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starlightshadowsworld · 4 months

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Sorry if I ended up spamming your notifs but I looked through your dashboard cuz of that Fukuzawa post- how he could feel the bond snapping if the people he consider his subordinates died, and... never in my life have I considered that bond could've applied to Fukuchi when the guy left---

(But then it crossed my mind as I write this that idk if it's fortunate or devastating for Fukuzawa if something life-threatening happened to Ranpo because Ranpo doesn't have an ability that bonded with All Men Are Equal.)

Anyways, I love your post about Atsushi being in the mafia as part of the exchange cuz I love seeing Mori suffer.

I always define Atsushi as "light in the darkness" because in Beast, that's how he was for Kyouka (he'll always be her light).

Sorry for rambling, I should've sent you this as a message but idk if you'd feel comfy about some random acc popping in your inbox.

First off, ramble away.

I love having discussions and stuff about the stuff I talk about.

You're good, I don't mind. If you or someone else was spamming my inbox, I'd let ya know.

I do generally prefer people message me thro the asks, especially if I don't know you.

That aside and onto ur message.

I just can't get over that line of Fukuzawa saying he'd know if Kunikida had died.

That in some way he would've felt it. And I see it as a connection, as an almost physical bond between them that would've been cut.

And the idea of his connection with Fukuchi breaking. What was possibly one of the oldest connections Fukuzawa had, dissolving over time.

Fukuzawa trying to hold onto it because he still sees him as his friend. But it's broken and there's nothing he can do to get it back.

And it being so sad because Fukuzawa is used to these bonds breaking at death, but Fukuchi was lost to him long before he died.

I didn't think about Ranpo.

I think Fukuzawa sees it as both a blessing and a curse that he can't feel if Ranpo is okay.

But it's a testament to their bond that it isn't required. They trust each other so much, that it's like a sixth sense for Fukuzawa to know what Ranpo's up too.

While also knowing that if he wasn't grey before he met Ranpo, he would've definitely gone grey after meeting him.

Agreed.

Atsushi is the beast beneath the moonlight. He is the literal light in the darkness.

The idea of Kyouka envisioning the light with Atsushi as a apart of that, is gonna make me cry I love them both.

Atsushi in the Port Mafia to me is Mori being like I'm gonna corrupt you and Atsushi's like power of friendship motherfucker.

Atsushi won't go to therapy but you bet your ass he's giving everyone in the Port Mafia therapy.

Atsushi met Mori as werid ex doctor who gave him good but advice once. I think he'd be a bit... Skeptical this man is the head of the Port Mafia.

I think he'd listen to him but would think through and use that advice while following his own morals.

Like he did before.

Which is infuriating and fascinating to Mori because clearly Atsushi gets where he's coming from... He just won't do it.

Quite a juxtaposition from everyone else in the Port Mafia follows Mori without question.

But Atsushi does not.

I love the idea of his interactions with Mori are him being mostly maliciously compliant.

Like he's not outright doing something wrong but he's still pissing him off.

Something Dazai and Kunikida would've definitely taught him.

Like Mori's going on a whole spiel and Atsushi is just colouring on the floor with Elise paying him no attention.

And Mori can't say anything because Elise is so happy so he's just silently seething.

That whole Anne's Room episode and seeing these two interact for the first time, with Atsushi not knowing Mori's identity

Is just so intresting to me. More interactions between them is something I want.

That and I'd be curious to see if there was any information to do with the Port Mafia getting the bounty for Atsushi from the Guild and Fyodor.

Because yeah it could've just been for the reward, but was there more to it than that?

Or if the Headmaster had connections to the Port Mafia.

Because however small it may be, the Headmaster still made contact with the Port Mafia to sell a gun.

He's not from the area, but somehow arranged a meeting with them.

And in my opinion died very suspiciously.

I mean I personally hc that the injections the Headmaster was giving Atsushi were obtained from Mori when he was an underground doctor.

Whether that's true or not, idk but it would be intresting if Mori knew more about Atsushi than we realise.

But yeah that's just some of my thoughts.

#atsushi nakajima #bsd atsushi #bsd mori #bsd fukuzawa #fukuzawa yukichi #mori ougai #bsd fukuchi #bsd ranpo #bungou stray dogs #Bsd #long post

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daz4i · 7 months

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had to take a bath for health reasons earlier which meant i had a lot of downtime to think so i started considering some more stuff for my bsdlands au.

first. idk if i want the hunting dogs to be involved with dahl or vladof. like ik for sure fukuchi was in dahl before, probably on elpis, and this is where he and fukuzawa met. however idk if he'd stay there or just switch to a different army in hopes it will be run differently

i do wanna make jouno an ex-bandit, idk if a part of a gang (possibly a gang head...?) or just one who lived alone and terrorized anyone who got near his camp + killed ppl sadistically in order to steal their stuff. likely the latter tbh. fukuchi was impressed with his skills in killing and so recruited him to his elite team inside whatever army I'll eventually choose lol (maybe after whatever army he ended up going with destroyed jouno's camp)

i think teruko would be an actual kid ajdkflh like a teenager idk. not sure yet what her + tecchou + tachihara's deal would be beyond that tho

also decided mori would take over atlas after the old boss used the crimson lance to decimate pandora, and in turn mori really improves life on promethea, and makes atlas a powerhouse again after it lost a lot of its influence in the galaxy when leaving pandora. however this happens after skk became a vh pair and i do kinda want him to bring them together so I'm not entirely sure how

[like i have a whole thing abt him with yosano where they were both in dahl, but i don't think neither dazai nor chuuya would be willing to be a part of this army lol. so idk maybe he just met them both on promethea a little bit after that whole thing with yosano and took them both under his wing (separately) (i wanna say chuuya was a part of a gang of teens still and mori somehow manipulated him out of there, likely with dazai's help lol) and trained them 🤔 they just decided to leave bc they felt like they don't need him anymore i assume ajdkflhj. and that's when he took over atlas maybe]

but that's it for now 🧐

#once again posting things only i understand and am interested in ajdkflhlhj but it's fun.#bsdlands au

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oliverwolfboy · 10 months

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Bsd x tma crossover au idea

Both plots go as normal, but the bsd plot breaks up at when the eyepocalypse happens, now most of the bsd characters are trapped in different fear domains, there are a few that become or were already avatars. Now this au would obviously be whump, angst, and probably dead dove. The real question is who would be avatars and what fear domains would the other characters be in? I don't really see Ranpo being an avatar in the canon plot, the only time he had a chance would be when he was younger, but then i feel like he would have been more of a victim of the stranger or the lonely, then being an avatar. Dazai could have some chances with the end or the spiral, but i also don't really think he would be an avatar. Verlaine could definitely be a desolation or slaughter avatar, whatever the fear of calamity or worldwide destruction falls under, so he could definitely be an avatar. Rimbaud could probably also be an avatar, of the lonely maybe, and the plot wouldn't change that much since he would probably just be mist in Verlaine's basement. Poe might be an avatar, of the eye perhaps, maybe he would be the archivist of the usher foundation, probably one of the more active too, maybe mix some Hunt in with that too, i don't think it would change much. Chuuya i don't see being a avatar. Lovecraft is something probably. Onto domains. I think Dazai would be in a lonely domain, same with Chuuya, they have both lost so much, maybe a lonely domain mixed with some desolation. Nikolai is very obvious, he would be in a web domain. We don't know enough knowledge about Fyodor to say what domain he would be in. Ranpo is most likely in a lonely domain mixed with some stranger and desolation, he is afraid of losing the agency he doesn't want to be alone again, alternatively he would be in a spiral domain, because what is more terrifying for the world's greatest detective then his own mind turning on him?. Fukuzawa is in a slaugther domain, because what is more terrifying for an ex assassin then being back in the crossfire, killing people again. Yosano is probably in the medic camps in a slaugther domain. Atsushi, the lonely 100% there is not one thing this boy is more scared of then being alone again. I don't really know about kunikida, maybe he is afraid of being helpless as he watches others suffer, but i am not sure what entity or entities that could be, maybe the desolation. Tanizaki is probably the same as kunikida except replace people with Naomi, so maybe a mix between the desolation and the lonely. Kyouka is probably afraid of having to hurt people again, so the slaugther or the desolation most likely. I am not sure about most of the port mafia, and Verlaine probably has his own domain to rule over. Akutagawa is probably in a corruption domain. Ango might be in a buried domain. Poe is probably just wandering the hellscape, hunting for people he knows. Lovecraft is somewhere, with stainbeck probably, perks of having an eldritch boyfriend i guess. Lucy is in a lonely domain somewhere. Francis is in the buried domain of debt. Bram is being a Hunt avatar and taking a nap. Sigma is in a lonely/stranger domain, the poor boy. I have no idea about the hunting dogs, except Fukuchi is probably in a slaugther/desolation domain. Rimbaud is manning his own domain somewhere probably close to Pauls. And poor Aya didn't get to go to the dark domain and instead went to the buried domain of parental pressure.

