#i love chuuya stormbringer design so much

[softboiled-egg]

Teen dazai doodles bc I love the little freak

[caelanglang]

"From afar the Fata Morgana makes absolutely no sense. It's a floating fucking ship, and you probably think you're going insane, right?" - Mors Vincit Omnia, Chapter 10

no thoughts empty head, just think about. @itotypes well-written well-designed pirates orz

no srsly pls read it it’s so darn good im so aksdfhakjhakg *frantic hand gestures to express my love*

anyways i’m gonna ramble about it so-- spoilers ahead (pls don’t let me ruin your reading experience)

hi Ito!!! I finally finished Mors Vincit Omnia and there are so many things I wanna scream about it but at the same time I am just at a loss for words—it's so so good!! ToT) I don't think I caught all of your well-made metaphors and motifs but I absolutely adore the ones I noticed!! Especially Odasaku's pendant TvT !! Your storytelling was really well-done! I was on my toes the whole time reading this ;v; I really love the entire vibe you built in the story, it really felt like I was sucked into the world and and and each of your characters is so lovely and endearing from the people in Decay to Stormbringer ToT all of them, no matter how little screen time they had, you could really feel their personality and humanity !! I am absolutely in love with your fata morgana analogy too—it's so darn good IT'S LIKE MAGIC AUASGASGKLJSA And that dam line "Chuuya genuinely wants Dazai to suffer like a human." BRUH THAT WAS SO WELL EXECUTED MY JAW DROPPED IN REAL TIME READING IT *banging head on the floor* aughaugha i still have so much more i wanna say but idk how to express it so *drops a drawing instead* (one of my fav moments from the entire fic im so aksjhdgslkg) So many darn times while reading i was debating if I should book bind this fic I swear that’s how good it is aklsjdhfaksgj anyways I’m sorry for the ramble I just wanna thank you for sharing this fic with us and blessing us with your wonderfully drawn designs aaaaaaaaaa I know you’re probably tired reading this again but  I LOVE IT SO SO SO SO MUCH !!!!!!!

[writing-blocked-me]

Eglantine

Eglantine - I wound to heal

Number 4 of my flowers drabble/one-shot series Main Masterlist - Flowers Masterlist

CW: Mafia dealings, mentions of violence, trauma, angst?, spoilers for the light novels 15 and Stormbringer, episode 61 spoilers, a bit OOC methinks, no dialogue (tell me you can't write speech without telling me you can't write speech lmao), idk what else to place here.

Pairings: Chuuya x Reader

Author's Note: Haven't uploaded in SOOOOO long, which is my bad.  It was exam season, then a lot of stuff happened and uni is a lot - shoutout to everyone interviewing for placement years right now.  Anyway, hoping to write a bit more this time around.  So, yeah, this is just a short thing I wrote after ep 61 aired, because I love Chuuya.  There may be some vamp!Chuuya content coming soon too lmao.

Enjoy :)

Many tragedies had befallen Chuuya in his life.  He had been a lab rat, tortured and trapped.  He had been betrayed, his first friends, his family, being the ones to stick the knife in his back.  He had met Dazai.  Just when things were looking up, he bore witness to the murder of his closest friends.  He had lost control, almost dying and taking everything with him, succumbing to his singularity.  Multiple times.  

For all the tragedies he had endured, Chuuya was certain he had also caused plenty of tragedy for others, both deserving and undeserving.  Hurting people came with the territory as a Port Mafia member. Delivering calamity was his role, ever since he pledged himself to the mafia.  Chuuya Nakahara, executive of the Port Mafia, former King of the Sheep, bringer of the storm awaited by Verlaine, was capable of so much destruction. 

Sometimes it brought him joy.  Sometimes he felt as if it was a way to get back at the universe, hurt the world back, devastate it as he had been devastated.  It was a way to let out his rage and anger for everything that had happened.  The pain of all he had endured was overwhelming, unbearable at times.  If Chuuya could return even a fraction of that pain, he felt as if he would find some relief.  Sometimes it worked, only temporarily, but, for a moment, he felt as if the scales had been balanced.  Sometimes, most of the time actually, there was no such feeling.

Sometimes he hated it.  Sometimes he hated himself, hated that he enjoyed it, that it didn't fill him with guilt.  It made him feel inhuman, reminded him of how he would never know whether he was truly real, or a copy of someone else, designed only to be a vessel.  It drudged up the memories of his past, the violence and horror and sorrow.  His power, the reason he was capable of such destruction, was the result of an experiment.  He was the result of an experiment.  Sometimes he felt that was all he ever would be.  Sometimes he hated that he had to use what made him feel so inhuman.

Chuuya had endured many tragedies.  He had caused many calamities.  He hurt and he healed, over and over. A cycle of pain and sorrow and acceptance.  Chuuya had resigned himself to it, finding small moments where he felt fine.  Never happy, but okay enough, and he had come to terms with that.  It was manageable, the cycle repetitive.  Tragedy, hurt, heal.  He knew what was coming.  

That was, until you came along.

You, who smiled at him and caused an explosion in his chest.  A blossoming warmth that gave him comfort and unease in equal measure.  He wasn't a stranger to caring for others, yet he had never cared for someone like this.  You had consumed his heart, filled his thoughts and given him hope for his humanity.  After all, how could someone be capable of such intense love if they did not have a soul? If Chuuya was so inhuman, how come he had such capacity for love?

At first, he wasn't sure if this emotion was love.  When he had first met you, there had definitely been attraction, but nothing more than that.  Chuuya wasn't stupid.  He didn't believe in things like 'love at first sight', or anything like that.  He knew he didn't love you from the moment he laid eyes on you, as nice as that would have been.  After spending several months getting to know you, spending evenings drinking wine and laughing together, and spending nights in each other's embrace, Chuuya knew it must have been love.  One day, there was a warmth in his chest, felt only with you.  Chuuya loved you.  He was certain.

