#prisoners dilemma spoilers

[lotsofsq]

NEVER EVER EVER GONNA BE OVER THE SORTING OUT! NEVER!!

SQ SAVES HIM!!! and mr curtain is yelling at him but his face is DEVASTATED and they WONT let go of EACHOTHER and he has HOPE in his eyes AAAAOOOGGHGF

[sinlizards]

been a little obsessed with mira lately

[cannibalisticskittles]

burgess has some insecurities and says that some of the people he thinks of as his friends don't think of him that way, but he is My Best Friend, my Baby Angel. i would die for him. i would kill for him. he's the greatest.

whereas grace has been acting very buddy-buddy with me, but this time around i can't help but notice how much of what she does is shockingly unprofessional for a supposed agent to the point that some of it is Actual War Crimes and i can't stand her ass rn

(grace, girl, what do you MEAN you helped an outlaw kidnap an old woman and torture her for information without having any proof that that old woman had anything to do with some suspected treasonous plot??? and then after doing this and coming to the conclusion that she's definitely not involved, you don't feel bad about it at all and just say that you're really lucky that you got good information out of her and it was totally justified???? girl help??????)

[oflightningandstars]

Just. The whole part where Kate thinks there could be a way out, but that only she could take it, but Reynie and Sticky are like “go!! we’ll be okay!!” and I’m experiencing emotions about them

“Now that [Sticky’s] forceful speech to Kate was finished, he seemed more anxious than ever; in fact, he was gazing mournfully at Kate as if he would never see her again, and Reynie was struck by a sudden realization. Sticky had done his best to convince Kate to go, not because he thought she could save them -- a doubtful prospect at best -- but simply because he hoped she could save herself.

And he said exactly the right thing, too, Reynie thought. He knew she needed to see that we’d be all right.

Reynie turned away, fairly overcome by a surge of emotions -- pride in his friend, concern for Kate’s safety, and fear that Sticky was right, that they might never see Kate again.” (The Prisoner’s Dilemma page 257)

Excuse me while I go cry in a corner

[shoes--off]

[itsalwaysagirl]

Dorks😂

They have such heart eyes it’s adorable

ERINIE🤣

[lunareiitic]

Ahead of 2.2 tonight, I'm thinking about prisoners.

2.1 Spoilers ahead: be warned.

It was pointed out to me earlier today that when Sparkle references "two mutes" to Aventurine, that she could be referring to several people. The other mute initially appears to be Robin, since she's dead and a singer who can no longer sing. But, on reflection, Sunday has been muted just as much. In Concerto For Two, she notes with bitterness that she feels that "their" dream hasn't been realized, perhaps implying that her dream was always to share the stage with Sunday as equals.

Aventurine is a prisoner in many respects: this is simple and easy to understand. One of his Eidolon's is literally called "Prisoner's Dilemma". Penacony used to be a prison complex, and it still is, after a fashion. As I often say "if you wish to escape, but cannot, it is a prison. If you cannot escape but do not wish to do so, it is a fortress." Sunday, who seems so preoccupied with the past: he keeps a framed Concerto For Two light cone in his office, he's the first to call out Gallagher's trait amalgamation of every person he's ever loved, he's the nominal head of the Oak Family: Penacony's administrative branch. He wants to preserve the life he's built up for himself and his sister, and now is suffocating under the bureaucracy he so longed to control. Now, with the one thing he was so desperate to keep lost, he isn't even allowed the space to publicly grieve. Muted, not unlike a jazz trumpet. Firefly, trapped in her own body, slowly but surely losing herself. It's clear that the SAM armor might be some kind of stopgap measure (or perhaps its her unique condition that allows her to pilot it), but her confession in 2.0 didn't seem to be lies. She gains nothing by lying about that. Penacony is a paradise for someone like her, whose reality is so bleak. There's a reason she doesn't play her hand as early as she could: and part of that is probably plot reasons, but part of that feels... sentimental. She didn't want to tarnish the Trailblazer's memory of her: preferable to die and be replaced than to betray them. That's very natural, isn't it? That desire to prolong something sweet, even though it's impossible. And then there's Robin: prisoner in ways that reflect the three we've already met. Her trailer makes key note of this: the celebrity, the sexualization, the objectification, the derealization that comes with being such a pivotal cultural icon. If she feels that Sunday doesn't share her dreams, it's clear that he doesn't realize this: look and see his arm shining her halo in the opening of her trailer. Her very own brother, her closest guardian, being the architect of her torment. He's rather mythologized her, hasn't he? Even to her only family, Robin is a legendary figure, a perfect angel that cannot do wrong, on whom all of Penacony rests. It's interesting how once she starts fantasizing, all of the people in her mindscape become puppets or shadows: people about as real to her as she is to the masses. Sunday isn't there at all: nobody is. How much has happened since he joined the Oak Family and she (assumedly) joined the Iris Family?