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rebeccadumaurier · 8 months

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thoughts on bungou stray dogs season 5

woo, that was a fun binge-watch! ok, my (not spoiler free) thoughts:

this was a good season, really really good. i'm really impressed by asagiri's ability to keep us guessing and to play off old story patterns while also developing new ones—characterization's very consistent but also keeps developing in fresh and interesting directions. pacing's less wack than s3 (where fyodor appeared in like 3 episodes), the plot develops at a solid pace, the themes are really interesting

this was the gayest season i have seen so far and i've been letting this stupid show queerbait me for 6 years now, so that's saying something. fukichi and fukuzawa simultaneously have the energy of messily divorced exes, pining repressed best friends, and happily married couple all at once. if i was mori i'd be jealous (but it's mori so he's not, though i do appreciate mori/fukuzawa as a foil to fukichi/fukuzawa).

i'm not really the biggest fan of raising the stakes continuously overall, like i really don't think media needs to go like season 1. save my friend season 2. save my home season 3. save the world or some shit, it's fine to have similar magnitude of stakes throughout. but it's cool that asagiri's got the ambition to tackle some lofty questions—in particular i think nikolai's own struggle to determine his free will compared to fukichi's desire to strip free will from humanity in exchange for world peace is interesting.

i have never been particularly taken by fyodor, or fyodor's relationship with dazai, or fyodor's relationship with nikolai. but this season has finally caused me to cave and admit he's great. he's hilarious, he's a great foil to dazai (their weird 4D chess frenemyship is excellent, i understand why people ship them now), his dialogue is top tier and i fucking lost it when he faked having a split personality to the character with split hair because he (rightly) figured sigma would fall for it. like yes DRAG HIM

speaking of split haired characters, i miss Q, who had a lot of potential to add some more chaos to the mix and who i generally want to see more of (his fucked up gender energy and his being a lovehatechild of dazai and chuuya is so entertaining)

i'm...actually a bit disappointed that dazai did not actually let chuuya die, although i do like the direction asagiri took—in "double black," we saw chuuya place his trust in dazai, and it paid off. this time around, dazai placed his trust in chuuya—literally let him put a loaded gun to his head!!—and it paid off (and also chuuya got his revenge for dazai taking too long to nullify corruption last time, you know he had fun with those extra bullets).

i really enjoy that asagiri shows time and time again just how much these two trust each other, but at the same time, i think their relationship could actually be stress tested more—like, i genuinely wanted to see dazai placed into a real "pick chuuya or the ADA" situation! i want to see dazai and chuuya actually on opposite sides, not in truces or working together or whatnot, and i suspect that this will happen in the show's last arc—it's eventually going to circle back to ADA vs. PM, just like the beginning. TL:DR; i'm an insane dazai/chuuya shipper and the chokehold they have on me is so humiliating that i just don't talk about it 99% of the time. if i loved you less i would be able to talk about it more.

although i did 100% call him being OK with killing chuuya as BS, because there is no goddamn way dazai's last words to chuuya would ever be as mild and cliche as "we didn't really get along, but sometimes we understood each other." that man has been practicing dramatic monologues in his head daily for the last seven years. when he does deliver that monologue it's going to fucking SERVE

speaking of being taken in by fyodor: fine fine I GET THE DAZAI/CHUUYA X FYODOR/NIKOLAI PARALLELS NOW OKAY. not that i denied them before but we were really getting bashed over the head with it in the prison break episodes. being queerbaited by this show is better than a lot of actual media gay couples but it still hurts like a bitch.

i continue to want to wring atsushi's neck lol. akutagawa has never really been my fave or anything, but his character development is clearly progressing much faster (and i really really respect it) and our narrator still can't fucking form an opinion without one of his friends to guide him!! kyouka and lucy please ditch him and date each other instead. the lack of kyouka in this season was CRIMINAL.

i kind of ship kenji and tetchou now...i know the show is pushing tetchou and jouno but jouno is just so fucking MEAN and tetchou deserves someone who doesn't judge him for his quirks okay :(

tachihara biggest glow up of any character since the beginning of this show. the character development i didnt know i wanted

this season did a lot more work to humanize the hunting dogs (esp. the non-tachihara ones) and i enjoyed that a lot. teruko's role in the finale, killing the man she loved most because fukuzawa couldn't, absolutely murdered me. i think it's such a good step in her character arc as she has to figure out who she wants to be without him. also i appreciate that she's a badass female character who isn't a weirdly sexualized girlboss and is also a weirdo

aya and bram is truly one of the most bizarre pairs in this show and there are a lot of bizarre pairs, so that's saying something. i legitimately feel like asagiri picked some names out of a hat or spun a wheel for this or something. but i am excited for bram to figure out what he wants after spending forever being enslaved to others, and hope that this involves listening to the radio all day with a 10-year-old girl. the way children are portrayed in BSD as these incredibly vulnerable and impressionable people worthy of love and protection sincerely fucks me up so bad

loose ends: where is the help me note from? i assumed dazai wrote it, but i doubt it, and i also doubt he just left sigma to die. we still don't know what fyodor's ability is, which makes me nervous, since he is ALLEGEDLY dead. i wonder if it's nikolai's (frankly he does legitimately seem like the type to have split personality issues). i'm worried the antidote isn't an actual antidote, and we obviously haven't seen the end of nikolai. there's an actually comical amount of power in bram's hands now. mori's been fairly quiet this season, and there's no way he didn't plan a way for himself to benefit from the carnage. that man is a vulture, he exploits starving orphans off the street! and he sent in chuuya to save the ADA's ass twice and let akutagawa disappear for 2+ weeks! this man was just negotiating to have yosano join the mafia, you can't tell me he didn't get something for himself out of this.

honestly i kind of just want this shit with the hunting dogs and the decay of angels to end and to stop worrying about world domination so we can go back to the ADA battling yokohama's villain of the week, like man the tension has just been building nonstop. give the ADA a coffee break. 😭😭

ranpo fans are truly getting their time lately huh. we are winninggggg

#ange bsd lb #bsd spoilers -

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violets-arepurple · 2 years

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Cursed things that happen within the ada (purely crack/headcanon I'm just bored)

Atsushi got separated from the group after being chased by the target he ended up hiding in a local furry convention, it was surprisingly affective, Dazai still brings it up

Kunikida was chasing down someone with the ability to turn into objects and it turned into a really cursed game of prop hunt (the ability users was just a kid trying to make their way, they got the necessary help)

There was an ability users using a travelling carnival as a cover so Dazai and Kyouka went in pretending to be family (because free entry for families) it was going well until they ran into Kouyou who was conducting business and Dazai looked her in the eye and introduced Kyouka as his daughter (he could have said they were siblings he's just a little shit)

Dazai has done drag multiple times for missions, no one knows were he gets all the stuff. Kunikida accidentally asked him out once and got really close to sacrificing the mission to punch Dazai

Ranpo, Atsushi, and Kyouka all got the train together and they ended up in Tokyo. No one knows how this happened

Kyouka and Atsushi were sent to help find a lost cat. It ended up in a tree and wouldn't come down so Kyouka called Kouyo who called Chuuya who got the cat down and brought them both lunch and gave Atsushi his number for if Dazai gets too annoying (he also lent him some cookbooks)

Atsushi, Dazai and Yosano were on an overnight mission that involved a bit of alcohol and Atsushi ended up getting a really cursed version of the talk which he hasn't recovered from (once Yosano stopped being hungover she gave him the proper version because we know the orphanage didn't teach him shit)

Kyouka has kicked Kunikidas ass in a sparring match. Kunikida originally refused to spar with her because she's a child but got double dog dared by Yosano and Dazai and proceeded to loose

Yosano and Kyouka go on girls days which is basically just knife and other assorted weaponry shopping on the company card, Fukuzawa occasionally joins them (and even more occasionally Kouyou)