It was the certainty of his own love that proved your reciprocation.  Chuuya was loyal and, once he'd tied himself to someone (or some people), that was it.  He was bound forever.  It was that way with the Sheep.  He stuck with them, despite their betrayal, inevitably giving Dazai the leverage to induct him into the Port Mafia.  His loyalty was a defining trait, something that never wavered, but it had to be earned.  You had earned his love, through sharing affection, trust and care of your own.  Showing him the love you felt for him solidified his own feelings. Chuuya knew that he loved you, because you loved him.  The devotion you had for him matched his own adoration for you.

Chuuya loved you.  It was why he would collapse into your arms after every tough mission, every rough day at work.  It was why he could relax around you, spending hours in your presence.  It was why he knew that, after every moment he spent apart from you, he could always count on finding solace and respite in your arms.  Even when he was miles from you, in another country, he knew.  As soon as they made their way back, Chuuya, Dazai and the rest of team Meursault.  As soon as he set foot back in Yokohama, his city, he knew you'd be waiting there.

He was right.  The transport Mori had sent for them had only just landed, Chuuya had barely set foot on the ground, when you jumped on him, arms wrapping around his neck, knocking him to the ground.  He felt his arms wrap around you in response, face burying itself in the crook of your neck, collapsing in the comfort of your embrace. He watched as you smiled and laughed and joked, your joy bringing a grin to his own face.  Even as you giggled with Dazai, the bandaged man regaling you with the tale of his prison break, Chuuya's face was the picture of fondness.   His eyes held a softness reserved only for you as you leaned into him, arm wrapped around your waist.  

Many tragedies had befallen Chuuya in his life and Chuuya had been the creator of many tragedies.  He had wounded and healed and wounded again.  However, all of that ceased to exist when he was with you.  Chuuya was able to finally feel more than okay, he was able to feel at home.

[sputnikbeomie]

bsd beast lightnovel spoilers //

so,, i just finished reading beast and I am...damn that was so good, far better than I expected

there's so so much I want to say about it, and wish I had annotated it but instead I took a few pics of pages when I could remember to 😭

I don't think I'll ever be able to look at the scene in the anime where oda throws akutagawa over his shoulder the same ever again...the fact dazai actually did achieve death in this book,, the way dazai knew about the book and all the parallel worlds outside of the beast one...the scene where dazai said "for this is the only world where he's alive and writing" actually made me tear up. I think out of the whole novel that scene in particular really got to me, especially after the scene in the bar and dazais emotions are shown so clearly on his face when talking to oda, and just the whole explanation of the book and other worlds (including this particular world) when explaining to both aku and atsushi was just so well done

For me, I considered it rather that of a plotwist reading the whole book only to get to the end for that to be said. And asagiri's own notes at the end of the novel too...what if atsushi was a woman, what if the ada was on verge of bankruptcy, what if chuuya joined the ada alongside dazai when he first left after odas death? Like. Although this was an au, its events are still canon. They're canon because asagiri himself wrote it to show what if... and the fact he purposely has dazai mention the book and the other worlds...even when he starts clapping after shin soukokus fight saying "that's as good as, if not better, than the ship fight you two had"

LIKE?!?!? And the way asagiri literally confirmed that no matter how many au's there are...how oda is dead in every single one of them but beast...I'm crying. I could still go on and on and write actual essays about this book but yeah. I have so much more I wanted to say but my brain is so beautifully overwhelmed rn by the world and novel that is beast. All those thought aside, I would just like to also say how I absolutely love aku's character design in this 😭 his clothes were so well done...and his personality too 😭😭 I just loved this side of him

ANYWAYS after all that being said (I'm sure I have so much more I wanted to say too but I just can't comprehend rn,,)

I'm going to finally start stormbringer !! Time to cry from what I've seen so far 🫶🫶 I'm so excited to read it hehe, and I'm sure I will be even more gobsmacked after finishing that lightnovel than I was beast so 🤧 (I also posted this whole thread on twt lmao but I just needed somewhere to vent cause I have no moots to talk about this with let alone the lightnovels 🤧

here I go 🫡🫡 onto stormbringer

[rzeckism]

so, I have a theory about what is going on in prison, all bsd spoilers up to chapter 109 + stormbringer, my interpretation on what we have seen this far, source: trust me bro (/hj), call me delusional only when chapter 110 is out

first thing we need to talk about is something mentioned in the stormbringer light novel, as I love to call it: the anti mind control hat, or just: chuuya’s hat, which is the key to understanding the whole situation (or at least my understanding)

This is a fragment of Rimbaud’s journal in the light novel stormbringer (this is a fan translation as it’s the version I just had on hand); “When he puts the hat on the cloth acts as a coil and prevents any interception of his consciousness by instruction from the outside. On the contrary, it’ll be possible to heed to instructions from the inside, AKA he can obey his own will. With this hat, Verlaine can be one step closer to a free willed human.”

And who keeps the hat Rimbaud made for Verlaine, after the events of stormbringer?

You guessed it! Now that we know Chuuya is in possession of an anti-mind-control-hat, let’s get back to the manga and Chuuya’s vampirism; it would be easy to assume that the vampirism is somehow stronger that the ability of Chuuya’s hat, but... Well, why introduce the hat in the first place, when it doesn’t work to his advantage in such a crucial moment of the story?

What I think is that Chuuya was turned into a vampire, yes, that’s why he looks like one, but... the mind control doesn’t work on him. And if the mind control doesn’t work on him... Then Chuuya and Dazai are fooling Fyodor, as we don’t have a reason to believe that Fyodor read Rimbaud’s journal and knows about the hat.