A popular theory: what if Robin isn't dead? What if she faked her own death, as Firefly did? She clearly couldn't escape on her own, with her fame and importance to the Family's public image. Gallagher doesn't give Sunday an answer about why he used Death on Robin. What if she felt it was better for him to think her dead, than to think of her as a traitor?

[sixteenth-days]

prisoner's dilemma

The prisoner's dilemma is a game theory thought experiment that involves two rational agents, each of whom can cooperate for mutual benefit or betray their partner ("defect") for individual reward. Or: “I just want you to know,” Pearl tells Scar, casual, “if it comes down to it, I want you to kill me.”

(secret life finale character study! contains spoilers)

[luna-moth-0]

I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SCENE!

Alert spoilers from season 2

(remember though that this scene is a sort of dream of Will so what happens during it is not real in the show)

So- first of all let's talk about the stag and the wendigo because their meanings are really important to understand how deep this scene actually is.

The wendigo and the stag are seen multiple times in the show as hallucinations of Will and as you know they represent Hannibal. But here is the difference between them as they represent two different sides of Hannibal. Or more precisely the two faces of Hannibal that Will sees.

The wendigo is the violent, controlling, cannibalistic version. Basically the "psychopath" Hannibal. Everytime Will sees the wendigo it's in a situation where Hannibal seems to be his enemy, like during Will's trial (Will sees the wendigo instead of Hannibal when he goes to give his testimony because Hannibal is the one getting Will in this situation, he's the one framing him)

The wendigo is the one who betrays Will, the one Will wants to kill.

Then we have the stag. The stag is the complete opposite. He represents the loving, understanding, friendly Hannibal. The stag is the Hannibal that is on Will's side. Everytime Will sees the stag is when he feels he can trust him, like when he's in prison and Hannibal comes to see him (in those visits Hannibal expresses his want to get Will out of prison and prove his innocence.)

The stag is the one Will craves and loves, because he makes him feel understood.

Alright now that this is explained I can go on about the scene.

This moment takes part in season two, therefore during a time when Will knows about Hannibal and manipulates Hannibal to trick him and catch him. And the way he manipulates Hannibal is by using the love that Hannibal has for him, he acts like he's on his side and understands him and loves him leading to Hannibal letting his guards down.

He uses the stag against Hannibal himself ,he takes advantage of his feelings.

In the scene Hannibal is tied to a tree with a rope tied to the stag. So if the stag goes further away from the tree, the rope gets tighter causing Hannibal's death.

The stag being responsible of Hannibal's death or life represents the way Will uses this version of Hannibal to catch him.

It even goes further than this. Later, after Hannibal's speech* , Will whistles which gets the stag moving. So Will has power over the stag. Again, because he actually uses this version of Hannibal against him, he really has power over this part of Hannibal.

And when he gets it to move he kills Hannibal, representing how he betrays him.

But alright alright this scene shows how Will took control back and is full on manipulating Hannibal but don't worry the scene also shows his internal dilemma (Hannibal always has some control after all).

Hannibal is not the only one tied to the tree actually.

When there's this little speech it's Hannibal but when Will actually kills him it's not him anymore, instead it's the wendigo.

Why? Well because that's what Will actually wants to kill. Will loves Hannibal no matter how much he hurts him, how much he shouldn't. Because Hannibal understands him like no one does and as Will said himself "I've never know himself as well as I know myself when I'm with him"

So when he actually gets to the part of Hannibal's murder he imagines the wendigo instead of just Hannibal as he wants to kill the bad of Hannibal and not his love.

*The speech is a pure love confession to Will btw as he says loving someone is understanding them and vice versa. And if you understood the bare minimum of their relation then you know it's based on understanding each other and seeing each other so according to Hannibal's speech they love each other.

Alr I think that's all I have to say about this scene for now. I hope yall could understand it and that my English was not too bad either💀.