Kyouka has repeatedly tried to teach Atsushi how use a sword in one eventful case he ended up pinned to the ceiling (progress is slow but he's getting there)

The only people up late are Dazai, Kyouka, Yosano, and sometimes Atsushi. Their 3am macdonalds trips are legendary

What's even more legendary is Dazai's tiktok page

They have game nights that rarely turn out well. Turns out card games with ex mafia members is a bad idea, Atsushi is also surprisingly good

The table has been flipped, it also got broken when Chuuya was invited to uno and was sat between Ranpo and Dazai (the meeting table has been through a lot)

Atsushi is on somewhat decent terms with Chuuya to Dazais horror. Chuuya once took Atsushi hat shopping and that was one of the times Yokohama got close to the return of the demon prodigy

(The other times aren't as funny)

On the walls of one of the bathroom stalls there is an ongoing argument about pineapple on pizza

The office prank war is the reason that to this day all forms of glitter are banned from the main office

Decaff coffee is also banned (unofficially but the decaff and regular coffee mix up led to some of the lowest productivity the office had ever seen)

Kenji doesn't drink coffee and he is hailed as a god amongst men

To cheer people up kenji once made a star chart but people started getting competitive so it had to be taken down

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd ada #armed detective agency #bsd headcanons #bsd atsushi #bsd kunikida #bsd dazai #bsd kyouka #bsd yosano #bsd ranpo #bsd kouyou #bsd chuuya #bsd kenji #bsd fukuzawa #long post

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scalpel-mom-mori · 4 years

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Meanwhile, in the Port Mafia ((bsd 88 spoilers))

Mori scowled as the phone continued ringing. Right as the call was about to go to voicemail, Fukuzawa picked up.

"Mori-sensei," he greeted without waiting for Mori to identify himself.

"Who else would it be?" Mori grumbled. "While you've been labelled a terrorist and running from the police, I've lost the Akutagawas, a third of my command unit, more lower-level grunts than I even knew I had to lose, and found a spy in the Port Mafia."

"And?"

Mori would've punched him had Fukuzawa been there in the flesh. "And tell your stupid ex to shove his vampire bastard up his own ass, not mine!" Mori snapped.

"He's trying to arrest me," Fukuzawa pointed out, "or kill me."

"Both of which he'll fail if you have any say in the matter," Mori sniffed, somewhere between offended and smug.

"You're no better," Fukuzawa told him.

"I'm not trying to destroy Yokohama," Mori barked, coloring red. "You're incorrigible."

"Mhm," Fukuzawa replied. "Talk to you soon." And hung up.

#bsd mori #bsd fukuzawa #sword dad is best dad #Today on Fukuzawa and his Toxic af exes #fukumori #kind of #bsd shitpost #bsd 88 spoilers #peaches writes #i too am furious mori dw #the porto mafia

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nastyaex · 3 years

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Soukoku dancing to Dear Prince

As I was listening to ''Dear Prince'' while playing Minecraft, I started imagining how Chuuya and Dazai would slow dance to it

The ADA and the Port Mafia have decided to celebrate something together. (idk why, i'll leave it to your imagination)

A lot of them were drinking, chatting, and dancing.

Chuuya was simply lost in his thoughts and stayed in a corner of the big room, sipping a little bit of wine while looking at the people dancing in front of him.

All of a sudden, Dazai comes in front of him and extends his hand towards Chuuya.

''What do you want from me ?" he asked the brunette, slightly confused.

''Let's dance together.''

At first, Chuuya was very surprised. No stupid names like hat rack, chibi, nothing. He blinked a few times.

''Why ?"

"Well, we're both alone and bored, so I figured it'd be nice.'' replied Dazai with a small smile.

Chuuya tried to find anything that would indicate that Dazai was lying, but he couldn't find anything.

After a few seconds, the ginger man ended up standing up and putting his now empty glass aside. He put his hand in Dazai's and followed him.

Dazai softly put his hand on Chuuya's waist, and the other man put his hand on the brunette's shoulder.

''You're still acting suspicious." the red haired man squinted. "What did you do again ?"

Dazai laughed.

"Ah, come on chibi, I can be nice sometimes !" he answered, pretending to be offended.

''Yeah, sometimes."

The brunette smiled and kept peacefully dancing with his ex-partner.

''Do you remember that song ?"

Chuuya scoffed a little.

''Of fucking course. It's Dear Prince.''

Dazai hummed in approval.

''You tried to teach me how to dance on this song." he remembered.

''Yeah, you fucking sucked." said Chuuya, but there wasn't the usual ferocity in his voice this time.

When they were sixteen, the older man tried to teach the brunette how to dance. Not that he wanted to, but Dazai himself asked for help.

''And why would I help you, stupid mackerel ?" asked the short man back then.

''How can I seduce anyone if I can't dance !" dramatically sighed the other man, and Chuuya rolled his eyes.

''No one would fall for you even if you could dance, idiot." replied the ginger man. ''But we have nothing else to do, so I guess I can help you.''

''Woah ! The hat rack has a good heart after all !"

"Pfft, sure."

Dazai chose Dear Prince, because he really liked the song. Chuuya liked it as well, but he has never admitted it because ''having the same music taste as this fool is lame.''

Chuuya then tried to teach him how to do the steps, and tried to help Dazai to stop being so "goddamn stiff".

Without even noticing it, they were having a lot of fun. They were bickering, laughing, and smiling a lot. Those calm and silly days were rare at the Port Mafia.

Now they're twenty two, and they're dancing together again, at the same song.

They didn't even realize they were softly smiling at the old memories. Nostalgia hit them like a truck.

''You kinda improved. Not as stiff as a stick anymore.'' noticed the shorter man, quite impressed. ''Did you keep practicing ?"

"Not really. I just memorized your advices.'' Dazai answered, and Chuuya playfully rolled his eyes.

''Of fucking course. Sometimes I forget you're a genius who can improve in a blink of an eye."

"You said I'm a genius ! What an honour !" exclaimed the brunette, who received a slight hit on his shoulder.

''Oh shut up already.''

Despite the harsh words, they both smiled and kept enjoying the moment.

''It...feels nice. To do that again.'' quietly admitted Chuuya, resting his head against his ex-partner's shoulder. Dazai hummed.

''Indeed. Let's do it again, someday."

They could feel the stares of some people, including Mori's and Fukuzawa's. But they paid no mind to it, they were in their own little world. All the rivalry and bickering aside. The only thing that mattered to them was each other.

''Looks like they don't each other as much as they say.'' chuckled Mori, standing next to Fukuzawa while holding a glass of white wine. The other man simply nodded, a small smile plastered on his face.

(Crossposted on ao3)

#soukoku #chuuya #dazai #bungou stray dogs chuuya #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bungou stray dogs dazai #bungou stray dogs soukoku #soukoku prompt #soukoku being cheesy bitches #soukoku dancing #yeah i'm tagging this as if it was ao3 #bsd dear prince #bungou stray dogs fukuzawa #bungou Stray Dogs mori #soukoku os

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willofdevilfruit · 5 years

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BSD timeline based on Dazai’s age

I just binge-watched Bungou Stray Dogs and I’m in love. Anyway, since I had some trouble figuring out the order of the flashbacks, I assumed maybe others had too. I made a timeline from what I could gather. Bear in mind that I only watched the anime, so some info might be slightly off.

1. At age 14, Dazai tries to commit suicide and ends up on Dr. Mori’s table. That same night, Mori kills the Port Mafia’s boss, making Dazai his accomplice. Dazai doesn’t join the Mafia yet, but he becomes Mori’s right-hand man all the same

2. Dazai meets Chuuya at age 15, when Chuuya was still head of the Sheep and Dazai is still Mori’s right-hand man. Together they try to investigate the reappearance of the Mafia’s ex-boss, while at the same time uncovering Chuuya’s past, ending in a fight against Randou. After the Sheep betray Chuuya, both of them end up officially joining the Mafia.

3. BSD Tale of the Lost is set before the events of the anime (and only mentioned a couple of times in it) featuring Fyodor D. and Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. Better known as the 88 days lasting Dragon Head Conflict. The events that happened here are not shown in the anime, but are hugely related to the movie. Dazai was 16 here.