But let’s backtrack and look over the vampire Chuuya panels, from chapter 98 to 109 (and of course we have to remember that he is wearing his hat all the time):

In ch98, we have a full on vampire

In ch101, much less so; in fact Chuuya looks mostly human.

In ch105.5, Chuuya’s face isn’t shown at all, which I found very interesting since the beginning.

Here, in ch109, we have a very vampire-like Chuuya

But the next panel shows us a very human Chuuya, he looks in control, he just wants to punch Dazai

We see less and less of Chuuya’s vampiristic traits with every chapter, but Asagiri reminds us of them in a single panel in 109, which I would interpret as a stylistic choice on Asagiri’s part, one that is supposed to tell us that Chuuya is in control of himself, not really a mindless vampire as all the rest, but lets Fyodor believe that he follows his commands against his will.

Now, why the hell would Chuuya shot Dazai if he is really in control of himself?

Well, this is the part where I go “trust me bro”; Chuuya shots Dazai’s shoulder right before we get to the “killing” bow. We see Chuuya’s gun touch Dazai’s forehead, he holds it there for some time, then the panel where he fires doesn’t show us much, and does so by design:

My best guess on what happened here, if we believe that Dazai and Chuuya are fooling Fyodor: Chuuya’s gun is still hot from the previous real shot when he slams Dazai with it in the forehead: I don’t know exactly what injury you would get when someone hits you with a hot gunpoint and leaves it on your forehead for a little while, But... I think it isn’t unrealistic to think that’s how Dazai gets the injury, not from the “killing bow” (we also don’t see Dazai’s forehead between Chuuya holding it to his forehead and Chuuya “shooting” him in the head). When Chuuya shots Dazai’s head, we don’t see if the gun is still touching Dazai, and if it isn’t... Chuuya has perfect control over his ability: he very much could fire the gun and crush the bullet into dust before it touches Dazai.

And then Chuuya shots Dazai again, just for good measure and we see Dazai dramatically fake his death.

Fooling Fyodor, making him believe that Dazai is dead - which basically means he has won - could be the way Dazai choose to gain the upper hand. It could be Dazai’s plan to finally defeat Fyodor. And, come on, during the whole encounter with Chuuya, Dazai is unfazed - surely in part because this is a part of his persona, but I still think it’s a little bit weird; like he knows something we don’t. Remember, this is a battle again Fyodor, sure Dazai wants to die but considering the circumstances… I don’t think him being this carefree would be the case if he thought Chuuya is going to kill him any second.

And on why would Chuuya go along with Dazai’s play? Because he always does when it matters, when they’re playing on the same team to defend a shared enemy. This is the second coming of Dead Apple.

Now, we also have the random factor of Nikolai, but let’s remember he wants to kill Fyodor by himself.

And of course, Sigma; I’m guessing he isn’t dead either and chapter 110 will be about what’s going on with him - did Fyodor give him so much information that Sigma’s passed out? Dunno on that part, but I really think Asagiri did everything he could this chapter so that he could give us a plot twist after a plot twist

If you have read all that, let me know how delusional I am; but I mean, come on, we’re talking about soukoku, the guys who can read each other’s minds by just looking at the other, one soul in two different bodies etc. And of course Chuuya would shoot Dazai, very gladly in my opinion.

If my theory isn’t correct then let’s just hope Dazai isn’t dead lol

[jounosparticles]

i’m done stormbringer and oh my god. wow. that was so good. it was written so well.

verlaine is a really neat character to me. part of me really dislikes him due to everything he did to chuuya. however the part where he’s constantly doing everything because he can’t see himself as human is really sad. the way he grieves rimbaud breaks my heart. maybe i’ll go more in depth on my thoughts sometime because i’m still sorting them out in my own mind.

adam is awesome. best character. gotta be one of my favourite bsd characters now like i adore him so much

i really wish we got to see the flags more. their designs were awesome and they all had fun personalities. id love a novel on chuuya’s year in their group.

loved it.

[aroacesigma]

For the ask game ummmmmmm obligatory sigma but also chuuya <3

ok !!!

first impression - sigma

honestly i thought he seemed like a nice enough guy going off the whole thing where he let the man win . a bit bossy when he was talking to teruko but honestly i was kind of rooting for anyone but the hunting dogs at the point so i was like yeahhh go buddy . you got this . also thought he was very gender

first impression - chuuya

i thought he was REALLY fucking cool . loved his design instantly . like about half this fandom i thought that was a ponytail for ages but noooo . terrible mullet . look dazai was my fave at that point but i still laughed when he got his ass kicked by him lmfao

impression now - sigma

ok . deep breaths kai you can say this normally . i love him very much and he is my fave . as you can all tell . finding out his whole backstory and watching him go through the sky casino arc and the mersault arc was so fucking ... god . hes so tragic . i love him so much . he tries so very hard all the time and nothing ever comes out of it does it . i just want him to be happy .... he really deserves it . hes not a bad person but hes done bad things out of necessity which honestly makes you root for him more doesnt it ? its so heartbreaking every chapter watching him do everything , throw himself into danger, hurt people, hurt himself just so they can get a home... i really hope he does . very much . fucking hell

impression now - chuuya

pretty much exactly the same . hes so fucking cool and i love him . i think he should be allowed a weekly quota of kicking the shit out of dazai . stormbringer tore my soul to shreds that hurt which made me feel terrible for him also . hes a wonderful character and i really do love him and wish this fandom treated him a little better

