#he refuses to let adam say the truth to shirase

[videogamelover99]

what would chuuya and dazais "greatest fears" be ? i was thinking about it just because, and i can't really seem to come up with a clear picture

Oooh I like this question anon.

Let's see.

Dazai's greatest fear is pretty explicitly stated. "Everything I ever want to keep, I lose." He's scared of attachment, so apathy is his go-to strategy.

You could also argue his greatest fear is the loss of control. Current Dazai's biggest flaw isn't even his use of cruelty or violence, or his lack of empathy, it's his inability to give control to others at the expense of his own. He fails countless times to tell other ADA members what exactly his plan is, in favor of them doing what he needs them to do in order for his plan to work. He doesn't trust Atsushi, Akutagawa, Ango or even Kunikida to work with him, instead he manipulates circumstances so that they would act in a way he can predict. He lies to people's faces so that whatever he decides needs to happen, happens. It's because of this tendency that I think Dazai is scared of losing control, because when he can't control a situation, he might lose something important to him. Like, yes, his current goals are saving people and pursuing justice, but a lot of people fail to see that to do so he actively has to work against his worst tendencies. He can't be emotionless and purely rational like Mori. All of his decisions, at the end of the day, are hinged on personal attachment. Mori leads the Port Mafia for the sake of the city. He abused Yosano and her power for the sake of the country. Dazai doesn't do anything for the "greater good", not really. He does it because he wants to find the desire to live. Because it was important to Oda. Because there are people he doesn't want to lose. And ironically enough, he lies to those same people for the sake of their long-term safety, for the sake of what is "best" for them.

Onto Chuuya!

Chuuya's mirror Dazai's in a very interesting way. He cares so much about people close to him, and there is also a sense for "the greater good" (saving the city) instilled in him that leads him to pledge his loyalty to Mori back in Fifteen. He keeps losing friends, over and over, to the point where the pattern becomes ridiculous. But Chuuya's not afraid of attachment, and while I'd also argue he's afraid of failure and losing control (specifically the agency to make his own decisions), I'd say his biggest fear is Dazai.

Heh, lemme explain. Stormbringer let us know that deep down, Chuuya is afraid his existence is meaningless, that he shouldn't have been born, and associates this fear very heavily with Dazai. "I shouldn't have been born? There's no way I'd think like that, like that bastard Dazai!" Chuuya is scared of becoming apathetic and nihilistic, because I think for him it is a very real possibility he has to fight against. He points out that he could have easily become Verlaine, a person who hates humanity and his own existence, who pursues indiscriminatory violence because of that, a person who finds Dazai relatable. But he had friends, people who could assure them, with their presence, that he matters in some way, be it because he's protecting them (the Sheep), or because he matters to them (the Flags, Adam). BUT he thinks becoming like Verlaine was a real possibility for him, and that speaks volumes in and of itself. (In the Beast Movie (spoilers), he arguably had). Chuuya doesn't just hate Dazai because he's selfish and manipulative and cruel (yada yada yada), he hates him because he looks at Dazai's apathy towards life and personal attachments and sees his own worst fears realized in another person. He doesn't want to fall into the same pit as Dazai, but he's terrified that at some point he will, and that's...damn. It's also why Chuuya shows very little sympathy toward Dazai. He can't let himself properly empathize because he's terrified of thinking like that! He's struggling to not fall into the same pit, he doesn't wanna get near it, there's no way he's gonna try and pull Dazai out.