#it probably reminds him of odasaku

[dailyknkdz]

Day 8: Dazai doesn't like the night - he has insomnia & nightmares. But once he starts (literally) sleeping with Kunikida, it starts to get easier. Kunikida's strong arms wrapped around him, his gentle even breathing... it's so comforting & safe.

[yokohamapound]

Oh hi Mark! Can I request some hcs on Dazai, Fyodor, Ranpo, Akutagawa, Tachihara and Odasaku with female reader who is a model and one day when he comes to pick her up from a shoot, she comes up to him and says they're short a model to finish a shoot with and the clothes just so happen to be his size and please won't he model with her? Just for this shoot? :D

Always love a good The Room reference! And what a perfect request for such a cavalcade of beautiful men~

Characters: Dazai Osamu, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edogawa Ranpo, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Tachihara Michizou, Oda Sakunosuke

Contents: no real warnings, just Dazai throwing his ass back

Dazai Osamu

Dazai has a tendency to come to your photoshoots whenever he has free time (or even when he doesn’t but he just wants to skive off of work). Not only are you there, usually dolled up and hanging around between outfit changes and lighting set-ups, but there’s also usually a buffet table full of food he can mooch off of. He still hasn’t shut up about the crab rolls from the first shoot he attended. 

Photographers, wardrobe assistants, and make-up artists are all familiar with him by now, and just put up with his nonsense in order to work with you. And he is capable of wrapping people around his little finger when it suits him to do so. He can turn the charm on and off like a light switch. 

He does have an annoying habit of standing behind the camera and pulling exaggerated faces at you while you’re trying to maintain a pose. Don’t worry, you’re too much of a professional to break. One day, probably when he’s loitering around the buffet table or pissing off the lighting techs by doing shadow puppets against the backdrop, the photographer makes a suggestion to you—since the male model hasn’t been able to attend, why don’t you put your boyfriend to some use? 

Dazai’s tall, slim, and very good looking, so they might as well get some use out of him if he’s going to be there, right? Lucky for you, it really doesn’t take much convincing. When you ask him, Dazai seizes both of your hands, his eyes sparkling.

“About time! I knew I’d be discovered one day!” 

Dazai divas it up through hair and make-up, telling the make-up artists not to make him look too pouty. By the time you actually get his ass into the clothes and in front of the camera, everyone's a little exasperated. You don’t have the heart to scold him, though—you know he’s only really doing it for your sake…and he really does rock the clothes. 

Photographer: “Dazai-san, you don’t need to arch your back quite so much.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky

I don’t imagine Fyodor can come to your shoots very often, but when he does, he always creates a stir. A tall, pale man with black hair, violet eyes, and that bone structure! He’s like a dream for the designers, and the make-up artists are itching to get at him just to enhance those features. There’s an aura surrounding him that makes them all keep a respectful distance, though. 

No one can quite figure out who he is. They speculate that he might be a European model. A musician, with those hands? Perhaps some kind of foreign celebrity none of them will dare admit to not knowing. You never elaborate and neither does he—the speculation amuses him. 

The way he watches you gives you delicious little goosebumps whenever you’re posing for the camera, and the photographer has to call for an assistant to come and blot you with warm towels to make them disappear. 

You’re never quite sure how Fyodor feels about your job, but he’s never objected. Part of you suspects he turns up now and then to make sure that everyone remembers who you belong to, and that it would be unwise indeed to upset you or take any liberties. Just to remind them that he exists and he’s watching. 

On one particular shoot, the wardrobe assistant and the director both approach you, looking a little sheepish. The male model has come down with the flu, they explain. Do you think your boyfriend would mind stepping in just this once? Otherwise they’ll have to wrap the shoot and reschedule, costing thousands…

You tell them you can’t make any guarantees, but you’ll ask him. Fyodor watches you with an amused expression as you approach him. One of his eyebrows creeps up when you haltingly explain what the photographer wants. You’re going to have to wheedle a little to get him to agree, because Fyodor doesn’t make a habit of stepping into the public eye. Then again, how funny if one of his enemies was to see him modelling on a billboard. It’s this, and his desire to indulge you, that finally makes him agree. 

