skkisms

[skkisms]

that this is kunikida's ringtone image for dazai is both terribly funny and terribly sweet because it's a double entendre. dazai is depicted as hanging in reference to his suicidal tendencies, but he's more specifically depicted as a teru teru bozu.

teru teru bozu are traditional handmade dolls hung outside doors and windows in Japan as prayers for sunny weather. they're made from tissue paper or cloth and are usually white, ghost-like figures with strings tied around their necks.

the dolls are a folk craft, but their name was standardized by a popular 1921 nursery rhyme that begins, “teru teru bozu, teru bozu, ashita tenki ni shite okure” (“sunshine monk, sunshine monk, please make tomorrow sunny”). the rhyme asks teru teru bozu to bring sunny skies, promising the weather-influencing monk sweet sake if the wish is granted. If the wish is not granted, the rhyme threatens to chop the monk's head off.

in other words, kunikida is likening dazai to a monk, capable of bringing sunshine (and pliable with sake...). he is also threatening to chop off dazai's head in the alternative. (which somewhat reminds me of kunikida's entrance exam imperative to shoot dazai dead should he have sensed dazai had evil in his heart.)

so, kunikida's ringtone image for dazai is a prayer for sunshine each time dazai calls him and revealingly implies that kunikida likens dazai to a charm that brings him sunshine. it is also a threat against dazai should dazai's call bring more rain instead.

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Skk fic recs you say? 👀

hehe yesss...

this got kinda long lol

If you paid attention in chemistry class, you would know that alcohol can also be a solution by flyed (30k, complete). guys WHY IS THIS SO UNDERRATED!!!! really excellent characterization of skk and super good balance of comedy and drama and angst, plus a rlly good relationship study! i also really like how subtle the writing is... there's a lot of motifs or tidbits that i only picked up on a second read, which is quite cool

Nostalgia by suninwinter37 (seires of oneshots, 65k total, marked incomplete but everything stands on its own). really fun series, i think it does a good job characterizing skk and esp their relationship/perspective of each other. it also does a good job of exploring the subtleties of dazai's pov, i think, which is quite impressive given we have none of it in canon

#1 hater by imnotstubborn (3.5k, complete). superb characterization. mutually emotionally constipated fools, and teen skk (my JAM!)! short and fun :)

one-night runaways by astroyooning (6.7k, complete). another one with good characterization! also ft. dz caring for chuuya which is such a plus, always 👍 sweet little one shot

literally any skk fic by UnicornPopcorn14 (there's so much). i personally just love how skk is characterized in her works, and it's clear she does her research on the things she writes about. all of her stuff has a good mix of angst, fluff, h/c, what more can you ask for? and good writing to boot!

till death, i'll give you breath by booksandpapers (28.5k, incomplete). gahhhh i just adore how this author writes. it's so spectacular! again, fantastic characterization, and really interesting perspectives offered for skk (and others). this is one of my favs by them, because the concept is sooo excellent and the tension is executed brilliantly. but all of their works are worth checking out ;)

somehow i'm moving on and it pains me by warsfeil (64.8k, complete). ohhhhhh my god i dunno what to say about this one actually it's just that good. canonzai and beastzai swap places and everyone has to deal with it (including the zais). incredible characterization of literally EVERYONE which is CRAZY TO MEEEE... really nice character(s) study and relationship(s) study that just hits so hard. warsfeil's writing style is also just like, pure crack to me... i love it so bad

Three-fold Fate by devilrin (60k, complete). I always rec this one, i feel like it's obligatory. probably my fav fic of all time, no joke. such incredible writing and character work and omggggg gahhh it's incredible. all their other works are impeccable as well! pleaseeee check them out if you haven't already

hope that's enough for now. check back in a few weeks and i'll probably have more ;) enjoy!

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I still can't get over the random piano solo from Dazai

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I hate when y’all genderbend male characters and always give them massive tits. both Dazai and Chuuya would have small boobs. like 100%.

Kunikida on the other hand!

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i found the piece dazai plays in 123.5!! (SPOILERS)

the piece is ‘pavane pour une infante défunte’ or ‘pavane for a dead princess’. amazing, right??

i was in the shower and was like ‘hmmm you’d need such big hands to play that piece’ and then remembered the hell of trying to learn pavane and had a eureka moment

proof beneath the cut!!

comparisons (using my sheet music):

then,

finally,

TADAAAAA

also fun fact:

this piece is used in bsd wan!’s soundtrack too!