[nickthealien]

[Outer Wilds Spoilers]

okay I cant get the Travelers/Ending song out of my head, but every time I go to play it to get rid of the ear worm I JUST START CRYING I AM IN A DILEMMA WHAT DO I DO I EITHER LISTEN TO THE SONG AND CRY OR I HUM IT FOR HOURS ON END not only that but PRISONERS INSTRUMENT IS SO PRETTY I need to find out if there's an irl equivalent to it and learn how to play it IMMEDIATELY this shit right here makes a grown man cry VVVVV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wkC7YJ3E10&ab_channel=idklol

[gaycrimesagainstmutants]

Nightmares (Leo Edition)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Warnings: Nightmares, Movie Spoilers, Body Horror

A/N: Looking at a character with so much trauma already in them and being like "Hmmm, is it possible to add MORE?" Might do the other three bros if you guys want me to.

Leonardo

Leo opened his eyes to the vast space of the prison dimension. The air was cold, his feet had no solid ground to cling to, all the bones in his body were either bruised or broken at this point.

It felt suffocating. It was a painful place to be alone, forever, in.

But, he wasn't alone this time.

The mutilated, twisted, broken beyond repair and bloody pulps of his friends and his family float in the space around him.

Mikey's neck was snapped. Donnie's shell was ripped off his back. Raph was split in half. Casey's arms were hanging by a thread of muscle and skin. You had a hole where your heart should be.

And yet, the criticisms still fell from what should have been unmoving mouths.

"This isn't about you, Leo!"

"You don't know everything!"

"You're a terrible brother!"

"How could you let this happen!?"

"We need Master Leonardo, and all we got is this guy."

Leo openned his mouth to defend himself, to apologize, but all that came out was a scream as the Kraang punched him to the ground, knocking all the air out of his lungs. He wanted to cry, to beg for some form of mercy, but the attacks kept coming.

"YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE PEST!"

Leo awoke with a jolt, shaking like a leaf as his breath came out heavy and quick. He patted the space around him, felt the firmness of the mattress and the soft threads of the blanket. He wasn't floating through an endless space. He was okay.

Everyone was okay.

He ran a hand over his face, holding back tears as he tried to figure out what he was going to do now. He wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, but Donnie would be on his case if he didn't. It was a dilemma he'd been having a lot lately.

Movement took his attention as you rolled over onto your side to face him, eyes barely open and glazed.

"Go back to bed, bubs," Leo said on reflex, and he mentally winced at how easily the words came out. How long had he been just telling you to go back to bed, even when he was still suffering? He didn't want to know.

"No," you muttered, voice heavy with sleep, "Something's up."

"Nothing's up. You can go back to sleep," Leo said, rubbing a hand over your arm as you sat up.

"Nah, you're lying," you said. Leo sighed, he knew you knew. No point in hiding it.

"It was just a nightmare," Leo said with a shrug, "Don't really wanna talk about it." You nodded in understanding.

"That's okay-" you yawned, interrupting your sentence, "-you don't have to." Even without all your spacial awareness, you were able to swing your legs over his thighs and wrapped your arms around his torso, holding him as close as you physically could.

Leo hugged you back, just as tight. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," you said back.

The two of you stayed like that for the rest of the night, and Leo knew that he'd be okay.

[handbarfs]

OKAY JRWI RIPTIDE THEORY TIME

i wanted to talk about the prophecy a little more, try to analyse it a bit and some of my dumb theories! spoilers for episode 110 ahead!

"An entity threatens world stability Caged in the deepest layers of infinity" The egg from the one shot that Drey took most probably released this entity and caused the hole in the sea.

"The seal remains locked by a key of divinity." If the Ferin bloodline possesses divine or special blood, it would explain how Drey, by holding it, could open this egg. Perhaps this egg was sealed away millennia ago by the two main goddesses, with the warriors who served them. The conflict may have started between two factions: those in favour of this entity and those opposed to it, maybe? The tree mentioned four bloodlines in the world, and it's possible that one of them had a disagreement with the other three, which eventually escalated into this war. This particular bloodline might have used this entity as a weapon in the great war, but perhaps things spiralled out of control?

this is what the tree said- "a war won by these combined efforts sealed an entity away and together created not only its prison but a key and a warning. this warning is the original prophecy meant to be passed down until the inevitable- time." and visions of tritons riding leviathans, red haired olympian looking elves flying with own wings, gargatuan dragons, casters controlling the elements like they were born to do so.

"Its release in time, an inevitability." The chains that imprisoned the entity might have a time limit I guess OR like most ancient prophecies, this one recognizes the inevitable hunger for power among most living beings. It foresees that people will attempt to find this entity to gain control over it and hopefully use it to become more powerful in Mana. Maybe the navy's secret project or Nikalus's personal plans are related to this entity?

