anyway i wanted to try reading my book soon but idk which play to read first: hamlet, macbeth, or king lear
Idk what factors will influence what you’re looking to read, so here are a few:
-On a scale of most understandable to read to least I’d rank Macbeth first and Hamlet and King Lear tied for second.
-Macbeth is the shortest, followed by King Lear, and Hamlet’s the longest
- plot-wise I’d say Hamlet and King Lear are the best Shakespeare tragedies— I think most people like Hamlet better, I personally like King Lear better but it’s a very close tie. Macbeth is alright but I don’t really find the characters in Macbeth to be even remotely as interesting as the characters in Hamlet and King Lear
-You mention in your tags that you’ve read Macbeth and are familiar with the plot of Hamlet but aren’t familiar with King Lear, so to give you a bit more familiarity with it— An old King (ie Lear) decides that he straight up doesn’t feel like ruling his kingdom anymore, and tries to divide the land among his three daughters. Meanwhile some random earl decides to make some very bad and stupid decisions regarding his two sons. Everything goes very wrong and (spoiler alert but not really) everyone dies.
-Hamlet is the funniest of these three plays
-Macbeth has the famous line of “WHAT YOU EGG”
-King Lear has Edmund, which of course doesn’t mean anything to you, but my entire blog is dedicated to me talking about Edmund and how he’s definitely valid(or at least it was, last year)
-read all three of them at once lmao I dare you. Just. One scene from one play, and then one scene from the next, and then one from the next. Keep that up until you’ve read all three.
If you ask someone if they take constructive criticism regarding their hobby and they say yes, they don’t have any obligation to act on the criticism you gave them. and that should be obvious.
remember last time I said that was my one and only post about that anime called Bungo stray Dogs? I lied.
<<DISCLAIMER: I was gonna edit this but then I forgot about it and left it in drafts for too long and I only remembered it now. SO it’s still all phrased in ways that’ll bother many people in the fandom (unlike part one, which I tried to tone down a bit). Also it’s pretty messy. So. Read at your own risk I guess.>>
I was gonna replay via reblogs once again, but once again I went too off topic and didn’t want to hijack or derail OP’s post, so here’s a link to the post, here’s the post, and here’s OP: @sparkofsummer
I have so much to say on this topic, so just consider this my anti-Dazai propaganda rant part 2
Of course last time I said I’d never post another bsd-related post ever agin, but exceptions must be made for topics such as this.
And now onto the topic at hand.
<full disclosure- when I mention Sskk and skk here, I’m referring to the duos (in terms of teaming up to fight someone), not the ships>
OP is right. OP is so right and this is the reason for my unreasonable dislike towards Sskk.
Sskk is created to be the “next generation” of skk. That’s the first noticeable flaw. The age gap between Mori/Fukuzawa and skk is what.., 20 years, give or take? The age gap between skk and Sskk is 2-4 years. That’s not a “next generation”, that’s just taking your coworkers who are around your age and saying “heyyy I really don’t feel like working, can you cover for me?” The point of a “next generation” is that when one generation goes into retirement, there’ll still be a strong duo protecting Yokohama. But by the time skk will be too old to get anything done, chances are so will Sskk. So that’s reason number 1 that Sskk does not serve its purpose.
Reason number 2 is, as OP said, it doesn’t follow the previous two duos brain/brawn rule. It’s double brawn. Neither Atsushi nor Akutagawa are strategists in any sense. Chuuuya’s arguably more of a strategist than them, considering he understands the way other strategists (ie Dazai) think, to an extent.
But wait. There actually is a brain among us in Sskk. And it’s Dazai’s. Unlike Mori/Fukuzawa and skk, Sskk often has direct interference and guidance from Dazai. While they were out beating up the virus ability guy, Dazai was out apprehending Fyodor. Prior to that he was with them, directing them on an outline of what to do. The role of Sskk here seems to be a role Chuuya could have easily filled. (And the virus needs two hosts, right? I may be mis-remembering this, but what would have happened if only one person would have gone in to fight the virus dude?) Regardless. It seems like the sort of role Chuuya could have easily filled, but Dazai’s having the duo he created himself try their hand at filling that role.
And on the topic of Chuuya, where is he anyway? I don’t mean in the virus arc, I know he was on a mandatory Ranpo-enforced vacation in a mystery novel. But where is Chuuya in establishing Sskk? It makes sense that only Mori and not Fukuzawa established skk, because Fukuzawa didn’t know or have anything to do with Dazai or Chuuya. But with Sskk, Akutagawa is Chuuya’s subordinate, and additionally he clearly respects him. For Dazai to intentionally make sure Chuuya has no involvement.., it would make you question why. Why would Chuuya intentionally be left out of the formation of the new and improved duo that’s supposed to take over from the duo he was once a part of.