favourite moment - sigma

oughh this is hard . uh . probably when we get his backstory honestly . everything really makes a lot of sense about him once you get that . its really sad but it really hammers in just how desperate he is to find a home. they dont really have anything else , their sense of being human is shaky at best because no matter how much he says hes just an ordinary man he knows he isnt . so having a place to belong to make up for the fact that there is nothing like them in the world and there never will be is something hes totally desperate for and their backstory hammers that in HARD . and just the art is just so well done ...something about the image of him just sitting alone in the desert really shatters my heart every time . honourable mention also goes to when he kicked the shit out of teruko , purely because its an excellent counteraction to people saying dumb shit about him being weak and pathetic

favourite moment - chuuya

ohhh..i think i really like the scene where the flags throw him a party . its nice to see him hanging around with his friends . even if theyre all a little bit fucked up . he deserves nice things even if he didnt fucking get to keep them god asagiri why

idea for a story - sigma and chuuya

ok i NEED YALL TO HEAR ME OUT on this crack theory that definitely will not happen but imagine if it did . now i trust dazai will come back for sigma butttt if he didnt . well dont you think mori , who sent chuuya into mersault , would be extremely pleased to have someone with an ability like sigmas . and sigma wouldnt really have too many options would he . being left behind again would probably kill any trust he had in the ada and really all his ability has ever been suiteed for is criminal activity right ? and that is how we get pm!sigma . which means chuuya and sigma interactions . they can bond over shared experiences like having somewhat funky relationships with humanity, terrible haircuts theyre somehow pulling off, and wanting to kick the shit out of dazai .

unpopular opinion - sigma

this is more of a bsdtwt / bsdtok problem but yall do know if you like a characters design but not their actual character you can just say that instead of making up an overused fanon personality for them right

unpopular opinion - chuuya

idk if this is unpopular exactly but it is blatantly obvious when people only like him in relation to dazai like it is not subtle at all

favourite relationship - sigma

ooh this is hard . if we're talking about shipping exclusively then sigzai is my fave (almost got put off it by the aforementioned annoying bsdtwt though lmfao) . but i do also find it very interesting how he interacts with and views fyodor and nikolai . i do wish we had more on how they were like as an organisation

favourite relationship - chuuya

again, talking shipping id probably have to go with skk , but even in a non shipping context it really does interest me how him and dazai interact . theyre so fucking weird

favourite headcanon - sigma

living up to my duties as ceo of transmasc sigma , thats obviously my favourite headcanon . hes soooo trans guy coded its insane . bless him . also my headcanon that he always has that new book smell hanging around him no matter what . cause . yknow .

favourite headcanon - chuuya

ok i also love to headcanon chuuya as a trans guy like honestly asagiri what is it with you accidentally coding all your funky little guys as trans . also i reckon hes a tea drinker . he will fuck that shit up . hes got all the fancy ones yknow those really weird flavours that honestly are barely even tea anymore thats just a fancy drink but hey the box is pretty so

[nouveauxamoris]

i think u should post more design hcs... if i may suggest the big three in the bitch brigade :3

IM SO ON IT! just like the last design hc post, i’ll add little rundowns of some of the design traits!

DAZAI

my dazai design has gone thru a LOT of phases, as well as just a bit of exploration… a few common and solidified traits about him however:

- dazai’s very tan, and his hair is VERY curly, bordering coily. in my hc he’s ethnically mixed :3 (japanese and bangladeshi!)

- soft but sharp face, big nose, and soft big eyes. thick eyebrows too! i based his colour scheme off the manga one, so, dark brown almost black hair instead of a lighter brown, and dark brown eyes instead of a chestnut brown.

- SNAKEBITE PIERCINGS! in me nd the lovely @fiftyofhearts ‘ hcs (hes the asker here hai ethan :3), he got them done w ranpo and yosano.

- he’s fat. okay. i said so. the silhouette of his big ass clothes (the trenchcoat specifically) makes him look a little smaller, but thats still very much true.

- he’s scruffy. goes through periods of shaving vs not shaving but generally has a little bit of wispy facial hair more often than not. also, he’s transmasc!!! he binds w bandages also its not good. don’t do what he does. i don’t encourage unsafe binding

- 14 to 16-zai was very hyperfem. i don’t think he had that realization that he was trans until a liiiil bit later. maybe around 17? very subtly transitioned. i dont think he outwardly came out to many people other than probably chuuya, oda, and ango. everyone else just caught on eventually. he definitely went solely by his last name to disassociate from his deadname and eventually chose the name “osamu” as his first later on

- prisonzai is FULL of facial hair! his hair has gotten a lil longer too. that’s due to the fact that i’d imagine honestly his hair grows Very fast. and they’re not gonna give him a razor to shave this is literally prison

- he’s a lesbian btw

SIGMA

somehow, the sigma design has stayed relatively linear.

- LATINA SIGMA REALNESS!!!!!!!!!! a little ethnically ambiguous canonically because she was made from a book. duh. but tbh i think shes argentinian

- tan skin, very cool undertone. soft and droopy eyes, SUPER thick eyebrows, and white eyelashes. very round face and big and wide arched nose. she has a bit of a pathetic and sopping wet look to her, but she still looks very kind and gentle. most of the time while she’s masking (usually while working), that kinda works in her favour. adds to the warm and inviting feeling she’s got goin on. however, her resting face is very sad and miserable.

- she’s tall and lanky, kinda skinny. very lean and relatively average build. her colour scheme and outfit design is adjacent to the way she’s drawn in the manga. i love her so much but i dont like the anime depiction of her outfit… sorry bbg. she’s perfect in every way however

- i think generally, she’s very androgynous. enjoys dressing very androgynously too. you know how in stormbringer lippmann is described as like, so androgynous to the point where if he dressed femininely men would go crazy ‘nd if he dressed masculinely women would go crazy?? yeah. she’s got something similar goin on. switches between dressing femininely and masculinely and very in-between often. always doing something cute.