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Why wait?

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjVxLLWG/

Whenever this scene gets animated I better hear the most outrageous and hilarious song edits over this

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Chewing on the thought that Chuuya's Corruption is translated as Pollution in other languages and ough the thoughts and imagery that invokes

Pollution, contamination, infection, something that's harmful and doesn't belong — the opposite of purity

the release of something harmful to the environment, to the world, to the self. something that eats away at everything. a blight on the universe, everyone around him, and himself. that pollution cannot be cleansed entirely, but it can be locked away to keep things from becoming worse for everyone and destroying more than it already has

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Not once have I regretted the things that I did. I only ever regret the things that I did not do.

Happy Birthday Atsushi Nakajima!! (05.05)

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Surprise surprise, this translation is wrong

As many of you already know I’m in a crusade against bad translations. I see this panel going around very often but the translation makes me cringe so bad everytime. I'm sure many people are already aware of the mistranslation but I have never seen it explained anywhere so I decided to do it myself.

Disclaimer, English is not my native language.

Let’s start from the previous panel, because ✨context✨ The order is Japanese -- the fan translation I found -- and the official translation.

I will write down the literal, weird, almost word for word translation for comparison purposes:

判った　答える　答えるから近くに寄らないでくれる？連れだって歩いてると思われたくない

Understood I’ll answer. I’ll answer so, could you not come any closer? I don’t want it to look like we are walking together (I don’t want it be thought we are walking together)

はっ　心配すんな　俺もおもわれたくねえから

Ha, don’t worry. Because I don’t want it either (I also don’t want it be thought)

うふふ　気が合うねえ

ufufu ki ga au nee

Ok first explanation needed. First, the Japanese definition of ki ga au

気が合う -- 考え方や感じ方が通じ合う (kangaekata ya kanjikata ga tsuujiau)

way of thinking and feeling mutually understood.

"Ki" means mind, spirit, "au" means to meet. The English definition in many dictionaries and google is “to get along” and that’s what the fan translation uses (friendly reminder to ALWAYS use a monolingual dictionary once you reach a level high enough), but the "so well" comes from nowhere. The official translation uses "to see eye to eye". IMO it's more accurate in this context than to get along. But the “glad” also comes from nowhere.

Anyway, now you get the feeling of what it means. I think it's more like Dazai commenting how Chuuya shares with him the same feelings about the situation.

“fufu you agree, I see…”

そんな君が大好きだよ

sonna kimi ga daisuki dayo

And we got to the important part.

We have "sonna" that means “such”, “that kind of”. It's a spoken synonym of "sou iu" ("such, like that, that sort of"). As a pre-nominal adjective that goes with kimi, "sonna kimi" it means that you. It has a nuance of surprise when used in sentences like this.

And then "daisukidayo" that of course means I like so much, I love.

What does he loves? "sonna kimi", that is, a specific Chuuya, the Chuuya who is of the same mind that he is about not wanting people to think they were walking together. Or maybe simply the Chuuya that agrees with him, generally speaking.

In both translations the concept is all wrong. It’s presented as if loving Chuuya was the fact and Dazai was explaining the why. But in Japanese, Dazai is singling out the kind of Chuuya he likes/loves if you wish.

Now ask yourselves why specially the official translation chooses to make up the dialogue like that. I'm sure the translators knew enough Japanese to understand it correctly and I don't think it's a matter of cultural adaptation because it never justifies chaging the meaning. The correct answer is fanservice, sales and money 😭

If I had to translate it, I would say “oh I love/like so much that Chuuya!”.

It’s VERY in character for Dazai to say that. And the protest that follows is VERY in character for Chuuya.

うわ……やめろ！気色悪くて死ぬ！

Uwaa… stop it! It’s so disgusting I am going to die!

僕もだ

Me too.

Yes, Dazai sounds crestfallen.

This is getting too long, so my personal non-grammatical opinions under the cut

I have two, even three theories.

First case, Dazai was honest when he said that.

But he didn't register that's not something you go saying around like that, and he was hit with Chuuya's reaction. Because Chuuya had lived with other kids, so he understood social interactions. But Dazai didn't understand.

