I Understand That You Can Get Burnt Out From Anything, But There's Something ... Hollow? About Being

Happy New Year, my lovelies! Lets see what fuckery we can get into this year.

Fanfic update for anyone who wants to know.

I'm currently working on chapter 16 of Dead Ringer. Chapter 7 of Singularities is done, but it won't be posted till I post the Dead Ringer chapter. I apologize for the delay and hope to have them out by next week or the week after. Thank you all for being patient!

So, something I just noticed since they both came up on my feed.

In both Chuuya’s reaction to Dazai getting hit by Lovecraft and Dazai's gay power of friendship/getting shot speech, they both say something similar to the other.

Even if Dazai is talking out his ass (which is a very real possibility since he knows he's not about to die), it's an interesting parallel and it makes me wonder if it was intentional on the writer's part.

Chapter 5 of Singularities has been posted! Hope you enjoy!

Exerpt:

Chuuya passed the guards stationed in front of the Boss’s office and closed the doors behind him. “You wanted to see me, Boss?”

Mori looked up from some paperwork. “Chuuya, I hear your recovery’s gone well?”

He rubbed the bandages still around his wrists. Even with Chuuya being a ridiculously fast healer, the wounds from the stakes and barbwire were going to take a while to fully go away. “Yeah, minus the migraine from Dazai constantly bothering me.”

Mori smirked. “I must admit, that was partly my doing. I asked him to check in on you for me.”

Chuuya sighed. “I appreciate the concern, Boss. But you really could’ve sent literally anyone else.”

He shrugged and put out a hand. “May I have a look?”

Chuuya stepped around Elise and the creepy doodle she was working on and gave him his wrist. The ex‑doctor unwrapped the bandage and examined the healing wound. It was clinical in a way that made Chuuya’s skin crawl for a reason he didn’t fully understand.

“Hmm, you are an extraordinarily fast healer, even for an ability user. And judging by your progress, you may not even have scars from this.” Mori fastened the bandage back in place. “Fascinating.”

I may not word this right, but I like that Apothecary Diaries doesn't reduce any of the female characters to just victims. In so many stories that involve sex work, it seems like the women are victims first and characters second. As if their character is made completely around the fact that they've had this experience and that dictates everything about what they do and think in the story. And while Apothecary Diaries certainly doesn't shy away from the dark side/trama that can come from that line of work, it does do a good job at acknowledging that none of the characters are really defined by it or shamed for it in the story for that matter.

I have a slight fascination in names and their meanings/historical context of how they're structured, and as far as the Perfect Court goes, there are a few fun facts about them that add an interesting layer to their backstories. We know Riko taking Jean’s middle name "Yves" was intentional and significant in signifying his lack of identity in the Nest. But Riko and Kevin also have (possibly unintentional) significants in their names as well.

For Riko, in Western cultures, we generally think of "Rico," the masculine Spanish/Italian name meaning "king" or "ruler," but in Japanese, the name "Riko" is traditionally a feminine name meaning "jasmine child" or "loyal child" depending on the characters used to spell it.

In Kevin’s case, it's a missing middle name, which is actually a bit more significant than Jean missing his. In Europe, middle names became a thing because of the high population prior to the Black Plague. (Multiple Johns or Marys could be distinguished by their middle name.) But, in Celtic regions, the belief in not telling people your middle name was associated with the fae. If they ask for your name and you don't give them your middle, then they don't have your "true name," and you're safe. As Kevin's mom was Irish, she definitely would have given him one as it's a normal practice. But by the Moriyamas removing it, it strips him of some of his cultural heritage.

Take this information and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. I just think it's an interesting thing to point out.

Okay, I just caught up on Apothecary Diaries, and while this show always has dark themes (and is quite frankly a masterclass in how they can be handled), the ending of s2e33 was ... Damn. I mean, talk about a taste of your own medicine.

Hypothetically, if Fyodor took over Chuuya’s body, would Arahabaki go nuclear? It's implied in Stormbringer that Arahabaki is only dormant because his vessel is Chuuya specifically. And we know Chuuya only has some access to Arahabaki’s power since he doesn't have the black flames or turn into a monster like Verlaine did with Guivre. So, would Fyodor be able to restrain the god? Or would he instantly go into corruption mode?

On that note, would he be able to take over Lovecraft since it's implied he's not human and even Dazai couldn't nullify him?

I think the only reason we don't see Dazai using a gun at the Armed Detective Agency is because they refuse to give his suicidal ass access to one. We know he had no qualms about using one, so that's the only reasonable reason I can think of as to why he wouldn't have one.

“Perfect timing! Arlene, Zahard, who’s your non-human hear me out character?”

The Thirteen Great Warriors have some downtime on their climb up the Tower and end up on the topic of their "hear me out" characters.

(All answers were found on Reddit and I am now scarred for life.)