ROUND 6 - INTRO

[foundationmods]

[After so long a trip, you're all finally here. Taken through a hidden passage inside of the very mountain itself, you find yourself standing in front of a field of flowers, growing well due to the open roof above it. If you look up, you can just make out the shimmering colors off of the barrier - looking almost like the shine off of a soap bubble.

Try not to trample on the flowers as you approach the open, purple gate, where it looks as if someone is waiting for all of you just inside. And remember to wear your masks, now that you're here!

...Still, the sight of the yellow flowers waving in the wind....such a cheery sight fills you with determination for what's to come.

Welcome to the Underground.

You have the universe to save.]

Comments

[moonlightalter]

[Just. Looking away.]

Full moon things.

[cw_suicide]

Ah.

... that doesn't count.

[moonlightalter]

I mauled half-a-dozen people.

[cw_suicide]

You were berserked into a feral tiger.

Subete and Hikage deliberately and methodically determined our lives were expendable and thus were prepared to put them at risk.

Completely different scenarios.

[moonlightalter]

[He's tempted to argue, but Inaba reminds him of some important things, so.]

I guess that does make it different, in a way.

[cw_suicide]

Well, put it like this.

I kill a man because I think he will kill me vs I kill a mercy kill a man not because he deserves it but because I want to see what it's like to kill a person.

Which is worse?

[look he's not good at "good" and "bad" thing but also moralistically, the answer is clear.]

[moonlightalter]

[Oh! He's perking up because he knows the answer here!]

Neither. Both are equal, because you're a killer regardless. So the sooner you accept that your hands are stained, the better. Is that right?

[That. Probably is not the right answer.]

[cw_suicide]

[GENTLE KARATE CHOP TO THE HEAD]

Wrong!

... well, objectively not wrong. Both of me would be a killer, this is true.

But even in the eyes of the law, exceptions are made when a person kills in the name of self-preservation. Plus, such a person could hold an ounce of remorse for having to kill in the first place.

The second me, however, is the reality of it. It's something I've done and I feel no remorse for it. The law would see it as not just murder but as a kind of psychopathy because who kills a person just to see what it's like?

[lol. him. that's who.]

[moonlightalter]

[Usually it's Inaba who karate chops him, this is new. Dazai might also be able to tell that he's used to being chopped like that, because he barely flinches.]

I don't think the law takes abilities into account, Dazai-san.

And it's practical not to feel remorse for killing someone. You would drown under that weight. Protecting yourself is alright too.

[cw_suicide]

[joke's on you, he still drowns on the fact that he has no remorse.

also arguing moralistically is hard when you're a nihilist who doesn't actually subscribe to this business but yOU'RE TRYING SO DAMN HARD TO BE GOOD?]

That's not incorrect.

But we're not talking practicality. We're talking either lawfully or emotionally--how would other view these things? There's a clear difference in perception, isn't there? The reality is: there is still someone dead. But people are more liable to hate the second kind of person because they pose a greater danger to society as a whole.

And even you can't argue that that would be a wrong perception for people to take, right?

[moonlightalter]

I think Dazai-san is trying to make me feel better by talking poorly about himself.

[Just. Putting that out there. 'His' Dazai and the Dazai in front of him are different people, but they both share that personality trait.

Sort of. 'His' Dazai just liked to put himself down and didn't necessarily do it to make Atsushi feel better. Not when Atsushi didn't need to be manipulated into doing something.]

And it's not working. Because Dazai-san is important to me, so when he puts himself down he's making me feel worse. That's my 'difference in perception'.

[cw_suicide]

[..... wow.

rude?

but also he doesn't know what to do with this at all.]

So in other words, I should have left that fact out at the start, huh.

[moonlightalter]

Don't you already know an Atsushi in your world?

[The implication being, doesn't Dazai already know how to talk to an Atsushi? Or perhaps he is too different from Dazai's Atsushi for Dazai to use the same methods on him.]

[cw_suicide]

... you and he are remarkably similar in how you're quick to say things like what you just said. Though he has more of the perspective that I am a "good" person because of his lack of experience in some areas.

I'm having to adjust for the fact that this Atsushi knows very well just how "bad" Dazai Osamu can be.

It gets hard not to sink back into certain patterns when it's harder to argue on a side of "good" when you agree with the "bad". The fact of the matter is I don't disagree with your arguments. However, I cannot in "good" conscience allow for it, so I argue.

[moonlightalter]

...

[It's familiar, and yet, it's all so new to him. This Dazai keeps surprising him over and over again.

No wonder the other Atsushi was so fond of his Dazai. He wasn't manipulated into complying, Dazai just straight-up won him over.]

Thank you, Dazai-san. For looking out for me like that. Good or bad, you wouldn't do something if it didn't matter, yes? So thank you for the effort.

[cw_suicide]

[... is--is that what he's getting out of that???

also is this what getting an "at least you tried" sticker feels like?]

Mm. Well.

It is easier to fail than to succeed, so I'd much rather keep succeeding at failing to change much at all these days. Statistical odds are in my favor.