MY GIRLFRIEND. MY WIFE.

oh lord oh god great heavens

I finally watched a video on fnaf lore and now I am thinking

WOW

dnf truly do just gravitate towards each other

Just...his profile my god

Repost of my old BSD meta post on the 4 main strategists of the series (so far), brought back due to the deletion of my old blog and interest from peeps!!

Plain text version under the cut (thanks to @kaus-quietis ):

Ranpo, Dazai, Fyodor and Mori are the biggest players in the large-scale strategy games in BSD, but the smarts in which they excel and the way they play their hands are widely different. As expected, they’re effective in different scenarios, perform with different methods and have different limits.

Thanks to an ask I recently got about Ranpo, I thought it may be useful to someone to set apart each of them in regards to their individual talents and styles, what they do and don’t do with their own types of genius (as best as I can discern, of course), so… here’s my rundown of the master strategists, with quick n’ easy keywords for simplicity:

RANPO: CLARITY & FORESIGHT

Ranpo’s genius is summed up with the fake ability built around it. Just like Ultra Deduction is supposed to provide him, Ranpo has the clearest of sights: when presented with a scenario, he’ll easily understand every element of it, why things are as they look and what’s beyond that. In this attention to detail and grand understanding, he’s unparalleled. His pure intelligence is the highest of all.

But it doesn’t end there. His deduction abilities also make him capable of projecting ahead, of predicting outcomes and happenings by analyzing the elements currently at hand, so he can look ahead as accurately as he can see the present. And generally, this includes people. He can understand behavior, motivation and intentions just as well as he can make any of his other calculations.

However, he uses this clarity and this foresight usually to expose culprits, to achieve confessions by confrontation or to work on his team’s strategies, but not as a means to control that person. He understands the human element of the equation terrifyingly well, as he understands everything, but doesn’t aim to manipulate it. (Unless, as he explained with Mushitarou, unless it’s absolutely necessary and he’s very very pissed, in which case he’s not entirely against psychological attack, but in general his benign moral alignment and his blunt approach to people don’t mix with that.) Actually, this respect he has for life in general and this upright intention can be considered a secondary skill of his, because they’re the reason his confrontations tends to end with people getting something out of the experience of opposing him and ending up as new strong allies, like Minoura, Poe and Mushitarou did.

DAZAI: FORESIGHT & MANIPULATION

Dazai’s style has a big part in common with Ranpo’s, yeah. Namely, his ability to get ahead of the game by (understanding and) predicting, though in his case, it’s focused largely on behavior, on people in general. That’s where he differs and also where he excels: people. He strategizes a lot based on his ability to tell what individual people will do, how they’ll react, how they’ll think, what they’ll go for or how they’re likely to do it. In a game of strategy where personal motivation and individual wishes move the pieces so much, it’s a fantastic specialty.

This people-based focus shows its full capacity in his manipulation skill. Understanding others so well, it’s easy for him to prepare the stage and move the people through it without even having to tell them what he needs them to do (see: the entirety of Dead Apple haha). He just needs to set the conditions; the pieces will move on their own, in ways he can be prepared for. And if closer intervention is needed… well, part of his manipulation skill is in his charm and his capacity to act, so he can certainly get what he wants out of a person that way, too: with an encounter, a couple of words or a seemingly natural action. More often than not, people manipulated by Dazai will fail to realize they’ve been manipulated, or will only see it when it’s too late/there are no other options.

It’s worth noting that Dazai is very flexible; his intelligence by itself is very high and he has a lot of useful extra skills, like enough physical dexterity to get him out of trouble to a degree, lockpicking/pickpocketing and laying traps, but these are kind of like bonuses. They make him more versatile and capable, but aren’t his main thing.

FYODOR: (DESTRUCTIVE) MANIPULATION & TEMPTATION

It’s probably no surprise to anyone if I say that Fyodor’s style has similarities to Dazai’s haha, but still, yeah. They’re indeed very similar. Like Dazai, he also has a base intelligence level that’s just insanely high (though both to a lower degree than Ranpo, as far as we’ve seen in the midst of the DoA arc) and his own extra skills, such as his capacity as a hacker. This is utilized as an available tool for his schemes, but is also not the main basis they’re built on.