“I suppose I can step in this once,” he says, putting a finger under your chin and lifting it so you’re looking him in the eyes. “But you’ll have to make it up to me, darling.”

The make-up artist is almost vibrating with nerves as she applies a few minor touch-ups to Fyodor’s face, not that he needs much, and the photographer phrases his requests very politely. No yelling, no orders, no “Yes, baby, give me more!” Although the thought of anyone saying that to Fyodor is enough to have you in hysterics. 

Fyodor’s naturally elegant, so he can pull off the poses, get the tilt of his head just right. He always makes sure that he’s touching you in some way—hand resting on your waist, your shoulder, fingers curled loosely through your hair. It’s like he’s claiming ownership of you in every photo. 

Style-wise, I think your best bet is either for a winter photoshoot, so he can keep his ushanka, or men’s formal wear. Fyodor in a suit? Yes, please. 

Edogawa Ranpo

At first Ranpo would come along to your photoshoots due to the prevalence of snacks on the buffet table, but as time went on he tended to get bored between all the time spent touching up your make-up, fussing with your clothes, or waiting for the lighting to be arranged. He loves you, but he gets bored easily and you’re too busy to pay him much attention. 

He’ll go off and find something else that interests him or wait for you at home, usually. He does still pop up now and then if your shooting location is near to where he’s investigating a murder or if he’s got lost and just used Find My Phone on your phone and followed it to your location. (Ranpo doesn’t do this to keep track of you—it’s literally so he has a way to find you if he gets lost. It’s not like you’re really able to hide anything from him anyway…)

It’s on one of these occasions that the male model has somehow been unable to show up for the shoot, so you’re forced to rope Ranpo in. 

He folds his arms, complete with a pout. “I don’t want to.”

“Please? I’ll bake you some macarons when we get home~”

You can see his resolve starting to weaken. Macarons are one thing, but homemade macarons, still warm from the oven? He starts to loosen his arms, opening his mouth, but you hit him with your ultimate move.

“I know you’ll be so much better at it than the guy they hired, anyway~”

Ranpo visibly wavers, then he sighs. “I guess. If you’re really that much in need of my expertise, I can help you out. I’m so charitable.” He points a finger at you. “Don’t think you don’t owe me those macarons, though.”

Suitably bribed and flattered, Ranpo loses his begrudging attitude and throws himself into it, letting the make-up artists primp and pamper him. Just picture him sitting there with his head tilted back, eyes closed, a satisfied little smile on his face. He’s so fucking cute.

Ranpo’s photographs well, posing happily with you through various couple-themed set-ups. Pretending to kick puddles in the rain while sharing an umbrella. Feeding each other bites of ice-cream from a sundae (although the photographer has to tell Ranpo to stop actually eating it). Sitting on a fake beach. 

Of course, the real kicker is when he opens his eyes and reveals that gorgeous shade of green. Your modelling agency is fighting to sign him up then and there, but he breezily turns them down, telling them he doesn’t have time to do this and be the World’s Greatest Detective. 

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Akutagawa doesn’t want to be there. Everything from his tense posture to his folded arms to his scowl make that abundantly clear. The only reason he is there is either because you asked him to be, or because he insisted on coming along to make sure that no one tried anything with you. He’s protective, but huffy about it. 

Naturally, this makes everyone on set a little nervous, even if they don’t recognise him as one of the most dangerous members of the Port Mafia. 

Despite how unnerving his presence is, more than a few of the make-up artists have fantasised about getting him in the chair and accentuating that face of his. His stark haircut, pale face, and sharp cheekbones make him look like he just stepped off the runway for an avante-garde designer. Like someone’s goth fantasy brought to life. 