4. At age 16 Dazai also becomes the youngest Port Mafia executive.

5. From 15 to 18 Chuuya and Dazai are sworn rivals and after they decimate an entire enemy organisation in one night, at age 16, they become known as ‘the criminal world’s worst enemy’ earning the title Twin Dark/Double Black, (depending on the translation) ending up as Port Mafia partners.

6. When Dazai is around 17 he finds Akutagawa and makes him his apprentice in the Port Mafia

7. When Dazai is 18 is when the Port Mafia fights Mimic. Oda’s story happens, telling Dazai that if it’s all the same to him, he should join the good guys. Dazai learns that Oda dying was part of Mori’s play to obtain the license and takes Oda’s last words to heart. Dazai leaves mid-mission, abandoning the Port Mafia and asks Taneda for job advice. He tells him about the Armed Detective Agency, but also says that with his record, Dazai needs to go into hiding before he can start the job.

8. Dazai stated (in the manga) that in his 2 years of hiding he was an unemployed, unmotivated drunk in bars, but we don’t know for sure if this statement is true.

9. At age 20, after he’d been in hiding for 2 years, Dazai joins the Armed Detective Agency listening to Taneda’s recommendation. Fukuzawa puts him in Kunikida’s care. Kunikida decides that a serial disappearance case becomes his entrance exam. After passing it, Kunikida and Dazai become partners at the ADA.

10. Another 2 years later, at age 22, is when the anime starts. Dazai meets Atsushi and lets him join the Agency

11. The main plot events from season 1 and 2 happen, until after the Guild is defeated.

12. Next is the Dead Apple movie. The movie begins with a scene that is said to be 6 years in the past. 22 - 6 puts us at when Dazai was 16: the time of the Dragon Head Conflict. It then cuts to the present, but it’s made clear that the movie is connected to events from the Tale of the Lost. In the movie, Ango calls Chuuya for help. Chuuya makes clear that, in the past, Ango betrayed them by bringing Tatsuhiko Shibusawa to Yokohoma, which lead to the death of his friends. An event that we didn’t see, but most likely happened in Tale of the Lost. This is why Chuuya says that he wants revenge and to kill Ango as a reward for helping him. The movie is related to a lot of past events that involved Fyodor and Shibusawa and shows that Dazai and Chuuya already have a history with them. I assume that serves as a bit of an explanation for their crazy trust relations in the movie.

13. Then season 3’s main plot events happen.

Since Dazai hasn’t had a birthday yet, I assume he is still 22 now, but maybe he’s almost 23 in the present.

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draconia-bsd · 5 years

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FkuMori- New Year's Kiss

Hey, hi, hello, I have no justification for writing somethig so painfully long, but I hope you like it @vanafloria ♡ uwu

Crimson sunlight barged through the forest of skyscrapers and motels, allowing only a few remaining rays to stumble in a wide white office of a new clinic center, meeting their end either on a tidy desk or on a spotless lab coat of dr. Mori. He owned and managed the whole complex for barely eight months now, and despite it seeming out of place, the surrounding neighbourhood warmly welcomed this new branch of the health industry. Before its arrival, small gangs had a habbit of housebreaking and robbing the entire area, spreading fear amongst its residents and ultimately leading to a decay in economy, which most considered beyond repair. Yet, thanks to the generous heart of this ex war doctor, these problems were solved in the shortest possible time, leading quite a large number of people into an almost religious worship of his being. Fully aware of the fact, Mori dedicated vast amounts of energy in maintaining his public image- as long as the ordinary people were happy with his honey-glazed mask and dulcet words no problems will be caused, they will act as sheep following their shepherd through the fog. This logic, however, was not something he shared with his employees, more precisely his bodyguard, Fukuzawa- a man roughly his own age, but of strong stature. He oftentimes communicated in such a blunt and harsh manner that Mori felt obliged to step in the conversation for the tensions to settle. It was exhausting, especially after explaining him the meaning of his actions numerous times, but in the end, he couldn't afford better. Not only from a materialistic standpoint, but also because Fukuzawa was the best man in his line of work, rising up almost to a level of legend. Even upon a mere mention of his nickname, "The Silver Wolf", most of the underworld's bravest members would quiver, for the man's natural bloodthirst was a force colder and more ruthless than a Russian winter. He was far too valuable for Mori to dismiss and leave in another person's grasp.

In spite of this minor problem though, the business ran precisely as intended. The whole area became a neutral zone after doctor himself spread the word of his refusal to associate with the law enforcement. Sure, he faced hardships and doubt at first, but being spared and trusted by the two biggest crime organisations in town helped significantly. Everyone he knew now thought he was just a simple man who wanted to help people, which, in a way, wasn't even that far from the truth. Thinking about this, Mori didn't even realise he neglected his work until the phone-alarm notified him it was time for his lunchbreak. Feeling only slight discomfort about the matter, he swiftly he draped himself within his feather jacket and headed straight to the nearby bakery. Having stepped outside, his eyes narrowed due to the force of a razor sharp wind jolting his hair, leaving him with a view field wide just enough to get him to the desired destination. The bakery was small, albeit tastefully decorated. It possessed a rustic aesthetic, with its wooden, dark amber walls and shelves that blended so well with them it would be impossible to imagine one without the other, alongside two big square windows, one placed next to the door and the other on the West wall, allowing sunlight to highlight all of the beauty inside. Naturally, as it was Christmas time, decorations added to the aesthetics too, making even the baked goods taste more delicious than usual.

Upon entering, Mori fixed his hair and stepped into the line for making orders. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to get, but the queue was long enough for him to comfortably decide, or so he thought. Suddenly, an old woman came up to him and started a smalltalk asking him about the clinic and poking fun at his hair that he "ought to shorten". This was all an everyday occurrence to which he had gotten used to, up until one question.

"So, how will you spend the New Year's eve, dear?" she said with genuine curiosity.

"Oh, as usual, I shall occupy myself with work." the doctor replied and he truly did mean it. Over time holidays lost their value to him, and while a necessity in this society, he did not enjoy them for the most part, as he felt even more empty during those times, thus trying not to pay them too much attention was the best possible solution.

"Oooh." mumbled the lady "That's noble, but it must be terribly lonely, especially after having spent Christmas at work as well."

Admittedly, Mori was stunned by her bluntness, but he couldn't deny her words, even with his employees by his side, he felt the same as always during this time period. Still, he had to reply with something, so he conveniently used the exact thing he was thinking about for inspiration.

"Don't worry, Fukuzawa will be with me. After all, we are like brothers." he exclaimed, but for some reason didn't understand why he only mentioned this one man.

While they could surely be brothers by age, there wasn't much, apart from his skills, that dazzled him about Fukuzawa. So, brushing this off as a simple element of chitchatting, he continued to talk to the lady until he took his order and left the bakery, sprinting back to his office.

Having walked so fast he almost had difficulty maintaining a normal breathing pattern, he stopped in the entry room to gain some strength. It was now noticeably warmer compared ti the outside, but still, he felt no need to take off his jacked as he felt winter might bite down to his bones. Sitting there like a student in the school yard, he started thinking about his words once again. This time he had the freedom to explore all the possibilities, and an interesting idea occured to him. Mori then finished his meal as usual and headed back to his office, having a few buissnes partners already waiting for him. Unon greeting them politely,he called on Fukuzawa to guard the room until the meeting was over.

...

As dawn neared it's peak, the doctors hands lost their usual composure and craved for a resting place to stop their fatigue caused tremor, but contrary to his body's wishes, Mori took care of his equipment, changed his clothes and ramained to wait for the new shift to start. He didn't have to do this, obviously, but a part of him thought it was right and he hadn't done anything like that in a while. His mind was absent as he gazed into the rising Sun, mesmerised by it's colours and the flickering snow contrasting it. Losing track of time, and eventually his consciousness, the next thing amethyst eyes saw were white strands of hair shimmering next to them, appearing so light and soft they may have been unreal for all Mori knew. This fascination could have continued, but soon a deep voice broke off the illusion and reality came back into place. Fukuzawa was arched over his employer, looking at the weak body with concern.

"Shouldn't you go home and rest properly?" he asked as the younger man shook from his drowse and offered a hand to help him get out of his chair.