- in my eyes she is so transfem. no sort of medical transition, tho… just socially. came out that page serving cunt and she’ll continue to the day she dies

- she wears press on nails me-thinks. usually black almonds or stilettos, sometimes she switches it up to purple however.

- hair cut is kinda weird but like ???? its like if u mixed a hime cut w a wolf cut basically. or smthn like that. lots of layers. yes that’s her natural hair colour btw, she’s just cute like that.

- she’s also a lesbian btw

JŌNO

i’m only rlly getting into drawing jōno recently.. so lots of things keep changing. however, i HAVE decided on something.

- jōno is very much so blasian. lightskinted…. hair is pretty wavy but rests pretty straight just cuz of the haircut. the red is dyed btw. she didn’t care much abt the colour, someone asked to fuck w her hair, and she begrudgingly told them to go crazy. everyone seems to like it however, so she’s down w it.

- SMILE LINES. SMILE LINES AND EYE WRINKLES. product of keeping her eyes closed literally all the time. and her stupid smug resting face. she’s also filled with freckles and beauty marks. majority of them are on her face, but she’s definitely got some around her body as well.

- jōno is Tall. around 5’11” ethan has decided. she’s got a very graceful build but she’s NOT small, nor thin. lots of muscle and fat collecting around her thighs and legs, her strongest asset when it comes to physical strength methinks. have you SEEN how violently she’s able to kick people??? cmon now.

- very elegant woman in every aspect Except personality. i love her she’s actually SUCH a bitch

- again. TRANSFEM! if i like a male character.. heh… well… let’s just say they’re no longer male. (unless you’re dazai. he’s boybossing it up every day)

- she’s ALSO a lesbian btw

- i don’t have a lot to say for her i just love her so much omg

[artheresy]

GOODDD NEW FIFTEEN CHAPTER AND I ABSOLUTELU ADORE THE WAY HOSHIKAWA HAS DRAWN ARAHABAKI

LITERALLY SO COOL AND I LOVE HOW THE FORM OF ARAHABAKI DOESNT LOOK SOLID UNLIKE IN THE ANIME, IT LOOKS SO COOL AND A HHH so much scarier and intimidating in Hoshikawa's style and I am so happy

Additionlly, I love the way Hoshikawa drew Arahabaki because not only does the less firmly solid form make sense in the representation of Arahabaki's form to me, but that decision also allowed Hoshikawa to add these tendril like things from Arahabaki going up on what would presumably be it's back which feels like it's evoking the imagery of the wings Chuuya gains by using Corruption in Stormbringer and just makes a lot more sense whereas the anime's design for the form of Arahabaki had honestly left me so confused about what they were trying to go for! I am just AHH I love Hoshikawa's style

[alchemicon]

Who is your favorite character from bsd?

Hello!!! GREAT question hahahahahaha (pretending this question doesn't keep me up at night). i have a few to say the least. Here's them in random order (except for dazai)

-Osamu Dazai: for me dazai is like a life changing character. I can confidently say he changed my brain structure and chemistry permanently. maybe it's how he struggles with being genuinely good and how hard he tries. maybe it's how he masks his inner turmoil with a clown facade. maybe it's because, despite all the grief and all the pointlessness he sees in life, he tries so hard to stay alive, to do good and to honor the promise he made to his friend. he's a character that was written for people like me, he's a babygirl, i want to hug him and i want to see him suffer and i want to study him under a microscope

-Sakunosuke Oda: i was really drawn to him in the anime but what cemented him as one of my favourites was reading the dark era ln. His internal monologue is so bizarre and whimsical and genuinely funny and so charming. I'm enamored with him and i understand why dazai loved him as much as he did as well. In the end I really love a well executed tragedy too and oda's story is a beautiful tragedy.

-Nikolai Gogol: guess i have a thing for entps being one myself but I'm head over heels for kolya. I've genuinely never seen a character like him before. he's so unpredictable and while he's seemingly unhinged and violent, i think the glimpses of the person behind that behaviour are fascinating. I genuinely consider his interaction with atsushi where he tells him that he has guilt and feels emotions just like everybody else and how he craves freedom, one of the best character moments in the whole manga tbh. His character design is beautiful too, very hard not to love

-Ryonousuke Akutagawa: there's so much pain in akutagawa, it is impossible for me to not like him. he's so lost, so far away from the path of the light. he begins by trying to prove himself to dazai and he's so so hurt and so alone. and he finds atsushi... their rp is the heart and lungs and soul of the manga I'm so serious about this. and specifically the way they influence eachother to become better versions of themselves. akutagawa being the only one atsushi can be the most genuine version of himself with. the way he honors his promise to not kill anyone until their fight. his character is still developing and I'm SEATED to watch it all the way which also brings me to .....

-Atsushi Nakajima: i adore atsushi. I've never seen such a raw and visceral portrayal of trauma, the long term consequences it comes with and the issues it leaves people with. he feels worthless and insecure and we see how much this impacts him. he deals with things that are considered scary and he's just a great example of the fact that mental illness affects primarily the people who have it and doesn't cause them to be violent or whatever ( the fact that he canonically hallucinates is also so so so important i just love these things about his character). Same thing as aku, his rp w aku is the heart and soul of bsd as a story. I specifically love how he impacts aku in such a positive way, but also how we see his more snappy and sassy side with aku that he usually hides from others. Lovely protagonist too, atsushi you will always be famous

