanted to beat Ranpo at his own game. He wanted to redress the insult he suffered as the narrator of Cask did when he lured Fortunado into a game.

The narrator of Cask of Amontillado invited (did not force, only perhaps poke the ego of) Fortunado gave Fortunado plenty of chances to leave, even offered multiple times to take him back out when he began to cough / show ill health (though depending on interpretation, these may have been done to goad Fortunado into continuing). Similarly, Poe gave Ranpo a challenge (which he willingly took) and every chance to back out before he entered the book.

However, as Fortunado’s desire to prove his skill in wine tasting led him to be walled into the catacombs, Ranpo’s desire for the Guild info led him into the book. From there, both of their situations were escapable (or at least they were meant to be).

Also, if you’re wondering why I think the novel is specifically the part of the catacombs that Fortunado was walled into (and not the trip down to the catacombs itself), just look at this image:

Bricked in, much like Fortunado.

All of this leads me to believe that to Poe, revenge was not about the ends, but the method. The ends had no meaning of the method did not address his revenge appropriately. Poe himself suggests this as well when he mentions that the Guild’s violence bores him. The Guild’s violence is just violence, but Poe’s violence towards Ranpo is methodical, intentional, meaningful, and cruel. This leads me into…

4. Blasé Regard of Violence

Take this scene from the Cask:

“Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”

“True — true,

And this scene from chapter 32:

It’s a bit subtle, but both killers reference that their victim is going to die. The narrator in Cask says “true” because indeed Fortunado would not die of a cough, but of whatever killed him in the catacombs. And in Poe’s eyes (since he believed he would successfully kill Ranpo), Ranpo would “practically die to secure that info”.

Neither of them feel guilt, or even give a thought about feeling guilt, for what they’re doing.

I also want to note that I don’t think either the narrator in Cask nor Poe necessarily enjoy the inflicting of violence. They just… do it. The violence is not blood or pain to relish in, but the vector of their revenge. When Yosano “dies” in the novel and Ranpo is anguished, Poe does not shout about delighting in Ranpo’s misery, but rather is just glad to have beaten him.

The violence is part of these two killers’ method, and the method does matter to them (more than the outcome, even), but the violence is not the part of the method that matters. It is an avenue through which the method is delivered.

As a closing note, I also leave with you the observation that we only get the name of the narrator of The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor, at the very end of the story (when Fortunado has been almost completely walled in), just as Ranpo only claims to remember Poe after he’s gotten out of the novel.

My personal thoughts on Poe’s relationship to Ranpo (IE, not analysis of Poe and Cask) will be below the cut.

—

Personal RanPoe Thoughts

Poe is a little insane.

I really do like thinking about his desire to take violent revenge on Ranpo without actually caring about the violence part is a super cool thing to explore.

I also, again, think that this disposition to violence is Ranpo-specific; that Poe would not be as violent towards anyone other than Ranpo or unless Ranpo was involved. Ranpo and all his arrogance and brilliance. Ranpo as the loved, praised man he is.

I also do not think Poe wants to hurt Ranpo anymore, just for the record (and again I don’t think it was ever about causing harm, just satisfying his own vengeance), neither do I view him as possessive (I mean, we see him happily cheering for Ranpo’s intellectual prowess being recognized during the Perfect Crime arc).

What I do think is that Poe is willing to do just about anything for Ranpo, and to extremes. We see that he easily bets on Guild secrets away—screwing over the group that pays him an unholy amount of money—in order to have Ranpo’s attention and that he’ll write entire books on Ranpo’s whims (I haven’t counted the number of books Ranpo’s used throughout the manga but it’s not a small number of entire novels written in what I assume was less than a year). And while we haven’t seen Poe be violent again, I do think it’s possible.

This is all to say, if you wanna know where my brain has been today, it’s been thinking up scenes like this:

It was plain to see that Ranpo was made to be loved. His voice was loud, his grins were broad, and no better was there ever a moment to celebrate than when he snatched up his glasses and declared,

“Now, my super-deduction will reveal the truth behind this case!”

To deny Ranpo the right to be loved by the public was to deny who Ranpo was. Poe would have nothing else but the whole of him locked at the forefront of his mind.

I think this interpretation is also neat to think about in regards to the recent arc, but I didn’t have the brain space to write something like that today.

I have more RanPoe thoughts, but those will have to wait until a later post (as this is meant to specifically be focused on Poe, The Cask of Amontillado, and violence). Soon, soon.

To be explored in the future… Ranpo’s and Poe’s relationships to feelings of alienation.

I let my father borrow my notebook for a SECOND and already he's written 'milk' in 2 different fonts

I am SICK. I AM SICK OF MILK.

bsd ship charms - credit me (link or tag) if using!

More Poe doodles in various fashions ///👁️^👁️///