When I tell you the amount of begging you’re going to have to do to get this man to take photographs with you…

“You must be joking if you think I’m going to make a fool of myself like that.”

He absolutely won’t do it if he thinks there is any chance of someone mocking him or laughing at him. It’ll take a lot of encouragement, and he’ll be militant about not taking his coat off, until you remind him that he’ll still be wearing clothes and able to use his Special Ability if there’s any kind of attack. 

You’ll have to do his make-up. No way in hell is he letting anyone else touch his face or his hair. 

Your best bet is if this is some kind of high-concept, gothic photoshoot. Lots of dead flowers and Victorian architecture. If it suits his aesthetic and his shirt has ruffles, you’ve got a much better chance of convincing him to go through with it. He’ll bitch about the antiques being fake, and he stands as woodenly as a mannequin, a scowl on his face, but that might actually work for this kind of shoot. He makes a great model for the clothes, austere and aloof. 

Basically, he’ll only do it if both of you look like you’re about to die of consumption and he gets to see you in something ruffled. 

Tachihara Michizou

I feel like Tachihara only came to your shoot in the first place because he’s a nosy little shit and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And because he enjoys watching people fawn over his gorgeous partner. It strokes his ego, so what?

He likes to hang around and casually menace the make-up artists, or flick through the clothes and give his opinions on them loudly. 

“Ooh, bring this one home, babe~”

Despite this, he’s pretty popular. He’s a little rough around the edges, but he does have a slight charm to him, and his comments have made you laugh mid-photo more than a few times, much to the photographer’s chagrin. 

You didn’t realise how into it he was, however, until the day you ask him to step up and take the place of a model who couldn’t make it. They don’t often bring amateurs in, but Michizou’s cocky grin and delinquent good looks will work for this shoot. 

He gets pissy when the make-up artists make him remove the bandaid from his nose, but he settles down and goes strangely quiet while they’re dabbing stuff on his face. If you poke at him, he’ll grumble that he’s just making sure they don’t stick him in the eye with something, but you know it’s actually because it feels nice. 

“Hey, what’s the name of that crap you put in my hair? Looks good.” 

The clothes are fine as long as he’s not put in anything ridiculous. He can pull off a lot of different styles, but casual streetwear suits him best. He brings out all his punk boy poses: 

Kicking a foot back against the wall. 

Crouching down with his arms resting on his knees, hands loose.

Arms folded, slouching, giving a “what you looking at, hah!?” stare over his shoulder.

At the end, he wants to know if he can keep all the clothes. 

Oda Sakunosuke

Odasaku’s an easy going man. He was reluctant the first time you invited him along to a photoshoot, thinking he’d stand out like a sore thumb, but really no one has time to worry about him being there. He was able to blend into the background like a tall, handsome, stubbly shadow. 

He enjoys people watching, and a photoshoot is like watching an army of ants circle around its queen—you, in this case. People are fussing with your hair, your make-up, adjusting the fit of the clothes, the tiniest tilt of your head. He doesn’t know how you put up with so many people plucking at you, but he’s impressed by how professionally you handle it and accede to the photographer’s wishes. 

Sometimes they mistake him for a roadie (or the photoshoot equivalent) and he finds himself being roped into moving boxes of clothes or holding up one of those lighting umbrellas. You try to intervene where you can, but he always brushes it off and tells you he’s just content to get involved. 

He never expected to be so involved that he’d be in front of the camera, though. When the photographer beckons him over one day and asks him to take the place of the male model, he’s a little stumped. Not even his Special Ability could have foreseen this. 

“You wanna take photos of me?”

Oda’s pretty humble. It takes some convincing to get him to agree, and he twitches a bit as his hair is styled and wardrobe comes over to adjust the clothes he’s wearing. It’s easy to forget he’s still Port Mafia, and understandably paranoid about strangers touching him. 