It took him quite a while to voice his answer, but nevertheless, Mori agreed with this and the two decided to head towards their homes together. However unusual it may seem, this isn't the first time they travelled together, it happened every once in a while and they would often engage in awkward conversations during it, but lately their communication improved (partially because of their debates about the neighbourhoods residents) so it was definitely a nice opportunity to snatch. Mori freezed as soon as he stepped outside, giving him a subjective feeling that his eyebags suddenly became a few shades darker. Jokingly commenting on this, he was greeted with an attempt of a reply "That's why you shouldn't wear jackets inside." and a smile. Fukuzawa may have been older, but he was definitely the one who had to learn when it came to these things. Still, Mori didn't mind his bodyguard's awkwardness when it was directed at him. He could never pinpoint the exact emotion he felt at those moments, but he knew it was something warm and for a long time he didn't think anything of it, but as of yesterday he became quite keen on exploring it, so he lead the conversation further until the blue eyes had lost their usual harshness. It is true that most of the trip had already passed by that point, but at least it was worthy. Now was the right time to ask:

"Say, what are your plans for the New Year's eve?" Mori continued with his usual tone.

"I assume I will spend it working." Fukuzawa replied coldly, retrieving to his natural attitude.

"Well if that's so, wouldn't you like to make me company during the countdown? It's not like we will leave the clinic, but it's nice to celebrate a bit, no?"

"I- I would have to agree, but what about the patients or the lurking danger?" the silver haired man asked with a serious voices , averting his sky blue orbs to his side.

"Hmm, a few drunks here and there shouldn't be much of a problem. I've had these experiences before, you know?" Mori proclaimed in a pensive tone.

"I don't see anything wrong with it then." Fukuzawa said, much to Mori's delight.

As planned, two men parted ways soon after, heading for their respective homes for a good rest, but somehow neither felt tired anymore.

...

Before coming to his clinic that evening, Mori stoped by an acquaintance's shop at the back of an alley near the town center. The man was a smuggling genius, holding seven mass storages, both in and out of the city, filled with opiates of various kinds, but at this small shop he brought only the finest of alcohol- be it original or fake, he had it all, oftentimes so well matched in characteristics that the drink's authenticity was for the consumer to evaluate. Despite this tho, he would never put Mori in the said position, for he owed him greatly. The store itself had two levels, the lower being almost twice as big as the one above, but nonetheless well-equipped with rare finds. Overall aesthetic was quite modern, filled with various shades grey as well as few metallic surfaces (shelves and the register most notably), but it would've been extremely bland if there werent a few pop art paintings hanging on the walls and bringing some actual colour in the room. Not really how most would imagine a liquor store, but it possessed a certain charm, especially for upstart people who stood in awe upon entering, with greedy eyes drinking from every bottle they recognized from a magazine they read before that one party in order to impress a lovely nobleman. But unlike these people, Mori wasn't all that impressed by this space, he already set his goal and this was simply the best way to fulfil it. He followed his acquaintance to a certain part of the store and upon a short wait, the man came back with what the doctor wanted- a bottle of Highland Park '68 . With a delighted smirk on his face Mori expressed his gratefulness and exchanged a few business related ideas with the smuggler.

Having put the bottle of expensive whisky in his bag, he set for the clinic, arriving earlier than usual although there wasn't much he planned to do but sorting some paperwork. Emerged in work, time flew by and before he knew it the clock hit nine, marking the beginning of Fukuzawa's work hours. Forseeably, he arrived on time and made his presence known to Mori immediately. Though his tone and words were professional, there were hints of insecurity behind them as he didn't quite know how to hold himself that night. As it is only natural, the dark haired man noticed this and decided to put his plan to action. Dramatically proclaiming his exhaustion, Mori suggested they both take a glass of whisky and without hesitation Fukuzawa accepted this offer. After all, the Silver Wolf was no stranger to alcohol, most notably spirits. He didn't know exactly why he liked this type of liquor to such an extent, but he never concerned himself with that question- the taste and the high was all that mattered, and surprisingly, this drink possessed both of the said qualities. Sitting in chairs, much like a doctor and a patient would, they sipped their drinks slowly, expressing thoughts of it's taste, colour and scent, but other than that the conversation seemed to end, making the whole situation awkward for a short while- until the rush of alcohol hit them. It did require two glasses of whisky, but it was worthy, as Fukuzawa relaxed significantly after every sip he took. Mori wasn't much of a drinker himself, so seeing this big, strong man getting tipsy before him was a pleasant surprise, and not only that, but his cheeks were slightly red emphasizing his blue eyes to the point where Mori had to put extreme effort not to stare at their beauty. Instead, the doctor started talking about their common mentor- Natsume Soseki. This proved to be a good topic of choice as Fukuzawa lead the story of their meeting and later anecdotes from trainings. Like the one time his sensei tried to catch a butterfly with his bare hands, or the time he casually lounged not on the regular sitting area of the couch but on it's back. This made Mori laugh more than he had imagined, to the point his abdominal muscles hurt, actually. This reminded him of his experience with Natsume-sensei, so naturally, he decided to share his discovery of the mentors unreasonably big collection of cardboard boxes.

Stories of their mentor soon turned into jokes, but after continuous use of whisky, the conversation took a more serious turn. They didn't remember how they got to the topic of loneliness, but it was obvious neither of them particularly enjoyed the subject.

"Loneliness increases inner strength and individuality, but our human nature is always there to chain our improvement." Fukuzawa claimed.

"Isn't it also in our human nature to adapt and evolve? While it is necessary, is it truly the only way we can help our growth? After all, even plants die if watered too much, don't they?" the younger man replied, but was met with silence.

"Well, it is New Year's eve after all, we shouldn't be talking about such things!" Mori added in a silvery voice, putting his usual smile on.

Forcing a smile on his face, the older of the two extended his arm to get his glass "If that's the case, why don't you pour me another one, doctor?"

Almost mechanically doing as he was asked, Mori suddenly remembered "Ah, wait!" he exclaimed as he jerked the bottle "It's not midnight yet, we should wait for the countdown, look how little we have left!"

Blue orbs focused on the bottle and blinked in surprise "Wow, that much? I mean, we drank that much."

Mori laughed to this reaction and fell off his chair from the force he used to nod his head, which in response caused Fukuzawa to snort as he lent him a helping hand. As expected from a drunk person though, the fallen didn't get up, but instead pulled the the other one down with him. With both of them on the floor now, they continued giggling like a pair of teenagers smoking behind their school, hoping not to get caught. It was strange how well they can get along, given the chance. As they sat next to each other, Fukuzawa took Mori's hand without a word and moved it close to him, causing the other man to blush, but before he could do anything the Silver Wolf narrowed his eyes and drew his head close to the handwatch to examine it.

"Two more minutes until countdown!" he said as he turned around to face Mori, who at this point had a perplexed look on his face and was only able to utter an "oh".

Fukuzawa then quickly crawled to the table an brought the bottle to a still confused doctor.

"Eh and the glasses?" Mori asked.

"Ugh. Who cares." the other replied with a sigh.

With their eyes fixed on the watch, these two anxiously waited for the final ten seconds. It seemed that time passed much slower now that they stopped talking, but that didn't really bother Mori. He could feel the pressure of his head leaning against the other and soft white hair caressing his cheek- in a way, he even wanted this to continue. Alas, the time they waited for came and both of them counted until zero, but before doctor wished his bodyguard a happy New Year, Fukuzawa was already taking a sup of the old whisky. It was unlike his usual, compound self, to disrespect a custom, but he was extremely drunk by this point, so the younger man took it as such. Sensing that the time is right, he started gently removing the bottle from Fukuzawa's mouth, advising him not to swallow the drink as he cupped the confused man's face and moved his own body close to his, giving him a deep and slow kiss. It was bitter and it burned, but he would give anything to do it over and over again.

"Happy New Year." he said weakly upon breaking the kiss and catching his breath.

"Yeah. You too." a flustered Fukuzawa replied, still in shock over what had just happened.

After remaining in the same position for a few seconds, Mori decided to back away, thinking this was all a bad idea to begin with, but as he was about to move, he felt strong arms holding him back and draging him even closer to them.

"Mmm? What?" he asked teasingly, but his lips were locked in a kiss before he knew it.

Who coud have guessed such passion laid behind those cold blue eyes? Those who seemed so detached and out of reach, slowly luring him into lust day by day... are they even the same as these fierce, devine eyes before him? Mori wondered, but that was a question that had to wait for the next day. All he craved now was to be liberated from his bottled up desires, and his saviour was ready.

