#he is such a complex character

[rottiens]

I love writing for gojo, he makes me feel so insane

[onesingulargoose]

more so making this post for me than anything else, I just need to figure out Dazai (and also sort of Chuuya)'s character ;-; (currently working may way through the manga, I have watched the entire anime, I should totally finish the manga before making character analyses but eh), this will be a very bad analysis be prepared

15: Dazai joins the mafia. We don't know much (or anything, I think) from before this, but we know Dazai saw Mori kill the old Port Mafia leader. We also know that he already thinks that he will lose everything he loves, so he tries not to love things/people. He's also definitely in a dark place, and I think that's how he rises through the ranks of the mafia so well. He doesn't care what he's doing, he just wants to feel something? I also don't think he has any will to live, and as he said to Oda (I forget when), he's trying to find the will to live by being around death, hence being in the mafia.

18: During 18, Dazai was doing better, but he was still absolutely not okay. He had met Ango and Oda, and I think they definitely helped a lot. Oda especially, being proof that people can be good even if they're in the mafia, but also an example that good people can like Dazai and see Dazai as human, instead of a monster or a weapon (like Dazai probably sees himself). So when Oda dies, Dazai is devastated. This sort of proves his theory that he will always lose everything he loves, and it also shows that nothing good can stay. Add to this Ango's betrayal, one more loss.

For the next part, I also need to analyse Chuuya. I don't know much about him, but I think Dazai was his closest friend. That said, Dazai didn't want to get too close, and he also didn't really understand Chuuya. Chuuya was human, seemingly naturally so. He had emotion and a will to live, things Dazai wanted. And Chuuya also refused to be kept at a distance. Sure, he got annoyed with Dazai, but he stayed. So, they became friends of a sort. But, Chuuya also somewhat resented Dazai for getting him into the mafia, because if we recall, it was definitely a trap. And I think Dazai didn't like it either. I think Dazai felt similarly to Chuuya as he did about Oda; that they were to human to be in the mafia, that it was unjust that they be used and manipulated by Mori. Because Dazai values humanity. He doesn't see himself as human, but he values people who are human.

So, when Dazai left the mafia, it was not only because of Oda telling him to, but also because he couldn't stand to corrupt more people. He also finally got what he wanted; he understood death a little bit more now, understood how much loss can impact people, and I don't think he wanted to give that feeling to others. But Chuuya saw this as a betrayal, and resented Dazai even more for it. Now, Chuuya is stuck in this horrible place because of Dazai, who managed to get out. But also, Dazai didn't think Chuuya would care, because why would anyone care about him? He wasn't human, and people only cared about other humans. Why would Chuuya, who is so obviously human, care for someone who so obviously isn't? But Chuuya definitely did care about Dazai, and he also deeply resented Dazai, not only for leaving, but for making Chuuya join the mafia in the first place. While Dazai thinks he's doing Chuuya a favour by leaving (since Chuuya so obviously hates him), he's actually just adding more salt to a wound that never healed.

When Dazai joined the Agency (22), he was definitely doing better. Again, not great, but better. He still kept his distance from people, being somewhat of a mystery yet keeping up a goofy persona. I think at this point Dazai also started to overplay his suicide ideation? Not sure about that one, but I think it is a bit played for laughs (at least in the anime, and I know Bones kinda slaughtered BSD, which is why I'm hesitant to actually think this). His improved mental state was also why he trained Atsushi more than Akutagawa, as well as the fact that he saw humanity in Atsushi (more so than Aku, I think.)

About the difference in tactics between Fyodor and Dazai, I saw this really good analysis (or maybe it was just the anime???) somewhere that said something to the effect of, "Dazai plans around people; he manipulates them, but also gives them a choice. Fyodor plans in absolutes; he plans for every possibility, and makes sure that no other outcome than his desired one is possible." And I really can't sum it up better than that. In the end, Dazai cares for humanity, and Fyodor doesn't. While Dazai absolutely manipulates the hell out of people, they also get something out of it, and more often than not know that he's manipulating them (at least for 22 Dazai).

Akutagawa time! So, Mori trained Dazai (sort of), Dazai trained Akutagawa, and Akutagawa trained Kyouka. I think Dazai trained Akutagawa when Dazai was 16, doesn't really matter but I want to get my timeline straight. This is around the same time Dazai met Oda. Anyways, I can't tell if Mori started the (what is essentially) generational trauma or if Dazai did, but I think I'll blame it on Mori. We know Mori manipulated Dazai, I think similarly to 15, Dazai didn't really care. I also think that Akutagawa was a bit like a punching bag for Dazai. We know Dazai never showed care for Aku, and we know that Aku learned from this and trained Kyouka in a similar way. I also think that Dazai saw himself in Aku, and he hated it, hence why Dazai treated Atsushi so much better. It wasn't just his improved mental state, it was also the fact that Atsushi seemed so much more human than Akutagawa, who Dazai saw as just another tool for the mafia to use. So, Dazai trained him that way, and Akutagawa trained Kyouka that way.

Anyways, that's it! I honestly don't know how correct I am here, feel free to add your opinions if you have any (I say, talking to the three people who will see this). I will say that this view of Dazai is probably very incorrect, and is also built on my faulty memory of the anime and copious amounts of Reddit posts.