Oda’s not really a natural behind the camera. Takes a while for him to shake off the stiffness and stop squinting at the bright lights, but the fact he’s doing this with his partner makes it a little easier. 

The photographer figures out he can get the most natural smile out of him by making sure he’s looking at you in every shot, rather than the camera. 

For some reason, I think he’d look really good in an Autumn/Fall photoshoot? Sweaters, boots, heavy coats, scarves, fake snow and falling leaves. That sort of thing. This man looks like he was built to wear plaid.

[starlightshadowsworld]

I'm probably wrong but I like to think Dazai's Agency coat is the shade of colour you'd get by combining Odasaku's coat and Ango's suit jacket.

The idea he carried both of them with him into this new life, a reminder they were always part of him and who he is.

[sips-tea-cutely]

Beast!Dazai with a wife

a/n: beast dazai is such husband material we need to talk about that more. i also wrote this while fighting my sleep candy i cant think helposodo

cw: suicide, beast spoilers, afab reader, dazai has a power domination obsession, i wrote this in 15 minutes

#Beast!Osamu Dazai

trusts you a lot. probably would tell you about how he indirectly sends akutagawa to the ADA. wouldn’t tell you about the alternate realities though cause itd make him sound insane

YES he trusts you— but, he wouldn’t tell you about his plans to commit suicide. he loves you but it’s for the sake of akutagawa and atsushi (as well as odasaku). tbh probably asked odasaku (in the bar scene) to bring you to the agency once all of this dies down.

beast!dazai LOVES a strong woman. he’d probably ditch chuya and atsushi to look at you commanding a unit with such strictness that its kinda hot

speaking of chuya— HATES that chuya is always near him somehow! he already has gin and atsushi close to him during his day, the only time he could really be alone with you is at home and even then, he has to deal with other things.

much more possessive than ADA!dazai or PM!dazai. it’s most likely he has someone he trusts near you. yes, you may be strong enough to defend yourself but dazai just cant help but be worried for you </3

also would like seeing you with atsushi and kyoka? he finds it sweet how you take care of them like you’re their mother. may kind of remind him of how odasaku also took care of him

honestly an overall malewife— he has the exterior of a possessive mafia boss but, he genuinely cares for you. he always thinks of changing his mind, so that the two of you could have a happy life! but he has to remember that it’s for everyone’s sake. the agency will treat you better than he ever could anyways.

[poeticlilies]

Hello! It says requests are open for you, however if i misread it or you dont feel comfortable writing this feel free to ignore! I'd like to request Kunikida, Atsushi and whoever else you'd like to add comfort their s/o going through grief? My dog passed away a few days ago and it's been pretty hard for me. Again, if you don't feel comfy writing this you're more than welcome to delete! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

♡ Kunikida and Atsushi with an S/O who's dog passed away.

Kunikida Doppo x Reader , Atsushi Nakajima x Reader

Desc: some HC of what they would do to comfort their S/O if their dog passed away (gender neutral reader)

TW/CW: animal death, angst, spoilers for Dazai's past and Odasaku

Kunikida, Doppo

oh dear,, being totally honest, he'd be kind of bad at comforting.

I mean, he's a very methodical man; a believer that if you follow the steps exactly as written that everything will be perfect.

he doesn't really.. realize.. that human emotion cannot be comforted through constrained directions.

he definitely tries !! he's a bit. wonky because he insists that [xyz] is SURELY going to help you even though you don't like it, because that's what's in the guidebook and the guidebook MUST be right... correct?

after a while, though, he definitely sees that it's not helping at all, and wills himself to change for your sake.

he's determined to make his own "y/n care guide" ; he takes notice of even the most microscopic of details and writes them down, then later researches specific methods from well-known therapists to try them out with you, then references back to see which ones worked and scribbles out the ones that didn't.

he's not good with emotions; he's not an emotion man and he knows it. if you placed a crying child in front of him, he'd be the type of person to awkwardly stare... but you're not a crying child. you're you, the love of his life; the one who will triumph over all his ideals, morals, everything each and every time. so he makes the effort for you, in his own way of showing love.