-Chuuya Nakahara: i love chuuya to death. Like it's concerning sometimes. I used to be a bit unsettled by him because i couldn't understand how a person like him who seems like a person with morals and loyalty and so much love in him, ended up in the horrific world of the mafia. And then i read fifteen and stormbringer. And my heart broke for this boy. I'm rooting for him to find another path tbh but idk how that will go. He's made for the world of the light and I'll die on this hill. Soukoku is also like a brain chemistry altering ship. The way they trust each other and the way they bicker like an old couple and the way he brings out dazai's protective side (stormbringer rooftop scene and fifteen arcade scene you'll always be famous). Chuuya is a storm, you can't look away, he's so beautiful and I'm just as obsessed with him as dazai is. Just like everything else i really love how he isn't scared to call dazai out on his bs, how kind he is to aku and how much he cares about people. It's so hard not to love chuuya

-Sigma: I'm still waiting for more information to be revealed about sigma but from what I've seen he's up there with the rest of them. He's similar to atsushi in some regards which makes him easily lovable to me. He also regards himself lowly because he believes that amongst these superhumans around him, he's painfully average and ordinary. That's a very relatable sentiment even if you're not surrounded be people with superpowers. Combined with the fact that he's desperately looking for a place to belong, it's so hard not to love sigma. I really hope he gets to join the agency, that would be wonderful for his character.

Thanks for the question and sorry for dumping all of this on you!

[squidsandthings]

Character bingo! Ummm Chuuya?

im sosoo sorry I thought i replied to this ask already?????

anyway did you know when you're shadowbanned (at least for me???) you can't see asks on desktop i had to type this response in a google doc (tumblr pls respond to my emails)

anyway i had to scroll through my blog to find the bingo this ask was for and I think its this one??

I love Chuuya so much. I mean just starting with his design. idk what character design gods possessed harukawa and asagiri when they worked on his design but it goes so hard. Everything about it works for me. I think my favorite part of his design is still his hands/gloves. I will never not fall in love with Chuuya’s hands, but that hat is a close second. Hes also just a genuinely compelling character with so much there that its like a playground of character exploration. There's so many angles to approach the character examination of Chuuya and I will never get tired of talking about him. He's so much fun to traumatize and asagiri must agree since he spent the entirety of stormbringer beating him over the head with enough trauma to ensure every bsd ao3 author never runs out of Chuuya content. He fills me with such emotion truly one of the characters of all time <3

[midwinterrmemento]

(**Manga and light Stormbringer spoilers below!**)

Okay, so I am no theorist and I don’t normally make posts like this, but I just want to throw this out there… Since we were just blessed with the first official anime art of Verlaine (ignoring the smile for a minute-), I really want to consider the possibility that this means he’ll make an appearance in the main manga, too.

Realistically, there’s probably a good chance that we’re going to get Stormbringer animated, as I’ve already seen several people suggesting… but wouldn’t it also make so much sense for him to get involved in the current manga arc as well?

I mean, think about it…

I can’t imagine that Verlaine has a lot of direct contact with the other Port Mafia members, other than his pupils. We haven’t seen him at any executive meetings or anything like that before. So I think it’s entirely possible that he’s still safe and sound underground somewhere and that he still hasn’t been turned into a vampire. And since Mori is kinda running out of resources at this point (with Akutagawa, Higuchi, and the Black Lizard all turned already) I really think it would make sense for him to call on Verlaine at a time like this, especially now that Chuuya is involved.

Oh my god.

Just imagine what’s going to go through Verlaine’s mind when he finds out that the Decay of Angels dared to go after Chuuya. (We already know that he would cut a bitch over far less so-)

Maybe it’s just my wishful thinking, because I love Verlaine and I think he’s such an interesting, complex character. I’d love for him to play a bigger role in the story, because imo he has way too much potential to remain on the sidelines forever… and I find it hard to believe that Mori (and Asagiri himself) would go through the trouble of getting the King of Assassins into the Port Mafia and then not put his skills to greater use.

Now, could Verlaine take on Fukuchi or Fyodor? I don’t know. But considering what we’ve already seen of Verlaine’s capabilities in Stormbringer… I’d say he has at least as good of a shot as anyone else does, even if his ability has been weakened. Bonus points, considering how absolutely pissed he’s going to be when he finds out that someone else is meddling in Chuuya’s life and taking away his freedom again (not to mention Gin, who was his student, and who has also fallen victim to this whole thing).

Even if he doesn’t get involved in the fighting directly, I could still see him helping Dazai and the ADA somehow, because I’m sure he knows that Dazai is probably their best chance of getting Chuuya out alive. And Chuuya is always going to be the most important factor for him, at the end of the day. If he’s aware of everything that’s going on and he hasn’t become a vampire yet himself, there is no way he’s just gonna stand around while some musty Russian guy messes with his little brother. He shot his own partner over this, for God’s sake, so imagine what he would do to a total stranger? I mean… I don’t know, but I’d start running tbh.

If this isn’t the storm he’s been waiting for, then I don’t know what is bc this is pretty much the worst case scenario.

(Also, if he helps the ADA, we would get to see what his dynamic with Kyouka is like, too, which I’d be really curious about.)

Anyway, at the very least, I’m excited to see that Verlaine has an anime design now, and I think he looks beautiful, cursed Bones smile and all. I’m holding out hope that this means we’ll get more content with him in the near future… as long as that doesn’t mean more tragedy for him and everyone else, which is all I can really ask for at this point (╥_╥)

[hella1975]

not the same person, but please, i would love it if you talked about Chuuya.