"A sea god's last egg, the chosen is born underneath an eclipse, in the midst of a storm " The prophecy didn't come into action with Gillion's first birth but, in a way, with his second birth in the episode "Moonlight, Storm, and Sea" when he emerged from the Luxbris Pearl. I'm not entirely sure if it was an eclipse during that moment though; I just remember it being pure darkness, without a moon.

"foreboded calamity, the chosen is warned the shape of all life shall take a new form" If people have desires with with selfish motives, there will be repercussions. It's the same deal with Nikalus; he grants people's wishes, but they need to be pure-hearted. If someone asks for something with greed and self-serving intentions, it messes them up, with the tar corrupting and eventually killing them.

"the shape of all life shall take a new form" so this corrupted tar affects all creatures, all life forms- turning them into tar monsters, with their greatest fears and needs plaguing them as they become undead- a new form.

"A choice to be made, with no time to mourn." This part gets pretty confusing because the story hasn't really touched on the idea of making choices (except for that culty nonsense the elders fed Gillion). Maybe there's a choice between fulfilling personal desires or attaining true freedom from the desires that lock us into labels and hinder personal growth. Like Chip's burning desire to find Arlin, which keeps him stuck in his painful past and memories, preventing him from moving forward and growing. Or Jay's dilemma, torn between her Navy Ferin family and the loss of her sister, versus taking control of her life and focusing on herself. And Gillion, caught between the undersea rules and manipulation that's easier to accept, versus facing the pain and fear of confronting the lies and manipulation the guardians have fed him, discovering a much larger and complex world beyond the undersea. Their freedom from these desires would leave no room for mourning because they'd be too busy enjoying their liberation from such constraints.

A couple more things- Niklaus's powers bear a striking resemblance to the entity that corrupts the Black Sea. Maybe his freedom is tied to freeing this entity, giving him full access to his abilities? Another character with powers similar to this entity is Kuba Kenta, involving black tar oozing from wounds inflicted by him and and nightmares of people's worst fears. Kenta's powers have been described as otherworldly (the probability of different planes, existence of creatures worse than demons and fiends that come from the darkest depths "crawled from the darkest depths of creation itself"). All of these powers—Black Sea corruption, Niklaus's, and Kenta's—basically lead to a slow killing for their victims, exploiting their fears and greed while breaking their sense of self before ultimately killing them. My theory is that one of the bloodlines involved in the great war against the others dabbled in forbidden dark magic, and invited this entity into Mana. Things likely spiraled out of control, and the other bloodlines had to quell it through the great war and cage it within the egg, and then shunning out this particular bloodline for its actions. Now, it seems this bloodline is trying to regain its place in society by tampering with this entity once more, and I THINK it has something to do with the Hendrix bloodline and Nikalus's desire of freedom.

And I also think the Navy is aware of this entity and its history (maybe Ferin family secrets) and is trying to create a machine to help control this entity and ally with fiendish creatures like Kenta under their ranks. They plan to USE the entity to stay in power socially and militarily in Mana.

[literatemisfit]

A Comprehensive List of David Tennant Whump

(to be made more specific in terms of episodes and plot points with time) ***SPOILERS on PLOT POINTS***

Chronologically:

Takin' Over the Asylum (1994)

Manhandling and intimidation, abuse of power by authority, forced confinement and treatment, given blame for having a mental health disorder, unsupportive family, death of a friend

The Bill (1995)

Short moment of physical violence and intimidation, arrest, manhandling

LA Without a Map (1998)

Short stint of imprisonment, physical violence, fish out of water vibes, intimidation

Casanova (2005)

Violence and grievous injury, imprisonment, emotional anguish, disturbing sexualized environment

Doctor Who (2006-2010)

2x0 The Christmas Invasion

Regeneration sickness, manhandling, pain and fainting, nursed back to health

2x1 New Earth

Loss of consciousness by poison, imprisonment, loss of control and ownership over one's body

2x7 The Idiot's Lantern

Alien TV face sucking, loss of consciousness

2x8 The Impossible Planet &

2x9 The Satan Pit

Fall into an abyss and regaining consciousness at the bottom, religious and moral dilemmas

2x13 Doomsday

Emotional anguish, loss of loved one, inability to communicate feelings in time

3x1 Smith & Jones

Manhandling, forced to have blood sucked through straw against his will, loss of consciousness, lack of oxygen for everyone

3x2 The Shakespeare Code

Voodoo attack, loss of consciousness, one heart stops, threat of execution

3x7 42

Intense pain and panic, screaming, freezing, burning up from the inside, admitting to fear

3x9 The Family of Blood

Human innocence when faced with danger, tantrum at not wanting to die, fear of not being John Smith, taken prisoner, hunted by killers