Atsushi, Nakajima

the EXACT opposite of Kunikida.

although he gets embarrassed and awkward easily, he's experienced so much pain and suffering he knows how to comfort somebody.

he'll probably try to direct your attention away ,, he knows a dog is probably constantly around you and the pain of now constantly. being alone. reminds you of your loss 24/7 and he'll try to get you as busy as possible to distract that.

trips to carnivals? check ! daily outings in cafes? check! calling you to see if you want to go to the park at.. 9pm? check!

he probably comes off as a little overbearing but he means well. he just truly wants to help <3.

--

a/n: .. hello ! i'm sorry i was gone for so long :(. this is so late and im so so sorry but.. here it is!

[lowkey-yyy]

The ADA trying to subtly make Dazai healthier, best hcs.

They just make sure to have extra food on hand for him and drag him to any work meals or holidays where Kunikida forces him to sample things and enjoy himself.

Ranpo who gets snacks that come with toys to fidget with that he makes Dazai take so the brunette has something to do with his hands that isn't destructive.

Atsushi who asks for help with many small things to have Dazai feel like he has accomplished being useful and productive for his mentee and boost his mood.

Yosano who keeps a sharp eye on his physical state, if he seems too tired she tells the others to let him rest when he finally dozes off, if he seems more anxious she will make sure he isn't forced into overwhelming/frustrating situations or questions, if she fears he may make another semi-serious attempt she will try to get him to relax and hint to the others that he needs some extra attention and care.

Fukuzawa keeps an open invite into his office and a spare room they have for Dazai to hide away in if he needs it. The extra room is only for him and theres a few blankets and a couch inside he can use. Kunikida won't intrude since he knows Dazai only uses the spot when he needs to be alone.

Just soft Dazai things, maybe he gets a little soft during the holidays and gets anxious about the change but the others reassure him and make sure he has some nice holiday snacks that remind him of Odasaku and some cozy clothes to bundle up in.

Kunikida warms up his chubby cheeks in the winter by gently cupping his face with warm hands if Dazai's cheeks begin to flush in the cool air, Dazai being touch-starved loves winter for the doting and affection he gets.

Dazai learns he doesn't always need to be anxious and he can relax from time to time , and that not being a bony mess is probably healthier as a bit of pudge and muscle never hurt anyone.

Dazai is healthier and happier, he feels safe and secure in his little family in the light.

Bonus::

Next time he and Chuuya fight He just fucking socks the redhead and Chuuya is shocked because?? When'd Dazai get MUSCLES or any build?? Wheres scarecrow boy?? Dazai tells him it was the power of agency love but in reality it was training with Kunikida. (Same thing tho)

[arizoeackerman]

Valentines day edition <3

Bungo Stray Dogs

Dazai, Chuuya, Nikolai, Fyodor, Ranpo, Atsushi, Poe, Fukuzawa, Kunikida, Oda x genderfluid reader

Includes: fluff, nsfw content, mention of sex toys

Osamu Dazai

I have a feeling he would love Valentines Day and would find it as an excuse to be extra clingy.

He would definitely expect gifts from you and special treatment.

He would buy you your favourite snacks... maybe

You two would either go on a romantic picnic date or stay at home and watch a movie.

If you stay at home he is likely to cook you food

Chuuya Nakahara

Chuuya is most likely to use this day as an excuse to spoil you rotten.

He would have planned the day out in great detail.

You would wake up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers, lots of kisses and chocolates and he would take you to an expensive dinner at night.

Nikolai Gogol

He would probably buy you lingerie and fun toys that you can try later that night and would pull the out of his overcoat.

"oMg what's in mY cOaT?? A DIDLO!!"

Get ready for a Valentines day quiz and magic tricks.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Let's be honest, he would either forget or wouldn't care about Valentine's day.