[josephsaturn]

I think that “Anakin was a slave child who was groomed by Palpatine and raised by someone who wasn’t ready to take on a child, thereby leaving him in a social limbo state where he’s surrounded by people but only has a few close confidants, with the one he trusts the most actively trying to take advantage of him”

and

“Anakin was taught right from wrong from a young age, first by his mother and then by Kenobi, but any time he was presented with a choice, actively CHOSE WRONG EVERY SINGLE TIME”

are two sentences that can, should, and MUST coexist to fully understand Anakin Skywalker as a character

Edit: PART 2 of this post here

[damianito]

A gift from Dazai

|COMMISSIONS OPEN!!|

[dramatic-dolphin]

Yin Yu is one of the best characters for just being normal. In a book where people plan centuries-long insane revenges, the villain gives him the opportunity to utterly destroy the guy he hates and take all his power, and he goes "Why the fuck would I want to do that??? Sure I hate him and he's annoying but that's a me problem! I'm not going to kill him about it or destroy him in any way?! I ruined my own life, not him." Legends only.

[k1d1c4rus]

thinking about how armand was turned bc he was dying from being stabbed by a scorned grown man who was in love with him. he nearly died from rejecting unwanted advances. its such a key explicit detail of his origin that teaches him yet again that what he wants is utterly unimportant and even deadly in the face of survival. everything about his character is informed by the fact that he adapts entirely to the situation he is forced into because that's the only way he can survive. he adopts the satanic doctrine for 200 years not because he believes in it but because he knows that is the only way he'll survive and as soon as lestat arrives he knows he can abandon it. for half a millenium he believes he can't get what he wants and also survive, he has to choose one or the other. God.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

(Accidentally mis-clicked enter on my last ask. Here's the full "ask")

What he says...

VS What I read...

("us" as in him and WWX, not the spider just to be clear)

They should make an adaptation called 'The Unfiltered', where Lan Wangji says exactly what's on his mind.

[beesleeps]

"kabru doesn't even like laios"

meanwhile, kabru:

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice

[noodles-and-tea]

MY BBG POOKIE PIE!!!

[gooddogsbite]

I want to make an absolute scumbag tboy oc like makes you instantly want to throw hands when you see him I'm tired of sweet and kind or meek and timid trans guys I want one who smells like cigarettes and alcohol and who you wouldn't even trust to watch your pet fish. Mooches off other people, selfish and doesn't give a shit about other people's feelings, perverted and rude just overall a douchebag. Once I do this true equality will be achieved

[facethemuses]

being an alfred pennyworth fan is so strange because so many of you are wrong. what do you mean he's a saintly father figure there to quip at everyone and be the voice of reason???? you don't even KNOW him.

alfred 'abandoned his daughter to run off to gotham only to not raise bruce as well, who promoted all of bruce's worst habits like the #boymom he is, who chose bruce over the children but still didn't let him forget that he was not his father, who lied to the family about julia's existence and blamed her for their bad relationship' pennyworth?

I love him because he ruins everything he touches and is the world's worst father. you like him because you have fundamentally misunderstood him as a person.

you're saying THEE #1 dc toxic boy mom is a saint? what the fuck are you guys ON about?

[boysareouttonight]

oh dennis....

[cloudy-rina]

He’s so silly 🫶🏼 (and full of woe😔)

[huginsmemory]

Been thinking about how Bill legitimately had a horrifying reason (the literal progressive disintegration of the nightmare realm that erases whatever it disintegrates from existence completely) to move himself and his crew into a new dimension. Like that's terrifying. And yet he never utilizes this to his favour. He could have been honest about this with Ford, and you KNOW as long as Bill didn't mention plans of overtaking the earth, Ford would've made the portal for him, both out of Ford's own interest and because Ford when faced with these big moral questions will pull through. But this is a card Bill NEVER plays because although he needs to leave the dimension, he cannot lose face. He can't put aside his pride and admit to the humility that he needs to flee from his dimension, that he's not actually all powerful. And so instead he pretends to be a muse and when Ford figures out something else is going on, instead of being open and humble and saying that his dimension is unravelling, Bill focuses on that he's going to over take earth, that he's actually been a monster all along, surprise Ford!

And part of it is definitely because Bill's built himself up on power and violence and to grovel and earnestly ask for help, to admit that he cannot stop the unraveling of his dimension completely invalidates that; showing vulnerability? Can't do that, even under the guise of lying to get his way. And part of it makes you wonder if it's also a form of self-sabotage, because underneath his deep denial Bill is guilty over what he occurred; he sees himself as a monster and so he'll be that monster, and having people recognize that feels good in the same way that pressing a bruise feels good. But it makes you wonder what would've happened if Bill even just was open about his dimension unravelling and had lied about overtaking the earth.

It's also interesting because although Bill has SOME charisma and can manipulate people decently well (as evidenced by his cult, and pandering to people's desires with Ford, Mabel and Blendin), he refuses to be vulnerable, refuses to not be true to his off-putting self, even when if he was just vulnerable of pretended to not be himself, to put aside the (false) pride he has in himself he would've gotten a portal by now. and part of me wonders if it's because it's this false pride that built on insecurity and denial on who he is he cannot drop that mask.

Further thoughts on this!

[spiralshells]

Made of carcinogens and love