Point is Sskk isn’t “the next generation” or “stronger skk”. It’s skk minus Chuuya, replacing him with two ability users who don’t even come close to his complete strength, considering he’s a literal god.
The fallacy lies in the fact that Sskk is a duo, when it’s actually a trio. Dazai fills the role of not only the mentor, but the brains to Atsushi and Akutagawa’s brawn. Dazai never left skk, he simply pushed Chuuya out of it by replacing him with two people who don’t even remotely amount to what he’s capable of.
EDIT from after I wrote this:
AND ANOTHER THING.
THAT I FORGOT TO MENTION.
Dazai KNOWS that Akutagawa is actively dying of some lung disease.
Dazai KNOWS that Atsushi can only control his ability with the help of Fukuzawa, ie someone a whole generation older than Dazai himself.
So that whole “oh this is the next generation of soukoku :)” thing? Yeah Dazai KNOWS that both parties involved will only be able to be part of it for a short period of time. So. Dazai. What’s up with that, anyway?
edette favorite shakespeare play in each genre (comedy/tragedy/history) GO
I’m pretty sure I’ve never read any of the histories (unless Merry Wives of Windsor counts? I mean it’s not really a history but it’s part of the History Cinematic Universe, right?)
BUT regarding comedies and tragedies, I’m pretty sure my answers will be the same as last time I got this ask (which may have been from you actually, idk, but that would be really funny)
so. Best Tragedy Award goes to King Lear, because of course it does. Hamlet’s a close second, but unfortunately it contains 0 Edmunds, while King Lears contains 1, putting it ahead into first place.
Best Comedy Award goes to Twelfth Night, because it’s simultaneously funny and pretty unproblematic. also. there’s absolutely no straight explanation for it.
I’m good I’m in class right now but we’re just going over a study guide in groups but I’m leading my group so. That’s why it’s taking me like 10 minutes to type this out right now
I’m good I’m in class right now but we’re just going over a study guide in groups but I’m leading my group so. That’s why it’s taking me like 10 minutes to type this out right now
One of my (irl) friends is really into that book series you like about the kids who play a sport or something (the one with Neil and maybe Kevin in it. You know what I’m talking about). And I was like “Oh one of my tumblr mutuals likes that!”
anyway i wanted to try reading my book soon but idk which play to read first: hamlet, macbeth, or king lear
Idk what factors will influence what you’re looking to read, so here are a few:
-On a scale of most understandable to read to least I’d rank Macbeth first and Hamlet and King Lear tied for second.
-Macbeth is the shortest, followed by King Lear, and Hamlet’s the longest
- plot-wise I’d say Hamlet and King Lear are the best Shakespeare tragedies— I think most people like Hamlet better, I personally like King Lear better but it’s a very close tie. Macbeth is alright but I don’t really find the characters in Macbeth to be even remotely as interesting as the characters in Hamlet and King Lear
-You mention in your tags that you’ve read Macbeth and are familiar with the plot of Hamlet but aren’t familiar with King Lear, so to give you a bit more familiarity with it— An old King (ie Lear) decides that he straight up doesn’t feel like ruling his kingdom anymore, and tries to divide the land among his three daughters. Meanwhile some random earl decides to make some very bad and stupid decisions regarding his two sons. Everything goes very wrong and (spoiler alert but not really) everyone dies.
-Hamlet is the funniest of these three plays
-Macbeth has the famous line of “WHAT YOU EGG”
-King Lear has Edmund, which of course doesn’t mean anything to you, but my entire blog is dedicated to me talking about Edmund and how he’s definitely valid(or at least it was, last year)
-read all three of them at once lmao I dare you. Just. One scene from one play, and then one scene from the next, and then one from the next. Keep that up until you’ve read all three.
time to throw hands with @edettethegreat because MACBETH CHARACTERS ARE INTERESTING WHAT DO YOU MEAN
OK OK
Lady Macbeth is Good (not morally, but that’s not the point)
Everyone else though? Ehhh…
I like them, but they’re just not very well-developed, I guess? I made some post a while ago saying that Banquo haunting Macbeth is really funny if it’s actually Banquo’s ghost and not a hallucination, because then that would mean Banquo made the conscious choice to go to his ex-friend’s house and just Stand There Ominously to get back at him for the whole “I’m gonna kill you because of some sketchy prophecy” thing.