3x12 The Sound of Drums

3x13 Last of the Time Lords

4x2 The Fires of Pompei

4x6 The Doctor's Daughter

4x9 Forest of the Dead

4x10 Midnight

4x12 The Stolen Earth

4x13 Journey's End

0x3 The Waters of Mars

0x4 The End of Time Part 1

0x5 The End of Time Part 2

Recovery (2007)

Brain injury, mental anguish

Hamlet (2009)

Grief, arrest with light bondage, insanity, tantrums, death

Single Father (2010)

Manhandling, grief, anger

United* (2011)

Fright Night (2011)

Past trauma and fear, vampire attack, trapped and helpless, injury, thrown

Spies of Warsaw* (2013)

The Politician's Husband* (2013)

Richard II (2013)

Broadchurch (2013-2017)

Heart problems, dizziness, fainting, collapsing, surgery, grief, trauma, flashbacks, violent crime, sexual crime

Camping (2018)

Jessica Jones (2016-2019)

Criminal UK (2019)

Good Omens (2019-2023)

Deadwater Fell (2020)

Around the World In 80 Days (2021)

Inside Man (2022)

Litvinenko* (2022)

* these I have not seen nor do I have confirmation that whump-like drama occurs but I include them in case they apply.

If you have any insider information or suggestions for what might be added in terms of listed works or details about the plot points and triggers to include, let me know. I will begin working on this as I gather information and research and rewatch certain shows and movies.

Enjoy 🌈

[oflightningandstars]

Milligan grabbing the shock wires from Crawlings' watches with rubber gloves: very cool 🤩 love that for him

The kids' reactions to seeing Milligan grabbing the shock wires from Crawlings' watches with rubber gloves: absolutely delightful, I love them so much

"The children were beside themselves with amazement.

'Nice trick!' Kate cried, dancing up and down.

'You liked that?' Milligan said. 'All right, everyone, time to go.'

'You grabbed the wires!" Sticky said, as if Milligan himself didn't know what he'd done, and Reynie nodded excitedly in agreement. 'You -- you grabbed them, Milligan!'

'So I noticed,' Milligan said." (310)

I would absolutely be having the same reaction as the kids, that is so cool.

[shoes--off]

[chuuyadelune]

Sigma, The Key To Winning Meursault? Dazai, unpredictability, and the value of choice (BSD 106.5 spoilers)

it’s been a while since i last wrote any sort of analysis on the BSD manga, but this recent chapter gave me so many thoughts which i dumped on a friend (hi yush), so! i decided to flesh them out a bit more. as in the title, i think that sigma is who is going to be the deciding factor as to who wins meursault.

well, okay. maybe not the tipping point (there’s a lot to consider, after all), but he’ll be very instrumental. because not only does it makes sense for his character arc, but also — i think that he serves a very interesting thematic purpose in relation to the ideas dazai’s put forward during the prison arc as a whole.

before anything else, i do wanna say that i agree that this feels like a set-up for sigma’s entrance exam, as several people have suggested. the conditions are perfect: dazai implicitly giving him the choice to help or flee feels like a very fitting dilemma to test the kind of qualities the ADA seeks. 

but more than that, i think this concept of “choice” is ultimately what will decide who comes out victorious in meursault. to sum up the main point of this analysis: i think that sigma’s purpose, on a meta level, is to represent two important factors of dazai’s driving philosophies, and two things that separate him from fyodor: the power of unpredictability, and choice.

(chapter 77, official yen press translation)

 what’s driving the world... are those in the storm of accidental events who scream... run... and spill blood.

this jailbreak mini-arc is the culmination of everything that they have discussed during their time in meursault: philosophy, world view, strategy, everything. and this conversation from chapter 77 in particular forms a very important part of what makes fyodor and dazai fundamentally different from each other. i would even go so far as to point to it as being the main conflict of the meursault jailbreak. 

and sigma, effectively, is caught in the middle of these two. as someone who worked closely with fyodor as a member of the decay, he’s been exposed to a lot of his thinking. it’s evident in the way that he speaks about “ordinary” versus “superhumans”, for example. and in the prison, dazai’s been showing him to methods and ways of thinking other than those of fyodor’s, like showing him that there is no difference between “superhuman” or “ordinary” men. 

following this, then, i think we can consider sigma to be at a crossroads of sorts. now that dazai is out of the picture (for now), the decision that he makes — whether to save dazai, flee on his own to save himself, or something else, a return to fyodor’s methods, or if nikolai appears again — will be a very important one in deciding the outcome of meursault. in fact, i’d go so far to say that it’s the ultimate decision of the jailbreak arc.

what i want to focus on here is the mere fact that sigma’s been left this choice at all. because i think it speaks volumes as to what sigma’s role is for the rest of the prison break. and it’s also important for showing dazai’s own way of thinking, and what role chuuya may take. a full explanation under the cut; warning for light storm bringer spoilers too!