#my writing #bungou stray dogs #bsd #fukumori #mori ougai #bsd mori #fukuzawa yukichi #bsd fukuzawa

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chouetteffraie · 5 years

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50 + 84 + dazatsu or skk for the trope mashup meme?

50. Arranged Marriage

84. Married to the Job

hmmmmm....a bit of a tough one....but a fun one uwu

So I imagine it like this! (doing skk by the way, but since you offered dazatsu too I added a little bit of that!)

The marriage isn’t exactly arranged, but neither parties feel as though they have a choice.

After months of the organizations working together, fellow members mistaking their teasing and bickering for flirting, their efficiency for a deeper, intimate understanding, and the heads of both parties murmuring about an allegiance, they realize they have to cave.

It’s Atsushi that brings it up. He’s sitting with Dazai late at night, a habit they’ve gotten into when they both can’t sleep. They’ve always been a comfort to each other, and Dazai thought Atsushi could read him better than anyone else. He was proven wrong, though, when Atsushi asked, “So, everybody in the agency is talking about a wedding. Are you planning on proposing soon or something...?”

Dazai widens his eyes, not bothering to hide his surprise. “Eternal commitment? To Chuuya? That’s not exactly what I meant by a lover’s suicide, Atsushi.”

Atsushi is quiet, and Dazai tries desperately to fill the void, to block out the way the gears are grinding in his head. “I told you when we first met, I have no such tastes in men! I’ve been waiting my whole life to die with a beautiful woman! I won’t let Chuuya rob me of that opportunity!” He rambles on and on, using every excuse he can think of, until he asks, “What about us makes us seem so compatible, anyway?”

“Well, you two just have a chemistry. You know each other well and you seem to balance out each other’s weaknesses.”

“Yeah, in battle. In life, it’s a completely different story. Chuuya makes me wish I didn’t have mine anymore.”

“Everything makes you wish you didn’t have your life anymore, Dazai,” Atsushi chides, drawing his knees to his chest so he could rest his head on them. “I don’t know, I guess it’s because Chuuya’s such an important part of your past, and you seem so reluctant to lose some part of your history...I guess we just thought it was him.”

Dazai is quiet, and takes to watching the stars above. He isn’t sure what to think, but he starts to see that maybe he’s dug himself into a hole. Maybe that was his destiny, as one half of Double Black- to relinquish his passions and desires to bind the two organizations together and keep the peace in the city. Dazai allows himself to smile, a bittersweet quirk of his lips that Atsushi mistakes for happiness at the prospect of matrimony.

Oh, Atsushi-kun. I thought you could read me better than anybody. How I despised the slug, how utterly miserable I’ve been since these rumors started.

How I’d much rather it be you at the altar...

There isn’t a proposal, actually. There’s a late night discussion, not too long after the one with Atsushi, and a begrudging admittance that maybe it would be for the best.

There isn’t a ceremony, just Mori, Fukuzawa, and a few witnesses from each side for both security measures and sentimental value. Hirotsu watched quietly and respectfully, while Akutagawa sported an expression of confusion and...disgust? Dazai couldn’t say he blamed him. On his side, Kunikida watched with a blank face. The only one who seemed happy with this situation was Atsushi, who was watching with stars in his eyes and a grin on his face.

With the “legal” stuff taken care of (or, at least, as legal as things can be- Chuuya is a mafia executive, after all), they two organizations get to work with their new alliance. However, both newlyweds are very important to their respective agencies: they see less and less of each other the closer their one-year anniversary looms. Dazai starts taking his paperwork seriously, for once, often staying overtime to work on it. He takes late night missions, and Atsushi often crosses paths with him on late night, mind-clearing walks (they don’t sit outside together anymore, seeing as Chuuya absolutely refused to live in an ADA dormitory). Chuuya seems to have a similar idea, claiming to be staying at the office with mountains of paperwork and spending his nights at various bars.

They both came to a silent agreement that this marriage was not to each other; it was to their jobs, and the betterment of the city.

Atsushi seems the only person invested in the relationship, asking Dazai how things are going every chance he gets. He often encourages Dazai to go home early, to see his husband, and sometimes he’s so persistent Dazai can’t get away with staying in the office. “Atsushi-kun, if this was all it took to get you to volunteer to do my reports, I should’ve gotten married years ago!”

Atsush chuckles. “Well, at least you’re happy now, Dazai-san. Now you have it all!”

Dazai gives him a smile, and doesn’t let on how being bound to the mafia and sharing vows with his ex-partner only made him feel as if he lost everything he once had hope in.

#would an arranged marriage ever happen?#probably not #but hey man #anime logic #midaregamis #asks #my stuff #my stuff soukoku #soukoku #skk #dazai x chuuya #dazai osamu #chuuya nakahara #dazai #chuuya #trope mashup asks #my stuff bsd

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hamliet · 5 years

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Three Shades of Double Black

So within Bungou Stray Dogs we have three couples forced to work in a partnership by a mentor for the sake of the good of Yokohama.

We have, as the ‘eldest’ generation, Fukuzawa Yukichi and Mori Ougai, forced to work together by Natsume.

Then we have “soukoku,” Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya, and now “shin soukoku,” Nakajima Atsushi and Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

I’m not going to be arguing that any of these partnerships are necessarily more successful/destined to be more successful than the others, but instead examining the foiling between the characters and these partnerships to better understand the effect these partnerships have on the individual characters.

Let’s start with Fukuzawa and Mori. Natsume asked them to bother work together for the good of Yokohama.

Mori himself trusses up his work as something good for the city and as good for him:

And it just might be--for the greater city, anyways. For the most vulnerable, though? Not so much. It’s not just an “if necessary” when it comes to using subordinates; on the contrary, Mori always uses people.

We see repeatedly that Mori’s Port Mafia darkly foils Fukuzawa’s Armed Detective Agency. I’ve said this before, but both recruit the most vulnerable. The Port Mafia targets children, which Mori’s ability clearly symbolizes for us (it creates a little girl--Elise--Mori presumably uses for sexual purposes as well as to save his life, etc.) Mori groomed a suicidal young teenager Dazai as his protege and used his suicidal tendencies to manipulate him, allowed Dazai to repeat the cycle by recruiting Akutagawa as a little kid who grew up in the slums and who’d just lost eight friends, Akutagawa then repeats the cycle with Kyouka, a girl whose parents were murdered and whom society blamed, believing her ability went berserk and killed them. And we also see Mori directly doing this by having Dazai groom Chuuya to join the mafia. All four of them–Dazai, Akutagawa, Kyouka, Chuuya–are portrayed as desperately wanting a place to belong and a meaning to their lives, while being afflicted with self-hate as normal society (the greater city) tells them there’s no place for them. Mori might argue he’s doing good for these kids... but as we’ll see later, he’s really not.

The AMA also targets the most vulnerable--a traumatized ex-child soldier/medic, an autistic-coded boy whose brilliance ostracizes him, etc-- except instead of preying on these kinds of people and using them for their selfish purposes, they do not view them as expendable. Fukuzawa’s policy is to always, always, always, save the people who join the AMA.

He doesn’t want to use them and be like “for the greater good! They don’t matter!” He views them as genuine people whom he wants to protect and care for, and his ability, “All Men Are Equal,” is also symbolic of this. Once they pass his entrance exam, All Men Are Equal gains a measure of control over their abilities, so that he is able to save and help the individuals in his agency. The AMA provides belonging for its members, and connection.

As @linkspooky says here, Mori is more utilitarian, and in contrast to Fukuzawa, who cannot turn down a hurting kid, Mori sees the desires of his recruits to connect and to find meaning and then deliberately undermines connections and uses kids to get what he wants. Not just with Elise (his ability), but with Yosano.

With the Sheep, for Chuuya.

And with Odasaku’s orphans.

I’d argue that this is an irreconcilable difference, and that’s likely why this balance between the Port Mafia, Government, and AMA is going to blow up at some point. To allow balance, Fukuzawa has to allow Mori to do horrific things, and with his increased targeting of Yosano, etc., it seems like it’s a time bomb of a situation.

Mori is a mentor of sorts for a teenaged Dazai, and he and Dazai both seem to share a perspective of "for the greater good" but Mori is significantly more valuing of his own life, and Dazai significantly more valuing of others’ lives. ... thanks to Odasaku telling him specifically to protect the weak and save the orphans.