But since it’s probably a hallucination and not Banquo, I can’t really give him points for that one
Hey Remember That Time When I Said I Didn’t Want To Interact With The Bsd Fandom Because The Fanbase Is Overly Defensive Of Their Favorite Characters To The Point Of Harassing People Who Disagree With Them?
Well you’ll never guess what happened on my side blog
Listen I saw Dear Evan Hansen yesterday, and I saw Beetlejuice the day before, and I’m gonna give you the most cursed hot take ever-
Adam and Barbara from Beetlejuice are just what Evan and Zoe would have been like as an adult couple (if their relationship was functional and not built on lies)
Like. An awkward dude and a Probably Popular In Highschool girl.
There’s definitely an increase of blank blogs (default icon, no posts or reblogs..) interacting with my posts now, and yeah, this is definitely twitter’s fault. This is Musk’s fault.
Originally this post was supposed to be a reply via reblog to this post, but it got a bit too sidetracked and I felt bad for hijacking OP’s post like this.
Initially I was just going to say this through the comment section of the original post, but then I realized that I have way too many thoughts to fit into the small word limit of a tumblr comment.
Anyway, that’s why I’m posting a screenshot of the original post rather than just reblogging it. I don’t want to derail OP’s original points or hijack the post and go off topic.
@chaosgranted you’re right and you should say it. I’m just gonna elaborate on this topic a bit. Gonna scream into the Tumblr void with hopes that the void won’t scream back.
<long ((and mostly negative)) rant about Dazai, so. Read at your own discretion>
I know I already commented on OP’s post a hundred times, but this got me thinking about the subject and now I can’t stop. So lemme burden you all with my never ending stream of thoughts on this matter.
Before I get into this rant, I wanna clarify something. I do, in fact, like Dazai as a character. I think he’s very interesting. I enjoy when he shows up on screen. This isn’t something I’d say for most other characters, who I’m more neutral about.
That being said. Pretty much everything about how the fandom portrays him and views him annoys me so, so much.
As OP states here, what he does (leaves Chuuya unconscious and vulnerable in the field after promising to bring him back) isn’t just harmful or mean, it’s borderline cruel. And if it was done by any character who the audience wasn’t obsessed with, that character would be burned at the stake.
Think about Shirase (who I love, but that’s its own thing). Some people like him, a bunch of people hate him, a bunch of people have no opinion on him because he’s not a major character in the anime. Regardless of his Light Novel counterpart, Anime Shirase is justified enough in his own right. Let’s be real, the Sheep (including Shirase) were acting in self defense when they betrayed and stabbed Chuuya. They genuinely believed that he was an immediate threat to their safety. They genuinely believed that if they didn’t kill him, he’d kill them, or sell their information to the mafia, who’d shortly thereafter kill them.
Unlike Dazai leaving Chuuya behind when he was at his most vulnerable state, the Sheep stabbing and betraying Chuuya is not only justifiable, but understandable— and can anyone truly say that they’d do any different if they were in their shoes? I know I can only speak for myself, but if I truly and genuinely believed that someone was about to kill me or kill my closest friends, I would do what it takes to protect both my friends and myself.
The Sheep are somewhat vilified by the fandom (in the rare moments when the fandom remembers they exist). If Dazai had done the same— if Dazai had tried to kill an innocent person because he truly and genuinely believed that that person was about to kill the ADA, not only would he be forgiven instantly (which he should be, as I previously mentioned that’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do), but there wouldn’t be even an ounce of discourse over whether or not he’s justified.
Now, I understand the concept of liking “problematic” characters. (Tbh no character is “problematic”, whether or not the character is a good person is irrelevant, if the character does “problematic” things then that’s literally just how they were written and also intentional and also says something about them as a character. It should be called “good writing”, not “a problematic character”.) I understand the concept of liking the antagonist, heck my whole blog used to be me justifying Edmund from King Lear. Of course I never said he was a good person (because OH MAN HE WASN’T), but I found him very intriguing and so I would rationalize his actions and try to see things from his POV.
The difference between liking or justifying an antagonist and what the bsd fandom does with Dazai is that Dazai isn’t an antagonist.
The closest Dazai comes to filling an antagonistic role is in flashback arcs, which is the only time when his actions aren’t chalked up to “haha Bandage man is doing his thing again!”. When Dazai manipulates the Sheep into betraying and stabbing Chuuya, it acknowledges that Dazai is filling a bit of an antagonistic role there. That scene isn’t played off a a joke— there’s no comedic undertone in how it’s portrayed. As opposed to when he leaves Chuuya in the field and it goes “haha look at Bandage man always being so silly and goofy!”