Chapter 77: The Potential Of Unpredictability

going back to the chapter 77 conversation, dazai points out that despite all their intellect and cunning, both he and fyodor both wound up in a prison, isolated from everyone else. they, in the most physical sense, are now powerless. sure, they can plan and scheme, but are they the ones making the moves? no. all of this is on the people on the outside, who just act. the true power lies with them; their decisions, rational or not, according to plan or not, are the ones who really move things forward. and where fyodor simply views humans as tools, as boring, below him — dazai knows that this is where true strength lies. if the world were left to the devices of people like fyodor, things just would remain at a standstill. unpredictability, fighting and people thinking up new ways of doing things is how progress is made.

and similarly, meursault thus far has just been a consistent back-and-forth between dazai and fyodor as to who one-ups the other. dazai chooses sigma as an ally; not even moments later, fyodor whips out chuuya as his own card. dazai tries drowning fyodor? fyodor does the exact same to dazai with the elevator (with a bonus of fire, just for fun, you know). 

time and time again during this arc, unpredictability — the power of people’s actions beyond scheming — is what has allowed the agency to keep fighting. things like tachihara breaking the confines of the page, choosing to side with the mafia over the hunting dogs; ranpo convincing half of yokohama’s police force to think with their souls and getting them on side with the agency’s innocence; heck, even just ranpo hijacking kamui’s execution plan as a whole and getting the ADA (minus dazai) back together. and i believe it will be a similar case here, in the prison. unpredictability feeds progress. and this is how dazai will prevail.

sigma absolutely has the power to catch fyodor off guard. with the very act of “leaving the rest” to sigma, one of the many who “spills blood”, while dazai himself hurtles downwards in an falling elevator, a scenario is created where the only choice is for sigma to do something. and i’d argue that this is the kind of situation — one where sigma needs to act — is something that dazai’s been aiming for from the start. because he fully understands that this unpredictability is the only way for the stalemate between him and fyodor to be broken. otherwise, things would just remain a consistent back-and-forth as their past exchanges have been. anything dazai does, or thinks up, fyodor counters.

something that’s really interesting to me is how dazai has been gently nudging sigma into a position/mindset to take the role of a more active player from the start of the jailbreak. dazai’s been encouraging sigma to think more for himself (ex. trying to figure out his method of communication from chapter 101, or deducing his rock-paper-scissors trick in 105). and he’s encouraged sigma to look beyond the status of “superhuman” and “ordinary man” that he is so fixated on. all of this is giving a sense of agency back to sigma, who is someone who’s been used all of his (short) life.

(translation via @/buraihatranslations on tumblr)

- but now you understand.

- what?

- it’s all a play of hands. i’m not a superhuman beyond the limits of human wisdom. in this world, there’s no such thing as a superhuman nor an average human.

now, i personally don’t think dazai set up the falling elevator, but rather simply knew it was a possibility, and acted accordingly — if the act of checking the mechanism a couple of chapters ago was anything to go by. this meant that in such a scenario, he had a means of getting at least one of them out. and he deliberately chose to save sigma: both because of the promise he made to get sigma out alive, but also because he knows sigma’s unpredictability has the potential to throw fyodor off. like, i’m fairly sure fyodor wasn't able to predict just how exactly tachihara would break the confines of the page. similarly, sigma has the potential to defy expectations, to see things that fyodor doesn’t. and dazai knows this.

because i mean, you would think, in a jailbreak scenario where you’re playing against your most detested rival with poison (allegedly!) pumping through your veins, the first priority would be to try and save your own ass. because otherwise, what’s the point? especially when your friends on the outside are depending on you to crush the root of the problem (ranpo, in chapter 95, says that dazai is the only one who could defeat fyodor). and i have no doubts that fyodor would have done something along those lines — he’ll likely discard chuuya as soon as he’s done serving his purpose, as he did with previous pawns (i mean, he literally left pushkin to get jumped by both the agency and mafia after the cannibalism arc, LMAO). 

this shows a marked difference in fyodor and dazai’s marked attitudes to humanity. fyodor simply sees humans as tools, beings simply manipulated by a ‘god’ (ch.77), and so, nothing really worth... fighting for. but dazai instead sees their value and autonomy. this isn’t the first time that dazai’s put himself in grave danger for the sake of the agency either — he let himself be captured by the mafia for the sake of intel on atsushi’s tiger bounty; in chapter 46 he let himself get shot for the sake of finding out fyodor’s goals. and fyodor doesn’t really understand this. why would he go so far? it doesn’t make sense. and i’d imagine it’d be a similar thing here in the jailbreak. why would dazai sacrifice himself, especially in a life or death scenario when the end-goal is literally to defeat the other person to stay alive?