*COMES RUNNING IN WITH STACKS OF PAPERWORK FLYING EVERYWHERE AND SKIDS TO A STOP* OKAY I CAN DO THAT I CAN DEFINITELY TALK ABOUT CHUUYA WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THERE'S SO MUCH I CAN SAY like just off the bat character design alone solos any of your faves you have never seen a midget ginger with anger issues and god-like abilities look THIS good i mean the man is in tailored suits and hats and trench coats and he drinks wine and he's a mafioso and he's the most powerful ability user in yokohama there isn't a single version of him that isn't superior. sub chuuya rolling his r's? insanity. dub chuuya's 'go to hell, i was being sarcastic' literally scratches my brain i hear it on loop 'can you piss off already' OH MY GODDDDD. wan chuuya in the lift with atsushi? how he comforted him despite them being enemies? HOW THEY WERE BOTH GOING TO SEE THE DOG FILM? the fact chuuya is such a loser but also the coolest person in the series omg. what happened in the book with ranpo i have got to know what their interactions were like. 'chuuya gave up and just started killing people' and it's bc ranpo accused him of sleeping with dazai. do NOT get me started on chuuya's backstory omg stormbringer alone i can talk about for hours, and the sheep?? the way he was only fifteen when he joined the port mafia?? and the reason he's so loyal to mori being because he upholds this community that makes sense to chuuya because he understands violence and he's never had that before because he's always either been alone or betrayed. the fact dazai is one of the most powerful characters in the entire series and is renowned for being really impenetrable bc no one can get past his facade of silliness/aloofness to penetrate the genius beneath EXCEPT CHUUYA who can piss him off INSTANTLY but also understands him better than anyone. like he's the more reasonable member of soukoku (him! the one still in the mafia!) but he's also the exact same brand of menace as dazai and i love them for that like they're both suchhhh assholes especially to each other. the nicknames! slug4mackerel is the height of romance. also the fact his wiki page goes 'likes: hats, fights, booze, music. dislikes: osamu dazai' he's just like me fr!!! he's also sentimental but in a really stubborn way like his hat was RIMBAUD'S aka the man who tried to kill chuuya and it's given to him from MORI as an entry gift to the port mafia - it's a sign of loyalty and spite entwined but it's also personal. same goes for his choker and the fan theory that dazai gave it him to sort of tease him over the bet he won (about chuuya being his dog. very normal thing to ask of your pal dazai) and yet CHUUYA CONTINUES TO WEAR IT. he also has his glove thing and basically every part of his physical appearance that is in his control, he moulds into something distinctive, something with layers, something personal because he deep down doesn't feel like a person. i genuinely think it's his attempt to grasp at humanity, like he's trying to prove to people and say 'look, i am real, i am human' :( mmmmm basically he is the most visually, audibly, symbolically and artistically satisfying character in any media ever and i love him so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much you are not immune to this man

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Whoa- you have worked on bsd manga translations , that's so cool

Who is your favorite female character ? And which is your favorite ship ?

I never worked on the manga itself. I fan translated four books of the comedy spinoff manga and did work on, in a professional sense, a completely different part of BSD (will not say what for combination of privacy and NDA reasons, but I will say that I had a blast with it).

I don't keep up with BSD all that much because my interest more or less begins and ends with the mafia. With that being said, Kouyou is an INCREDIBLE character. The pinnacle of character design. A pain in the arse to translate. I love her to death. I am also extremely fond of Gin and, to a slightly lesser extent, Higuchi. I love almost all of the mafia side characters.

Putting ship under a cut for Stormbringer spoilers

Considering my appreciation for Hypmic's clone boy who struggles with accepting his status as a person x his much taller rival/ex-partner/god it's complicated ship, it will probably not come as much of a shock when I say I like SKK (Chuuya/Dazai), BSD's clone boy who struggles with accepting his status as a person x his much taller rival/ex-partner/god it's complicated ship.

[catholicjinx]

ok so mori is fine as hell,,,, like i know he kills people but who cares he's got hawk moth's voice actor in the dub that i am forced to watch for the sake of my attention span

atshushi is a sweet little precious baby boy who could also wreck my shit and my life i am kissing him KUNIKIDA IS SO JIHJGFDFSFG ENOUGH SAID IM BARKING WAGGING MY TAIL LIKE A DOG WOOF WOOF GRRRRRR MWAH MWAH CALL ME A DAZAI KINNIE THE WAY I WANNA JUST HGFDSGHJKLJHGFDDFGHJK

dazai is so fucking funny omg like hes best friend material im gonna have to steal his man but other than that i love him

chuuya is,,, not what i was expecting?? he's a bastard but in a different font than the bastard i was expecting. i thought he was gonna be like janus from sanders sides and he WAS NOT and idk how i feel about him

kyouka is wonderful i dont understand why she was going to be put to death

okay mori has a kickass design but when u get to s2/3 youll understand why hjs personality is a major turnoff 💀💀 i love his outfit tho ughhhhdhdhhd

I LVOE ATSUSHI SO MCUHAHAJSGDJDH

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHDHDHDB DEAR GKD CUPID KH MY GOD. TBH THO SAME I AM MORPJIGN INTO A DOG SO J CAN BARK FOR HIM

god hes jhst like me i love dazai. also, since id assume you're starting s2 soon, youll start to understand why he acts the way he does. hes a genuine man and hes super sweet but he acts differently around dazai (it also makes more sense if you read the 15 light novel, stormbringer, and watch dead apple but yk that takes a lot of time and if ur okah wkth spoilers id be happy to tell u abojt them 👁👁)

OH KYOUKAS OKAY DW WE LOVE KYOUKA SOOMXBFHHF MUCH K LLVE HER SHES NOT GONNA DIE DW

[soukoku-rivals]

Author's Note

There are so many things I would love to tell you! But, I decided to keep it short and simple. After all, Rivals is a comic, you're not here to read blocks of text.

I will address what are, in my opinion, most important issues.

1. Why is Fyodor actually alive after chapter 9?

Well, we had an 'in comic' explanation - Chuuya wants to believe Fyodor has some feelings for him after Fyodor intentionally missed all of his vital organs when stabbing him. Dazai tries to be a better person so he cannot simply kill someone who is already tied and defenseless, no matter how much he hates him.

