Again & Again

And the Loki-Luffy parallels just keep growing!

This one is particularly poignant not just because of the fact they both looked up to strong pirates, but the circumstances of why they looked up to pirates are also connected.

From what little we can glean of Luffy's early childhood, he had basically no one looking after him and no other friends his own age. Makino is the only adult living on the same island as him who treats him kindly but even then she's not his guardian. Loki was the pariah of Elbaf who had even less of a support system than young Luffy.

When a child is abandoned and ostracized, they'll naturally throw themselves at any scrap of potential positive affirmation they can find no matter the source. Even if said source is socially frowned upon like piracy. Sometimes it works out really well like with Luffy and Shanks. Other times, it puts the child in danger and sets the wrong example like with Loki and Rocks.

I'm who I've got to be.

↳ 4/29; happy birthday chuuya!

I know we're all super focused on the God Knights and everything going to absolute hell on Elbaf right now but if we could circle back for one quick moment..!

Loki has a friend(?) he talked to while he was locked up?? And we still don’t know who it is ?? (Or at the very least I sure as hell don’t)

Let us re-examine these panels

Firstly, Loki has a cold resistant Den Den. Who gave it to him? It couldn’t have been the locals since yknow *gestures vaguely* they can’t stand his ass and I highly doubt he had it on him when he got locked up. We can also safely rule out the friend since Loki says they’ve never met face to face.

Secondly, this mystery person seems quite polite and uncertain. Wanting to make sure they’re not bothering with their call despite this clearly not being their first conversation. Loki is quite happy to have someone to talk to clearly (he clearly loves his forest friends but good conversationalist they do not make). He also states they’ve been friends for a while (which could mean anything since we now know how not great Loki is with time especially if this person is a human).

Thirdly, this traumatic experience mystery friend face. We don’t have to clues right now to figure it out nor can we guess since we don’t have the character's age to tie it to something we already know. Whatever it was it still scares them terribly. It even bothers Omen Of Disaster Loki so it must have been serious.

Of course he does say he’d would have shut shit down because he’s Loki! And the newly named Shaggy (a nickname on Loki's part or a real name 🤔🤔) rebukes that idea. Loki calls them weak, stating that shooting to kill is the only way to guarantee one's safety, showing mercy gives them a chance at revenge! Gee, I wonder who that awfully specific concept could be talking about!

That display of cruelly and aggression does not throw Shaggy off even slightly, instead choosing to thank his friend and remark that they’ve noticed the kindness that leaks beneath all that anger and hate the accursed prince barks out. This sets Loki off, quickly starting a one-sided shouting match about how he is not kind! Not even slightly! The very idea is sickening and disrespectful! Never dare to speak to him like that ever again! Just you wait until he is free, he’ll show everyone!

Shaggy's response to this is very telling. Not fear, no ellipses, just a calm ‘Please don’t shout.’ It’s the first part of the conversation where there is no hesitation on Shaggy's part.

I know people believe Shaggy is Gaban and while I could also see that happening ig I really don’t think he’d talk/act like this. We also don’t know if Shaggy is even a guy because while the Den Den does have a beard of some sort it could very well just be a snail that doesn’t change faces (also woman can have beards!!). If I had to pick a pre-existing character for it to be I might pick Saul (kind king that he is) or Kiringham (came for the mission, stayed for the conversation).

There are also no current hints on species, the chances of it being a giant are pretty slim but not impossible (also I really like the idea of Loki having a little buddy).

In conclusion:

Come forward and speak the whole class bestie, I promise we won’t jump you!!

You know, Hajrudin kinda has a point

Kyouka doodle

Happy birthday Chuuya! ♡

motivational poster for when you, too, need a dazai osamu in your brain speaking words of wisdom to help you through times of trouble

The irony of so much of the demon slayer fandom arguing about who is the strongest and who "solos" who when two of the most reoccuring themes in the story are a) people all have something different to bring to the table that can contribute in unforseeable ways and b) some enemies can't be defeated alone and every little thing helps either your companions or your successors accomplish what you couldn't by yourself. If you think about it, there was almost no enemy that tanjiro didn't need help taking down because going it alone wasn't the point

The final fight is literally a testament to that with muzan "soloing" everyone and losing to the combined power of every corps member, even the weakest ones. There were low ranking members holding up nearly every hashira as they fought. One guy just straight up drove a car into muzan, an act requiring no specific skill and a lot of nerve! And it all mattered in the end! Everyone came together to change the outcome!

Creativity, willingness, and the importance of connections are literally major themes!!! That the demons couldn't genuinely cooperate with each other was one of their most fatal flaws!!! Lust for individual power was not the great driving force in any of the heros, only the demons. And every time, it was presented as a major flaw that ultimately ruined them.

I love how Dazai’s role in the whole go after the fingernail guy thing was just to narrate what everyone else was doing.

Oh Ranpo found you guys in 5 seconds. Atsushi and Junichiro took out of all your back up. Kenji over here just destroyed your door and Yosano’s going to hunt you down for sport.

Like Dazai didn’t do shit but he showed up anyway just so he could happily talk about how proud he is of everyone else’s contributions.

Throwback to Stormbringer really quick before I continue with the Prison Arc. With good reason too.

Referring to real-life Dostoevsky and Dazai.

Dostoevsky believed that suffering elevated, that it was essential for attaining true faith. Dazai feared God. He has only ever been able to believe in God's punishments due to the endless spiral of hopelessness and depression in his life. To him, suffering destroys.

Back to Bungo Stray Dogs.

Dazai made Chuuya suffer so that Chuuya could see that he isn't a monster. That I've known since I've written that portion. However, suffering destroys. He needed to destroy Chuuya's misconception of him not being human, and because to him suffering destroys, he believed Chuuya needed to suffer to break. So, no, Dazai didn't do it for shits and giggles.