The Right To Make Choices

dazai’s view of humanity as autonomous beings with the right to make their own decisions is arguably the biggest advantage he has over fyodor. fyodor’s unwillingness to look past humans as being boring and thus incapable of amounting to much on their own is a massive blind spot. as i discussed above; the unpredictability that comes with ordinary folk making their own decisions is exactly what has enabled the agency to keep going. 

and you know, it’s all well and good that dazai’s put sigma in a situation where he has to do something. but i’d argue that it doesn’t mean anything if sigma doesn’t have a say in it. something i really want to emphasise is that sigma doesn’t have to save dazai. ultimately, it is a situation where he has to make a decision, but what that decision is? that’s still very much up to his own discretion. dazai leaving him with a very vague, “i leave the rest to you” isn’t so much a, “hey, please save me,” but it feels more like a — “you’ve got this. whatever you do, you can do it.” this expression isn’t exactly one that’s desperate, after all.

(translation by ranpoedgw on twitter)

i’ll leave the rest to you.

because the thing is, dazai has always valued people choosing their own actions for their own reasons. we saw it with chuuya in storm bringer; atsushi still could have said no to joining the agency, or even no to coming back (after the events of chapter 5/episode 4, when the black lizards attack the ADA office). even in “happy group counselling hour” (chapter 64/season 4 episode 8), the advice he gives to fyodor — acting lazy and letting his subordinates be until they decide to do something — still very much involves choice and agency; in contrast, fyodor’s advice eliminates that entirely. chuuya’s a vampire without autonomy as far as we know. he has no other option but to follow fyodor.

and for sigma as a character, the concept of being given a choice is so important. for most of his life, he feels like he’s had no other option but to follow the wishes of people he’s being used by, because he has nothing else to lose or nowhere else to go. so him being given the ability to choose, wherever possible, is significant.

like, i’m fully aware that fyodor told him not to fight the hunting dogs and he chose not to listen to that advice. but the thing is, i would argue that sigma felt he really didn’t have much choice at all in that situation. he was cornered, about to lose the only place that allowed him to form some sense of identity.

so essentially, this single choice here is the most important decision of the meursault jailbreak, but also for sigma as a whole thus far. which is why i think that it’s so vital that this is all on him. with this, he moves beyond the expectations that fyodor has for him, breaks the stalemate, and proves dazai’s philosophy about human choice right. which, i feel, is a more damning defeat for fyodor on a thematic level. and this is, i think; the role that sigma is meant to play in this jailbreak arc. 

Human Connection: Chuuya

so, now i’ve talked about sigma, i also want to talk a bit about chuuya, because autonomy and agency is also quite an important part of his character. and i still do think that he’ll be an important part of the jailbreak. just... perhaps in a slightly different way to what i first assumed it would be, and not as soon as i personally was anticipating.

in the same way that sigma’s role is to represent dazai’s philosophies as i discussed earlier, chuuya, as he is here, in the jailbreak arc, can be considered very much to be exemplifying fyodor’s. where dazai chose sigma; fyodor simply sat and ‘prayed’ (if you can even call it that), before chuuya arrived on the scene. his state as a mindless vampire reflects both fyodor’s view of humans as being manipulated by god, therefore choice is irrelevant, and his method of making sure that the only choice chuuya has is to follow his orders, as outlined in chapter 64. but i’m not convinced that this is all there is to it. it doesn’t make sense, not with his character, not with the rest of the story. and not with dazai around. this puts chuuya in a bit of a unique position.

see, the difference between fyodor and sigma and dazai and chuuya is — well, they did know each other for a similar amount of time, 3 years or so (assuming fyodor was there when sigma came into existence). but where fyodor really just used sigma — dazai and chuuya were equals. partners. and this highlights yet another key difference between dazai and fyodor: human connection.