But if he were to do something because he understands it means a lot to you, he would send you flowers and some jewellery.

Please buy him some clothes or a new hat he really needs a new outfit.

If you beg him he might as well play some music for you.

Ranpo Edogawa

Buy him candies. Do i need to elaborate?

You x Ranpo + snacks watching a movie and cuddling is going to be your Valentine's day date.

Atsushi Nakajima

He would probably ask everyone in the ADA for advice and you better hope he didn't ask for Dazai's advice.

So he just ended up getting you a classic box of chocolates and then took you on a casual date.

If you buy him a gift he would be absolutely flustered.

Edgar Allan Poe

He would buy you ridiculously expensive gifts without even realising.

If you gift him literally ANYTHING he would be blushing for a whole week just by the gesture.

Expect poems or a paragraph of appreciation about you.

Fukuzawa

He probably thinks that Valentine's day is pointless and stupid but would still buy you flowers and sweets.

You and him and 10 cats cuddling, watching rom-coms.

He is willing to take you out or do whatever you want to.

Doppo Kunikida

Kunikida has planned the ideal day for his ideal partner.

Nothing is going to ruin it and if anything does he will lose it. Reassure him it's okay.

He wants you to have a great time and will do anything to achieve that.

Remind him he needs to have fun too and make him do something relaxing with you.

Prepare him a hot bath with aromatic candles, rose petals, champagne, music and have fun.

Odasaku Ryonosuke

This man. This. Man.

Spoil him, make him curry, give him kisses, gift him a cat or a puppy.

Prepare a nice dinner for you and the orphans he so much cares about and spend the day together. Heart-warming. Like a beautiful family.

He will definitely buy you flowers and anything your heart desires.

[bunglegaydogs]

Mori's a little shit

I have so many things piling in my head that I want to rant about, and all of them are going to be fucking novel length, so for that I do apologise.

However, let's get into the crux of this post.

This one probably won't be as long, but it is just me rambling on and on about how much I hate Mori but love the way Asagiri wrote him to be a pretty complex chacter. I despise the fucker though.

I don't think it needs to be said, but I'll say it anyway; Mori's a piece of shit. We all know this. We all fucking know this. He's a manipulative, sick, twisted man who uses people for his own benefit and doesn't see the value in ther lives, only in how they can be useful for him. Two prime examples of this, of course, being Yosano and Dazai. I'm going to go so much more in depth into these two in this, don't worry.

Mori uses people to his own gain and manipulates their actions without them ever realising it until it's too late or has already happened. Sound familiar? YEAH IT FUCKING SHOULD. Dazai. Having been under constant surveillance and command by Mori for four solid years, he's bound to pick up some things. Like he said, "Someone drilled that information into me." sorry it was "Someone imprinted that knowledge into my mind before." I think Im thinking of a different translation I read? DOESN'T MATTER SORRY LOL. Anyways, Having been under the direction of Mori as such a young kid, and having nobody else there for him, Dazai naturally picks up Mori's instincts and demeanour, etc. Also, the fact that Mori has drilled battle techniques into him and taught him all he knows shows this. There are moments we see that Dazai is behaving like Mori did, or would. This is just how much Mori has been around in his life to affect him to this degree, and taught him relentlessly how to be in life and in battle and when strategising. We already see that Dazai is a cunning little shit before he joins the PM in the opening of Fifteen, where he rattles Mori by what he says.

God, there's so much to unpack in this one fucking thing.

But, I'm going to do a separate post going more in depth about Dazai and Mori's relationship as well as Yosano and Mori, I'm going to touch upon them in this though because God it's awful.

"That's why Dazai cannot die."