The manipulation keyword is shared between him and Dazai, and in the main gist of it, works the same: understanding people, being able to get into their heads and through that, either implant in them new decisions that fit his agenda in such a way that the person won’t realize they’ve been led, or let them act in their natural way if convenient. Leading a person this or that way as pawns on a chess board. However, there’s a big difference between how Dazai and Fyodor do this, which is what I mean with destructive manipulation: once Fyodor utilizes someone, he’ll usually not even leave the chance to have a new enemy or even a witness, instead he’ll dispose of the person (see: Karma). If not, the way he executes his needs is uncaring, and likely to leave the manipulated person broken; once he’s set up his use, he doesn’t care about their wellbeing or what happens with them (see: Shibusawa). His process of utilization may even involve breaking them (see: Goncharov). He doesn’t take care of his toys.

As for the temptation keyword, it’s the other part of his usual method, so characteristic of him that it stands out to me. Rather than being a huge charmer and an actor like Dazai is, Fyodor is a deal-maker. He finds what someone wishes for or needs (even being capable of isolating them or manipulating conditions to create such a need), and then simply presents it to them as a tempting bargain in exchange for whatever he needs. Sigma, Shibusawa and Mushitarou are big and clear examples.

MORI: STRATEGY & ASSET USE

And then we have Mori, unique even among this small group. His style is mainly what I can only describe as strategy itself, pure and led by logic and probability; theory of game, in a way. Mori also has a great deal of intelligence, combined with a level head that allows him to make sure to act, in every instance, in the way that benefits him (or rather, his organization, since he’s playing for the Port Mafia overall) the most; if unclear, then what has the highest chance of success with the best balance of risk will do. He’s able to understand and foresee enough to determine what that beneficial course of action will be.

Then, there’s his asset use, or what can be called the skill of command. Mori’s method is not independent, he’s the leader of a strong and unified organization (because he’s shaped it so), and as such, will most often be using his various divisions and subordinates and their talents. Seeing what someone is good for and leading them to the role in which their capacities can grow and shine is a true commander’s quality, and he possesses it. Gauging who and what he can dispose of and when to sacrifice is included, as is having a balance of when to control and when to let his subordinates act on their own. Be it goods, influences, situations, persons or anything, seeing what’s available and how it can be matched and used to higher advantage has been part of his modus operandi from the past, all the way to the present.

I hope these explanations put it into good perspective, but I’ll point out, for good measure, that asset use and manipulation are different things. Both involve using people as pawns, but when it comes to asset use, there’s an element of willingness and trust from the subordinates involved that sets it apart. Mori seems to be the hardest one to understand in general, with the most confusion and misinterpretation around him and what he does since he’s controversial to some, but following the principles of benefit and strategy, his genius can easily end up being the clearest.

As always, this is merely my interpretation and a rundown of the ideas I personally use to track of each of the strategists’ characterization. As much as I try to base my reasoning on canon as best as I can, I’m never claiming to have the final word. Grab this if it’s useful for you! But always take with a grain of salt.

sza for complex magazine

oh my goodness your dios.. what a delight to see someone so fully invested in phantom blood dio wow. i am very happy. i love your 3D dios. really makes me want to sculpt him as well

Do it... clay is cheap bake it in the oven paint with 10 dollar set of acrylics your life will never be better. I adore phantom blood Dio so very much... years ago saw someone coin the term “phantom blood purist” and it's so funny I think about it literally every time I enter a Dio cycle. There are many aspects that go into this preference of course, and upon a great amount of time pondering i can say confidently that this is because mainly that:

1) I love history (especially the fin de siècle) and I love thinking about him in relation to Victorian values/etiquette/sociology in general... there's something so special about a society that enabled such a gross disparity of wealth&poverty while being so inherently pretentious that its asinine etiquette rules would completely elude you unless you were raised in an aristocratic family or had access to etiquette books. Dio absolutely read a great amount of these before going to the Joestar mansion btw, even before his father snuffed it I think. God help him he would not be doomed to look like a slovenly ill-bred gamin if and when he needed to manipulate the upper classes. I really can't think of a way for him to have developed these skills enough to outclass Jonathan otherwise. god and like thinking about him as a barrister too with his profligate fashion sense you just KNOW he gets drawn that way into all of the court sketches that go in all the newspapers since everyone loved to read about crime and there were a million papers for this in England alone... he'd get caricatured so bad sometimes and he is NOT happy about this.