The same goes for Dazai’s treatment of Akutagawa in The Dark Era arc. When he shoots at him, attempting to kill him with no knowledge that his ability can theoretically stop the bullets, it’s not played off as a joke. However, in the dungeon scene, Dazai says that his new subordinate is “far superior” to him, and the show plays it off as “haha Bandage man made Emo kid angry!”, even though what Dazai meant by “far superior” is that Atsushi got lucky enough to be taught by Present Day Dazai, and so he’s more mentally stable and more sure of himself than Akutagawa, who’s still very clearly getting over the trauma of being literally brainwashed mentored by Mafia Dazai. Ability wise, Atsushi and Akutagawa seem to have equally strong abilities. The only thing that Atsushi has that Akutagawa doesn’t is a semi-healthy mindset. And you know who’s responsible for both of their mindsets….? This statement ( “..far superior..”) is the equivalent of punching someone in the face and then calling them ugly for having a black eye.
But the show keeps playing off Dazai’s outright cruelty to the people around him as a literal joke. And “he’s on the good side now!!”, so, to quote a song we all wish we could forget, How bad can he possibly be?
I think the first real sign of Dazai’s, for lack of better terms, tendencies..,, is in the second episode. That was the point where I was like “Oh. So he’s an asshole.” In that episode, Atsushi states that although he’s grateful for Dazai’s help, he’s not interested in joining the ADA. Dazai tries to pressure him into joining but he politely refuses. Dazai then makes it seem like he’s about to get him an interview for a different job, when suddenly he drags him into a supposed bombing and seemingly forces him to put his life on the line for an organization that he wants nothing to do with.
Atsushi is a kid who can hardly stand up for himself. I’m surprised he even turned Dazai down in the first place, but that just goes to show how badly he wanted nothing to do with the Agency. After discovering that it was all a test set up from the start— a test which he passed, now making him qualified to join the ADA— he still remains unwilling to join. Now what does Dazai, our resident master manipulator, do? He makes sure to give Atsushi a friendly reminder that sure, he doesn’t have to join, but if he doesn’t he’ll surely either die of starvation on the streets or be captured by the cops for his horrible tiger crimes against humanity. At that point of the episode I was like “ah. A manipulative asshole. Lovely. I’d like to see him get punched in the face.” (And thanks to Kunikida he does get punched. Not often enough for my tastes, but whatever.)
If you’ve never watched BSD and are only learning about it from this post, you’re probably thinking “but Edette, this guy is clearly a horrible person. And I understand that people simp for him, but just how delusional do people have to be to pretend none of this ever happened?”
Well there’s a very simple answer to that, my friend.
The whole show plays off his.. ah, let’s call them “silly little shenanigans”.. as just that. Silly. Little. Shenanigans. It shows him being manipulative and using every innocent person he comes alone to advance his own goals in one way or another. But that’s all perfectly fine! Because the show says it’s actually really funny, so it must be, right?
As OP says. Chuuya trusted him. Chuuya listened to him when he told him to activate his ability which nearly kills him. Chuuya was willing to throw his life away, endure pain beyond anything anyone could imagine, all on the hope and trust that this person he shares so much history with will be there for him and protect him when he’s left in his most vulnerable state.
But Dazai uses corruption as a tool. He uses Chuuya as a pawn to win the battle. And if you want to argue that Chuuya’s not a pawn but a knight or queen or some other chess piece then fine. Nice chess analogy. You do realize that’s irrelevant, right? Either way, as he says himself in 15, he’s not a king. He’s not the piece that will be protected at all costs. And no matter what piece he is, he’s just a game piece, just like everyone else Dazai comes across, and Dazai is the player.
And after the battle is over? Well, his pawn is of no use to him anymore. So good job Chuuya, you did it, you won. Soukoku won. But only one half of Soukoku gets to enjoy the victory.
For the record, I do believe that Dazai cares about Chuuya beyond simply being intrigued by him. I do believe that he wouldn’t have folded his coat and left it where he could find it if the person he was fighting alongside was just anyone. But that’s not even close to the bare minimum of what Dazai should have done. This is just a testimony to what sort of person Dazai is. Even with someone who he arguably cares about, he still treats him this horribly.
People on my sideblog are going around asking dumb questions like “do you really hate Dazai” and “why do you hate Dazai so much”
And I’m just out here like “NO I do not hate Dazai as a character. He’s well-written, YES he is an absolutely awful person and I’m gonna complain about everything that he has ever done.”