"Listen. You told me that you might find a reason to live if you lived in a world of violence and bloodshed. You won't find it. You must know that already. Whether you're on the side who kills people or the side who saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear. Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will wander the darkness for eternity. (...) Be on the side that saves people. If both sides are the same, become a good man. Save the weak, and protect the orphans. Neither good nor evil means much to you, I know... but that'd make you at least a little bit better. (...) Of course I know. I know better than anyone. Because... I am your friend."

But protecting orphans has always been a part of Chuuya’s life, even from within the mafia and from before it as well.

It’s no coincidence what brings Dazai and Chuuya back together is saving a child who most would argue killing would make the world better off, and who both of them kind of see the point of that argument with: Q.

Yet when Dazai decides to spare Q, it’s supposedly for a selfish motive. Chuuya’s biased attitude towards killing Q is mostly a result of his grief over his friends. Dazai is motivated by more utilitarian ideas (though he’s no Mori), while Chuuya is motivated by connections and by the belonging he has with colleagues. Which is ironic because Mori helped Dazai find usefulness in his life through soukoku (a connection even if he tries to deny it), as Dazai originally wanted to die, before Mori’s promise to assist him in suicide got Dazai to agree to team up with Chuuya.

As Link says in her meta here, Dazai is someone who sees himself as set-apart from humans. With Odasaku, the object of that usefulness shifted--and the reason it shifted was because Odasaku did connect with Dazai. As he tells Dazai when he’s dying: “I... am your friend.” And he understood the emptiness driving Dazai towards his suicidal tendencies, and empathized with him.

But even though Dazai has a useful purpose to live, and a kindly useful purpose in protecting the weak and saving orphans now, he’s still extremely suicidal. This is because Dazai does want belonging, but doesn’t know how to get it, especially after Odasaku’s death. His very ability symbolizes this: called “No Longer Human,” it makes his touch cancel out another person’s abilities. Link’s meta covers this much more in-depth.

Chuuya, too, seeks belonging and self-understanding. At first, it’s for Arahabaki’s origins so that he can understand who and what he is, but what he can find out isn’t satisfying. Still, he turns to the mafia for a place to belong.

(It’s Randou’s hat, which Chuuya still wears.)

The answer of course to Chuuya’s quest for self-knowledge (which is not over) isn’t in Arahabaki’s origins or the origins of ‘Chuuya Nakahara,’ but in Dazai Osamu. Chuuya wants to understand himself as a human, and seeing someone born with it be so cavalier about his humanity and his life bothers him, especially because Chuuya clearly does care about Dazai.

(And Dazai sees value in Chuuya, seeing as he’s trying to replicate their partnership with Shin Soukoku.) Chuuya is motivated by belonging and connection, but he’s being used by Mori and by the mafia, as Link says in her meta. He justifies it to himself to have a place to belong. But neither Dazai nor Chuuya are able to take the appropriate action to counter the inherent flaws of their characters that keep them from truly coming to peace with themselves, which is at once what draws Dazai and Chuuya to work together and keeps them hating each other’s traits.

Dazai needs to acknowledge that despite his near-perfect intelligence, he’s human like everyone else (which would mean acknowledging his mistreatment of Akutagawa and stepping up). And Chuuya needs to accept that not all belonging is benevolent, and being used isn’t really what he wants (it’s not), and his best chance at doing this is continuing to work with Dazai, who at least understood this and left the Mafia (it helps that Kouyou, Chuuya’s mentor, understands why Kyouka left the Mafia too, and Akutagawa’s probably going to be facing some challenges in the future). Chuuya needs Dazai to temper his dangerous ability of destruction/worser instincts, and Dazai needs Chuuya to remind him that flaws make someone human, even though in some ways they might seem/might actually be superhuman.

Dazai’s ability to save people from the worser parts of themselves is great, but it’s also something he needs to grow into by connecting to people. The tragic irony of Dazai’s situation is that Dazai doesn’t seem to fully comprehend that he is the embodiment of belonging and connection for his two mentees, especially for Akutagawa. How can someone who can’t feel connected be a connection? And yet, he is.

Mori’s attitude towards Akutagawa is that he does not care about his failures or offer guidance when he’s successful.

Dazai is failing Akutagawa here, and failing Atsushi in some ways too. But Dazai does realize how they benefit each other, but what prevents them from getting along really all boils down to him.

Akutagawa and Atsushi are each other’s shadows, their yin and yang. Atsushi represents Akutagawa's kind side, which he definitely has, the side that failed to protect eight of his friends so he lost them and joined the mafia.

And Atsushi has a place to belong and Dazai-san despite his weaknesses, which Akutagawa views as an indictment of his own weaknesses. If Akutagawa acknowledges that there is value in Atsushi's value of life, then he has to face that he's just like the murderers who murdered his friends, and also would have to wonder why his life's value wasn't enough to get Dazai to stick around him--which he already does, to a degree. Akutagawa knows somewhere that life has value, but he paradoxically cannot believe it, because to do so would mean that Dazai’s promise to give his life meaning--the first person to give his life any value at all--rested in a premise of life not having value, which inherently renders this pivotal moment for Akutagawa meaningless.

But, the thing is, it really doesn’t. Bungou Stray Dogs is very existentialist, in that it ascribes meaning to what you choose for your life. So there is value in Akutagawa’s choices from here on out, and as Kyouka (with whom Akutagawa repeated Dazai’s mistakes in trying to give her value of life via killing) shows us, just because he’s taken many lives doesn’t mean he has to give up his own.

As for Atsushi, he sees Akutagawa as his shadow (he is, quite literally, hello ability symbolism in Rashomon yet again) but the tiger is also Atsushi’s shadow. Atsushi is afraid of going berserk and losing himself to his wilder instincts, which the tiger represents (like how Atsushi loses his memories of it at first, etc). He accuses Akutagawa of deserving to be abandoned by Dazai, realizes it triggers Akutagawa, yet still seems to view Akutagawa as nothing more than a killing machine whom he can defeat by being physically strong (which is why he’s probably going to lose the coming fight).

The reason Atsushi does this is not because he’s cruel. It’s because he doesn’t want to see himself in Akutagawa, because he is afraid of being abandoned too, because he is afraid that he is bad and only brings misfortune into the world (which may be how he views Akutagawa).

Let’s also remember that Akutagawa repeated this fear to Atsushi when they first met, triggering the same kind of pain Atsushi now triggers in Akutagawa.

Those words are fears of Atsushi’s because of his orphanage master saying them to him. As this panel shows us, in which Akutagawa and the mentor are both literal shadows to Atsushi, his path to overcoming this fear of his is through Akutagawa.

Similarly, Akutagawa’s fear of his own weakness and longing for belonging needs to be overcome through Atsushi/shin soukoku and also Dazai. People often need belonging, not just usefulness, and that’s why Akutagawa is never going to feel fulfilled by the Port Mafia alone, even less so than Chuuya can be because he doesn’t connect to the people there beyond Gin and Higuchi. His reason to live, the reason he cried that day in the slums, was never the Port Mafia nor its offer. Akutagawa’s reason to live is Dazai. It is someone helping him, believing in his potential, telling him that it’s okay to live.

Dazai’s arc should play an important role in reconciling Atsushi and Akutagawa since the wall between them is, in part, created by him, and because he’s still an active part of both their lives while Atsushi’s father figure is deceased. He also created shin soukoku, which seems to be where the series will conclude in another decade or so.

What’s also interesting is what Dazai thinks here after Atsushi tells Dazai about his agreement to try to kill each other in 6 months with Akutagawa, during which Akutagawa can’t kill anyone:

You know who else was explicitly known as the mafia member who didn’t kill?

Odasaku, Dazai’s other mentor, the one who inspired him to leave the mafia. The connection Dazai truly felt, the man who made a point of saving Akutagawa from throwing his life away to prove his worth to Dazai in a scene where Odasaku saves Akutagawa from a gun pointed at his head after his previous scene had Dazai mock-execute him.

Dazai's key to connecting again is through Akutagawa (as well as Atsushi and Chuuya, obviously). But he needs to step it up with his struggling mentee.

#bsd meta #it's more rambles than meta but w/e #shin soukoku #soukoku #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #akutagawa ryunosuke #nakajima atsushi #ougai mori #fukuzawa yukichi #bungou stray dogs #izumi kyouka #bsd theory

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akutagawaprize · 7 years

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TAISHO STRAY DOGS

Hi, I've been inactive for a while but another quick one for all those following me, akutagawaprize is a sideblog dedicated solely to Taisho Stray Dogs (大正ストレイドッグス).