I've seen infinite analysis about Dazai and ND, mentall illnesses but not even one analyze this scene. So what if he really loved when Chuuya agreed with him, expressed it without any filters and recoiled when he was met with Chuuya's reaction and realized "that was not a normal thing to do". Remember the scene when he shoots the dead soldier? He seemed to be taking notes of what is and isn't normal. This option breaks my heart.

The criticism would be that what Dazai says doesn't sound so honest. This theory would fit better with the English translations but in Japanese he's very clearly informing Chuuya of the kind of Chuuya he likes, which is a twisted thing to say in any language. So maybe Chuuya's reaction is a response to both the nasty observation and the words chosen.

Second option, Dazai knew what he was doing

He used daisuki to provoke Chuuya, to mess with him and make him angry.

That's something 22!Dazai would do easily but I don't know if 15!Dazai was already so good at it. Anyway in this case the surprise would come from the genuine disgust in Chuuya's reaction instead of the expected anger. Chuuya is Chuuya, and he is immune to Dazai's manipulation schemes, except Dazai didn't know it yet. Also once he said it, daisuki was so cringe (and he was 15 😂). Absolutely in character for both of them.

Third option. Dazai said he wanted to make Chuuya his dog.

Dazai was a very messed up kid at that point. The first thing he thinks when he meets another (very powerful) boy his age is to dominate him and make him obbey his orders as his dog. The way he says that to Chuuya can sound very domineering, oh you agree, that's the Chuuya I love. That's a good boy 🐕. And then he felt down when Chuuya rejected that praise with disgust. In the manga it really looks like this option, with a very close and pushing Dazai and an uncomfortable looking Chuuya. I hate that vibe.

Or... possibly it's a bit of all three because after all, nobody knows what's in Dazai's mind 😌

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what she says: i’m fine.

what she means: the flags were the first people who wanted to get close to chuuya, not because he possessed some extremely powerful ability, but because they saw an angry and directionless teenager who needed someone he could rely on—even if he would never admit to it out loud. and chuuya didn’t know how to process their genuine kindness and friendship because his life until that point had been people wanting to use and exploit him for one reason or other. and it was the flags who tried to teach him the importance of having someone he could depend on. and and and—

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I get no notes because as soon as someone finishes reading my post they are compelled to put down their phone and experience the wonders of the world around them with fresh eyes

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i’m free on thursday if you wanna start a toxic codependent thing

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anyone else thinking about skk? perhaps doing domestic things? right after their very dangerous respective jobs. just... cuddling. and watching a tv show. auugh

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not me (on the man’s birthday) seeing the claim that chuuya only saved dazai in dead apple because of moris orders 😔

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bsd fucks. even if you don't give a shit about literature or humanity or history or what it means to exist or how we're meant to find meaning in life, bsd is silly and enjoyable.

the main cast comprises detectives, mafioso, and American spies with superpowers who live in a beautiful port city that they have to coddle so that it doesn't instantaneously collapse into hellfire, which its wont to do anyway, most frequently because of the french or one specific russian who enjoys roleplaying ratsona jesus. but not because of the english, despite the english's canonically expressed yearning to launch their man who is also a bomb at populated metropolitan areas.

the characters have eye catching designs and are earnest freaks. glancing for any longer than three seconds at the setting and background reveals bonkers anachronistic details because bsd's worldbuilding put 1868-2012 in a snow globe and shook it real hard.

none of the characters can drive except for the ones that are adept drag racers and/or helicopter certified. sometimes there are nathaniel hawthorne jump scares. regardless of where you live, if you're naughty and have superpowers, you could be thrown into a french blacksite wherein prisoners are put into bubbles or an abstract st. andrews cross depending on how annoying they are.

what is there to complain about.

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kunikida had the most wild time in dazai’s entrance exam like imagine being under the stress of working at a dangerous detective agency AND doing math tutoring at the tender sensitive age of 20 years old and suddenly your boss throws a guy at you who is the BIGGEST walking red flag and has no recorded background or history and just happened to meet a really important government guy at a bar and land a job at your workplace and is obsessed with suicide and tries to kill himself at work and has detailed knowledge of the human organ trafficking business and your boss is like “well, he’s your problem now, if he gives you bad vibes just shoot him in the head if not I want to know if you’d recommend him as our newest employee. okay bye”