Mori isn't looking out for the wellbeing of a 15 year old, he's looking out for how much value and worth he has in his plans. After everything is in place and it's all gone according to plan, Mori gets rid of his subordinates accordingly. Just like Odasaku. Then, when things don't go to his plan, and the people he used leave, he grows bitter and resentful. When Dazai left the mafia, he grew bitter and still saves his executive spot for him. When Yosano was taken away to the institute, he grew resentful that he'd lost such a valuable asset to the war. Man's was obsessed, Elise's wholeass demeanour and outfits and everything changed after Mori had lost Yosano. It's fucking creepy. Elise is literally a younger Yosano, and that shit's vile.

Not only is this guy a big nonce, but he dehumanises the people around him and pulls the strings so that it goes his way. Whereas Dazai's predictions and proficiency at seeing every outcome and every detail are for the ADA and helping people, Mori only uses this skill to control and manipulate people into doing his bidding.

When Yosano was clearly distressed and did not want to keep going any longer, he manipulates her by shooting the soldier and forcing her to save him. It's so fucked up. It's so unbelievably fucked up.

We can't really see how much he has affected anyone else in the mafia, as these are the only two we get a pretty solid backstory with Mori for. However, another example of Mori being fucked up is Kyouka; just what the fuck happened there?

Kyouka sees a glimpse of Mori and it sends her into a full blown frenzy. She literally breaks down. Now, I don't know if that's because of him reminding her of the Mafia or being in the Mafia, or if there's something else that we don't know and that Kyouka was also manipulated and a victim of Mori's abuse, too.

If you couldn't tell, I fucking love Yosano and Dazai and I actually hate Mori for what he put them through. But, Asagiri is such a good writer, and the way he writes Mori is so fucking spine chilling and awful in such a good way to read. Asagiri's writing shows the depth of these characters, and makes them actually people with personalities, not just some words or drawings on a page. Harukawa bringing the life to them through his art is actually just stunning, and the expressions he's able to show with just the eyes, the hands, the stance, everything. These two are the perfect duo in writing and art, and honestly, I fucking love them.

Sorry sorry, rant over.

In conclusion, ngl Mori's a little bitch.

[lotus-pear]

Hi! (Sorry this is long. I wasn’t sure how to shorten it)

I saw your most recent post involving your social experiment with your friend and I figured I can (maybe) contribute data to your social experiment!

Context: I started watching BSD somewhere around 2019 (I think I watched season 3 as it aired or it had just finished and it seemed like the anime ended). I accidentally found it, the description seemed interesting and the names looked familiar (i.e., I recognised some of them as authors right away)

So, I looked up the characters and while trying to minimise spoilers (and somehow mostly succeeded in that?) and was exposed and was exposed almost exclusively to knkdz (I didn’t realise Chuuya existed until I got to episode 9 and wasn’t aware of any other ships). It’s also worth noting that I didn’t really interact with fandoms that much back then (the most— for all the things I was a fan of/consumed— was accidentally discovering and seeing knkdz fan content. It seemed like an interesting ship)

Anyway, then I watched the show (and started the manga). The result? For me personally, I found knkdz to be the least interesting ship (romantic or queerplatonic)— don’t get me wrong/that being said, I *love* their canon relationship and whatnot

(We’ll see if that changes after I read the light novels since stuff like new manga scenes/arcs, Beast and Dazai, Chuuya, Age 15 have affected my opinions on characters, relationships and etc)

Most of the relationships I like to see when consuming content is actually platonic, with the few ships I do like being mostly queerplatonic (off the top of my head, I think the only actual romantic ship I have is Fitzgerald and his wife?), and all relationships being treated as roughly equally important

(And, if asked to list my favourite ships by order, it would have more to do with my favourite characters than actual ships lol)

Note: I’m on the romance-repulsed area/spectrum (for lack of a better word that I can think of at the moment) of AroAce so, like, that probably affects things lol

(That being said, it’s nice to see that BSD treats all relationships fairly equally and contributed me to liking the show so much!)