For those who don't know, Taisho Stray Dogs is a Japanese manga series written by Franz Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Natsukawa. It has been serialized in the weekly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP and an anime television series adaptation was produced by SHAFT.

(cr: @rainy4024)

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, believing himself to be cursed by his deceased mother, decides to seek the help of a spiritualist who goes by the name of Dazai Osamu. Except that this Dazai was nothing but a fake, and that Akutagawa wasn't actually cursed, but rather, part of the few who have been granted supernatural abilities. Dazai takes a liking to Akutagawa and insists on making him his protégé despite the latter's straight refusal. A series of events leaves Akutagawa deeply indebted to Dazai, so in the end he has no choice but to join the Armed Detective Agency, a powerful firm of supernatural investigators who handle bizarre cases even the police or the military won't take.

Main Characters:

◘ Akutagawa Ryuunosuke - Akutagawa is an Agency rookie who is more interested in reading books or doing paperwork than going out on official missions. He gives the impression of being worldly due to how well-read he is, but in reality is quite an airhead and will believe almost anything said to him no matter its absurdity. When asked about his health, he would assure that he hasn't been sick in a while, but would then violently cough before he could get his next words out. Akutagawa's childhood wasn't something he was proud of, and until now he has nightmares of his insane mother's clammy hands around his neck and him activating Rashomon as a means to defend himself. Something about Akutagawa attracts bothersome personalities, with the list including Dazai (who motherhens him) and Atsushi (whose fascination with him causes trouble for the Agency). He values human life, but is anxious about his own future, since a small part of him agrees with his mother that his existence was a mistake. Currently Kyouka's partner.

His ability is called Rashomon. Akutagawa can control his garments to serve as a protective cloak from physical and/or energy attacks. While it can block off attacks, it isn't impenetrable and can be removed by energy drain or extreme force. At its best, it can stretch to encircle an area of around 10m radius. The "thinner" Rashomon stretches, the chances of an ability piercing through increases. Though a defensive ability, Akutagawa has shown numerous use of Rashomon, including catching things to deflect them back, using the cloak to carry heavy weights, and sealing off entrances and exits to trap enemies in a room.

◘ Dazai Osamu - A charismatic young man with narcisstic tendencies, Dazai is considered by the Agency as both the essential mood-maker and their resident troublemaker. While he seems bright and easygoing, he can easily switch to being glum and moody. He has a bad habit of asking women he had just met to commit double suicide with him. Ranpo likes giving him instructions on how to cause mischief, which he follows to the letter. Kunikida chastises him for always slacking off while other colleagues describe him as the most useless ikemen. Dazai grew up in the mafia, though looking back, his reason for joining was something as shallow as wanting to look cool and important. He is childhood friends with Chuuya and was once his partner, but Dazai could only remember himself being the shorter man's punching bag. An incident involving Oda and Ango caused him to defect. Even so, he's still not sure if he finally found a place he can belong in with the Agency. Dazai may not look like it, but he had been a candidate for an Executive position. He is cunning enough, and can hold his own in a hand-to-hand combat. Currently Kunikida's partner, though he keeps begging Fukuzawa to let him be paired up with Akutagawa. Covers his right eye with bandages.

His ability is called No Longer Human. He has one of the abilities that are dependent on Eyes. In his case, he can detect ability users at any time and at any given place, as long as he has visuals of them. Once he sees an ability in action, he will automatically be able to tell how the ability works and what the weaknesses of said ability are. His ability isn’t affected by nullification.

◘ Izumi Kyouka - Kyouka was a former member of Port Mafia. She was Ozaki's most treasured disciple, but she decided to leave as soon as she stepped into the world of light. Despite this, her decision was not solely for herself. Rather, she wants to prove that she can blossom elsewhere and grow stronger in preparation for a future where she can persuade Ozaki to leave her criminal past behind and start over. A fastidious eater, she cannot eat anything unless she knows how it was prepared. She values cleanliness and neatness, so she gets along with Kunikida. Her poker face makes it hard for people to tell what she's thinking, but she's actually cheerier than she looks, even exuding an idol-like appeal when wearing modern clothes. Has a habit of collecting rabbit goods. Currently Akutagawa's partner.

Her ability is called Demon Snow. She can summon a corporeal phantom which wields a naginata. Kyouka has full control of Demon Snow, but its movements are clumsy, thanks to Kyouka being inexperienced herself. Demon Snow can communicate with Kyouka, who in turn is quite temperamental and will continue a conversation only when she's feeling like it.

◘ Kunikida Doppo - The perfectionist Kunikida is known for keeping a notebook which he uses for data-gathering, planning schedules and most importantly, as a medium for his ability. He writes down events of the day because he thought it important to record every moment lest one day he forgets. It is a recent habit, and his earliest entry is around 2 years back. He actually likes to just sit in a park and look at nature, but work gives him no time so he has a few plants on his desk and home. He gave Ranpo a cactus for his birthday. Keeps himself updated with the latest news, partly because of his work, partly because "the state of the times" as he calls it, interest him. He is passionate in everything he does, but when he is in a slump he is incapable of hearing reason and would sulk by himself. Kunikida is adept at martial arts, second only to Fukuzawa. He's a good marksman too, though he admits he doesn't like the feel of guns in his hands. Currently Dazai's partner.

His ability is called Doppo Poetry. - Kunikida can store any object in the pages of his notebook, provided that he has filled up its lines with his own handwriting (it can be gibberish or not). Limitation is 1 paper per object, and it must be a nonliving material. He can also store objects larger than the notebook, provided he can pull them back out. Can be activated by anyone.

◘ Nakajima Atsushi - Atsushi was an orphan picked up by Mori somewhere in the South seas. Due to the potential of his ability, he has been targeted by assassins and researchers throughout his life and has travelled all over Asia. After experiencing being treated as his own person by Mori, Atsushi decided he'd rather stay in the mafia after all. Known in underground circles as the "weretiger", his very appearance causes unease even in non-hostile encounters. During "hunts" he can become berserk and incapable of being reasoned with, so Chuuya was assigned to keep an eye on him. He likes to toy with his enemies but would break out into a maniacal laugh when facing opponents he deems either strong or amusing. Outside of battles, he interacts little with people. He likes reading, so Higuchi sometimes smuggles books out of Mori's library for him. Mori knows, but as long as the books don't come back to him tattered he doesn't mind. For Atsushi, he kills because he wants to find the "meaningfulness" of life, no matter how little this makes sense to other people.

His ability is called Beast Beneath the Moonlight. He can transform and manifest various tiger body parts at will, such as tiger forearms with claws, or a tiger tail. His senses of sight, smell, and hearing are all superhumanly acute, and he has been show to possess immense speed, durability, strength, stamina, and endurance on several occasions. The most frightening aspect of his power is his spontaneous regeneration factor, which allows him to recreate lost or damaged tissues, organs and limbs. Contrary to certain rumors circulating in the underworld, he cannot fully transform into a tiger.

◘ Nakahara Chuuya - An Executive member who has been in the mafia for as long as he could remember. Though Mori knew from one glance that Chuuya was a hopeless case as far as managing the organization goes, he still thought the kid had great potential as an Executive. In other words, he is still a sheepdog, but at least he's gotten some credit for once. Has a height complex and loves his tacky hats no matter how many times Atsushi rolls his eyes at them. Lives a luxurious lifestyle and has a habit of ordering expensive imported wines whenever he gets his paycheck. Usually he is coolheaded and even friendly, but in the presence of alcohol he is prone to drunken rants and displays of violence. Currently Atsushi’s partner, or caretaker, depending on how you look at it. Gets along the most with everyone in the mafia, the exception being ex-mafia Dazai, who was absolutely terrified of him. One of Port Mafia's best martial artists, and has mastered Xing Yi Quan style.

His ability is called For The Tainted Sorrow. His ability allows him to nullify others' abilities through direct contact. The longer he stays in contact, the longer the effect of the nullification will last. The ability has to be working and contact must be with the ability user for it to work.

#bungou stray dogs #nakajima atsushi #akutagawa ryunosuke #akutagawa ryuunosuke #i commissioned the art btw so dw abt that #the yinyang au i cooked up since last year #wrote bits and pieces that will never see the light of day #april fools post haha #also taisho stray dogs is a stupid title but take it i can't think of anything else on the fly #taisho stray dogs

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