Real life explanation - it was the best choice for the continuity. Rivals is very much an AU when it comes to Chuuya's past and quite possibly Dazai's past [I honestly know nothing about Dazai's past before 15. There might be something mentioned in Stormbringer but I avoid spoilers until we get official English translation]. However, it still takes place after season 2 of the anime and the Dead Apple movie. Which means season 3 comes after.

Basically, if you ignore the 15 episodes, you can imagine season 3 continues after Rivals and Dazai and Chuuya are somewhat dating at that point, which is also why Ranpo found it so easy to outsmart Chuuya. And then, all the events in the anime/canon slowly lead to them finding the Book and the Epilogue.

I know, you have to stretch your imagination a little to make that work, but honestly, it's fun to imagine Soukoku dating while all that stuff is going on.

Obviously, none of that could happen if Fyodor dies, so here you go!

2. Does Chuuya actually have feelings for Fyodor?

Short answer - yes. And it's not only because the author ships Fyoya. [I ship almost all Chuuya/X pairings, most notably Chuuya/Sigma, deal with it.]

As explained in the comic, Fyodor was there when Chuuya had nobody and nothing after he lost his memories. He told Chuuya they were partners and lovers, and Chuuya was his most loyal man. Obviously, that would influence Chuuya's opinion.

We, as readers, outside observers, didn't realle get to see much of their interactions [I couldn't make the chapters that long] but we did see that Fyodor is a manipulative bastard. But it wouldn't fully work if he wasn't gentle at times. As manipulative as Fyodor was, he has also shown compassion and care towards Chuuya in his state. That purposefully missed stabbing at the end only confirmed to Chuuya that Fyodor doesn't actually want him dead. Maybe he wants to hurt him to push him away, like Dazai did all those years ago? To protect him. To make sure the Mafia and Dazai know they aren't working together.

How can Chuuya not appreciate that? After all there was only one person before who hurt him not to actually hurt him but for his protection.

So yeah, Chuuya believes Fyodor has some feelings for him, he believes there might be a good person hiding in the rat, just like there was a good person hiding in Dazai. Dazai and Fyodor were too similar at one point for Chuuya not to develop any feelings for him.

I'm not saying it's healthy or logical. I'm saying this is how it happened.

3. Does Fyodor have feelings for Chuuya?

Short answer - also, surprisingly, yes! I mean, how can you not love Chuuya?

I couldn't really show it clearly in the comic. We already had so many characters and Fyodor/Fyoya weren't the focal point so I couldn't dive to deep. However, here is what I can say now.

At the start, obviously, Fyodor saw Chuuya only as a tool. Chuuya was a powerful weapon, with a powerful ability and most importantly, he served as a great distraction for Dazai.

Fyodor, however, made a mistake when he convinced Chuuya they were lovers. Because that meant he had to spend more time with him than originally planned. And as much as Fyodor hates abilities and believes they are a sin, he could not not notice all Chuuya's good qualities. Even rushing that mission to destroy some building, when he knew it was possible Chuuya wouldn't survive, was mostly because Fyodor wanted to push him away. And to push his feelings away. He knew he was growing fond of Chuuya and if he didn't stop that soon, he might grow some conscience.

Unfortunately for him, it was too late. And thus, we go back again to the train station stabbing. For all intents and purposes, the most beneficial thing for Fyodor to do was to kill Chuuya right there and there. With Chuuya dead he would have been able to leave with Atsushi, find the Book and leave Dazai broken after his love's death and Mafia without its most powerful weapon.

Fyodor just couldn't bring himself to do that.

4. Extra - unused sequel idea.

This has nothing to do with any unexplained plot points but, yeah, there was a sequel idea. A few actually. But let's go with the one that has most sense.

At the train station, after Soukoku leave, only Atsushi stays there to keep an eye on Fyodor while Loki searcher through his memories for the Book.

Unbeknownst to Atsushi, while Locke goes through Fyodor's memories, he finds something very interesting. A memory of Fyodor who looks like he's talking to his mirror reflection but his words are directed at Loki. And with a smile on his face, Fyodor informs Loki that the Book can change reality, he can destroy people and give them life. There is already a person created by the Book. From nothing! So, it is not entirely unbelievable to assume that it could bring somebody to life. Like, let's say, a certain red headed girl.

If Loki helps Fyodor escape, he will be able to bring Hela back to life.

Locke loves his daughter very much, so obviously, he agrees. And instead of lead to season 3 when Fyodor escapes, he get an Agency/Mafia vs Fyodor/Locke story.

This is not happening but it was a nice idea.

And this time, this is really it! There is nothing more left for me to say, Rivals is done!

Thank you so much for reading it, some of you were here for years, some joined only a few month ago, some will find this story in the future, but I thank you all the same! I would have never gotten this far without you. You are all very precious to me. I hope to see you soon, when @kkfil-soukoku starts updating.

And now, for a couple of unrelated announcements:

Merch design is going great. I have all die cut stickers and the second charm already finished, and most of them is already published on Kofi for supporters. Also, the Rivals sticker page is all drafted. Support me on Kofi to view them all and to get an extra sticker with your order: https://ko-fi.com/hayatepl

After Kiss Kiss Fall in <Love3 comic is done, I will be working on an original idea, to be published on Webtoons/Tapas. It's going to be a supernatural adventure story featuring a witch, a warrior and a dragon, set in modern times. For more info when that happens, follow me on @hayateart and @sylvankaart

I also started using twitter again: https://twitter.com/SylvankaArt

And instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sylvankaart/ [Yes, it's all SylvankaArt, I thought it would make it easier to remember. As for tumblr HayateArt blog will remain my fanblog for fanart but all original posts will be published on SylvankaArt.]