2) You can probably tell from my indifference to the rest of the parts (except sbr; I call this the "diego rule") that I'm not the biggest fan of fantastical elements and I'm much more interested in interpersonal conflict/relationships in general... PB is extremely unique to the rest of the series because for five WHOLE chapters absolutely nothing abnormal happens and we just get to see Dio harassing Jonathan and his girlfriend until Jonathan snaps and humiliates him so bad in beating him up that he makes Dio cry. and then Dio kills his dog. Like it's literally just some impoverished child abuse victim bullying a spoiled rich kid who wanted to be his friend because lalala sunshine daisies only knows what "poverty" is from reading Oliver Twist and has no conceptual understanding of what the real-world implications of that are. That was the character development that needed multiple chapters to develop it's so fucking awesome. like yeah I'd read an entire novel of just this alone happening and how it impacts their relationship as adults no vampirism needed. I reread "dio the invader" so frequently I'm surprised the spine of my jojonium copy isn't cracked at the exact endpoint of it. I just adore him interacting with Jonathan so much it's hard to remove him from that… that's his FOIL... all the stories (some "AUs") I make with Dio involve the way he and Jonathan gravitate each other to some degree. we get the clearest view of who he is in the face of someone who is the polar opposite of himself. 🤯

2) This iteration of him is the closest degree of separation he has from his "humanity" (childhood), thus

3) I find him to be the most interesting, endearing, etc., version of him walking around, given that... well. behaviors stem from somewhere... the thematic & active severance of himself from a species he is fundamentally incapable of connecting with due to the way he adapted to help him tolerate his childhood... from his point of view I can't imagine that there is one convincing reason for him to continue being human after given the opportunity to deviate from it (despite likely still being inebriated when he vamped himself — very much an impulsive decision since he had, what, an hour or two to think that through? drunk?). If everyone's underneath him, yes, after the fact the choice seems extremely fitting. Maybe he'll cultivate a vast swathe of worshippers and disciples that obey his every command. Maybe he'll rule the world. And then, maybe, he will start to feel genuinely content for the first time in his life. But probably not. That's the drawback of having something fundamentally missing from within you.

4) He lacks a certain type of introspective awareness that 100 years alone in a box might enable him to develop... he's very animalistic to me and possesses a precarious/immature/nonexistent grasp on his emotions just given the fact that he exhibits enraged outbursts from perceived ego wounds (in both childhood and adulthood) + struggles with alcoholism due to an incapacity to self-soothe any sort of negative emotion that makes it past the self-aggrandizing filter he can't help but see life through; he really isn't in conscious control of anything happening inside of him despite needing control over everything and everyone so he can get exactly what he wants, and deserves, always. PB paints a very dim and pathetic view of his character by allowing us to see when he's most "vulnerable", which is the thing he likely hates being the most, so getting to see scenes where he's walking around publicly intoxicated and disparaging himself for acting like his father (implied: again), who he hates, and attacking men with a wine bottle for evoking the concept of his mother, who he also kind of hates but lacks the cognizant cogency to dissolve whatever cognitive dissonance is causing this mental incongruence, rules. he rules

tl;dr SDC dio is "iconic" but I feel like he misses a lot of the charm he had in part one, removed from the context of the society that had such rigid social boundaries and rules of decorum, in addition to his maladaptive approach to interpersonal relationships, his substance abuse issues, his humbling foil... he's too "cool" for me. In the end SDC dio is simply not my Dio... he is someone else's Dio. And that's okay.

I’m not like anti porn or anything butttt holy shit porn addicted men are actually becoming such a big problem. Like just awful idk if it’s always been like that or if it’s just becoming worse bc that content is much more accessible now but just too many men are so porn rotted these days it’s scary

we're so cooked bro....my roommate works with kids and she was telling me a story about a girl about 5 years old who was playing dress up as a doctor and one of the teachers asked if she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up and the kid (again, FIVE) answered "no, i'm just a girl" 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

sahara4k -> girlfictions

rbs appreciated 🫶

was anyone going to mention that lost gods is EIGHT THOUSAND WORDS LONG??????????

so tHIS happened today

what are your all time favorite eren fanfics?

AHHHHH I LOVE MAKING RECS FOR YOU GUYSSS <3

series:

ᴅᴇᴍᴏʟɪᴛɪᴏɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀꜱ

𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗥 [𝗘𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿]

31

A Little Too Personal

𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝘦.𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳

Can I

KEEPING TIME ; eren jaeger

The Last Song

I wish I could be stronger

one-shots:

Just a Little More (tw stepcest)

heat of the summer (tw stepcest)

eren with an insomniac so (modern au)

TAINTED: EUPHORIA

Purfect Roommate

oh ofmd twitter is in SHAMBLES