i said earlier that fyodor’s dismissal of human autonomy was a blind spot for him. and i think that’s definitely very relevant when it comes to chuuya, as well; and also why dazai repeatedly puts himself in danger for the sake of the ADA as i mentioned above. i don’t think fyodor was entirely serious when he called their seven-year bond ‘shallow’, and he was just trying to provoke dazai (basically, get on his nerves). but it still highlights their difference in how they view and connect with others. and i still think that this is a set-up for him to be humbled spectacularly in the future, because irony and all that. 

something that i think is an interesting possibility is fyodor specifically choosing chuuya because of his prior connection to dazai. he did steal those port mafia files after the confrontation with ace back in season 3; he also saw them end the dragonhead conflict when SKK were 16. going back to fyodor’s view of humans — i think it’s a possibility that he just simply doesn't understand how someone like him can form deep human connections, and using chuuya is both a way of interrogating that and getting one-up on dazai, with the added bonus of chuuya being an extra-strong ability user, of course. (this provides an interesting path for fyodor’s character development, i think, which is pretty overdue!)

whatever the case is, i think one thing that has defined chuuya’s character from age 15 up until now is a rejection of philosophy. not to say that he doesn’t think. but he’s someone who doesn’t exactly see too much value in motivations or thought processes, like we saw in storm bringer — he just does what he thinks is best, and that’s kind of just how he’s always operated. he dismissed verlaine’s way of thinking; he rejected dazai as well. and in a similar way, he would for sure have taken issue with fyodor as his normal self. and i think this provides an interesting point of comparison between sigma and chuuya. 

sigma is someone who doesn’t really have all that much life experience. all he knows is what it’s like to be used; but has just been swept along, accepting that he is just an ‘outsider’. because he doesn’t know anything else. chuuya, on the other hand, is someone who has also been used and exploited; but still, has always made his own choices no matter what other people said. even if it lost him the sheep, he went after his own origins. he swore allegiance to mori at the end of fifteen out of his own volition. he continues to put his life on the line for the sake of the mafia until now.

but this is why i personally think it’s important that sigma’s the first to make a choice to break the stalemate, for the sake of his character development. he needs to build the kind of trust in himself that chuuya has. and i think that it’s equally important that chuuya, whenever he acts, moves independently of both dazai and fyodor. because it speaks to his character’s core values, and links with the wider themes of dazai’s thinking. 

i really don’t think, actually, that dazai anticipated chuuya being in the prison. but this is what’ll give chuuya’s actions, whatever he does, more weight. SKK plan or not, i’d argue that dazai still implicitly trusts chuuya to do what is best, and believes in his capacity to make choices as he does with sigma. we saw it in dead apple. and it wouldn’t be any different now. where fyodor sees chuuya as a useful tool because of his gravity manipulation, dazai trusts him as a human. and this trust is what will prevail over fyodor’s shallow reading of human nature. it doesn’t have to be an SKK strategy or plan at all. all that matters is proving that connection. and that’s what i think chuuya is there to show, in a thematic and narrative sense. i think it would be much more satisfying this way.

Conclusion

so, to sum it up: i think that sigma will move first and breaks the stalemate, which, in my view, is very important both for his character and disproving fyodor’s ideas about autonomy and predictability. chuuya will likely follow at some point in the future. whatever decision sigma makes now will be instrumental in deciding the outcome of meursault; as i said in the intro, it’s potentially the most important one of this entire mini-arc. the balance of the game all hinges on him.

regardless, though, even if sigma doesn’t break the stalemate, and that falls on chuuya or even nikolai instead — it’s clear to me that the outcome of the prison break, for several reasons, does not lie with dazai or fyodor at all. which still falls in line with dazai’s way of thinking. and as i said, that feels like a more significant victory over fyodor than a physical one, because of its thematic implications.

from a more concrete, story-plot perspective, i can’t really say what’s going to happen next; if dazai has more allies who can help him, or what. if the situation in meursault is meant to mirror that of the airport (which, considering that we keep alternating perspectives, this is probably happening simultaneously), then i do think that it’ll get worse for our side before it begins to get better (and even at the airport, i still can’t say we’ve hit rock bottom yet.) 

in the end, though, i think that the ADA has to prevail. they have to pull through. i’d like to think so, at least. and dazai will survive; i haven’t even entertained the idea of him being dead. he’s definitely not going to let an elevator take him out; like the man’s literally died three times in canon. and he just... has a long ways to go still (and he’s already come a long way!). anyway, i digress.

sigma’s choice represents important things both for dazai’s thinking, but also himself as a character. and that’s ultimately the main reason i think that he is going to be who decides meursault. unpredictably leads to progress — but progress cannot be made without respecting human autonomy and the right to make choices, which come about by really connecting with others.

thanks for reading!