a response that i’ll make sure to factor in! i will say however that i have to disagree w you bc even as just friends or even going lower as just work acquaintances kunikida and dazai are written to have a lot deeper relationship than they actually let on. none of this is elaborated on in the anime or manga bc the series’s main focus is atsushi for the beginning but if you read dazai’s entrance exam you get kunikidas entire inner monologue abt dazai and it’s very interesting how quickly they latch onto each other. dazai’s reasons are more tragic than he lets on i believe, but until we get that directly from him we can only assume he gets so close to the ada and kunikida especially bc kuni reminds him of odasaku. that’s a whole tangent i can go on separately but suffice to say it’s the reason why he fell hard and followed him like a motherless duckling everywhere in the beginning, bc he saw oda’s unwavering resolve and firm ideals in that man. despite being in a conscienceless world that weighs survival against humanity, both oda and kunikida fight to ensure their personal beliefs are still held up. dazai finds that admirable in both men

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Dazai to Odasaku about Akutagawa: "If I'd left him to his own devices, he would've ended up a slave to his own powers until he destroyed himself."

Hey hi what does that mean???

I'm probably way overthinking it but it just reminded me of when I first started my watch of the anime and we get to the opening scene with Akutagawa and Rashoumon (I can't find the exact scene but here's something similar from DA)

He implies he's not attacking with her so much as he's reining her in from devouring everything - and originally I thought, hey, that's a cool premise. It seems like there's something odd about this guy's ability; he's talking about it like it's almost sentient.

But then it didn't really get brought up again so I kind of forgot about it.

And sure maybe all the above line means is that his ability is naturally attuned to violence and he could grow more bloodthirsty, etc - but if that's the case, why bring him into the mafia?

So I started thinking about Dead Apple (which I really need to rewatch...) and how there was this focus on Atsushi as the "antithesis" of special abilities. And I just kind of thought about that because... wouldn't that title go to Dazai...?

But then it's stated that Atsushi's claws can cut through any ability... including Rashoumon (he also has some connection to the Book which absolutely must be related somehow but I'm skipping over that for the purposes of this post). Dazai describes Akutagawa as "a sword without a sheath". Is Atsushi part of the sheath? It would make a degree of sense: after all, we get a sharp reminder in the movie of how imperative it is that Dazai nullifies Chuuya's ability - it is literally needed to keep Corruption in check.

But why such a focus on self-destruction and sheathing... unless there really is something dangerous that needs to be reined in? That needs to be controlled.

I think about the dragon in Dead Apple called the "chaos of all special abilities".

I think about how the tiger and dragon are another representation of yin and yang. I think about how Atsushi and Akutagawa so clearly have that yin-yang dynamic. I think about how Rashoumon very well has the appearance of a hungry snake - or a dragon.

I think about how the focal point of an entire altered timeline was the prevention of Akutagawa from joining the mafia and the taking of his sister. And then I wonder why Akutagawa always seems to factor into Dazai's plans.

I think there's something special about Akutagawa's ability.

I think that something special, whatever it is, is very dangerous - more than we know.

[abysslll]

i wanna hear everything all abt them pleabse,,,,,, fuck actually watching the show im gonna consume it through friend rambles in chapters

hehe sounds good >:D

so i've been thinking lately about dazai, and more specifically like. his mental state. bc even if you don't know much about the show you probably know at this point that his main quirky character trait is that he's always trying to commit suicide (like he's literally introduced in the show by attempting drowning and getting rescued by atsushi)

So~! let's go through this stage-by-stage shall we.

the earliest we know of dazai's past is that he met mori when he was 14 after a suicide attempt. i assume mori was working as a doctor in the hospital he was in, but anyway, we don't know a ton. apparently the Day After he met mori, mori assassinated the previous port mafia boss and had dazai become his witness and right hand man. in the like two scenes that are shown about this dazai looks super soulless, and not necessarily upset or even remotely concerned that any of this is happening. so like, definitely not great stuff going on up there.

then, we have a year long timeskip to the fifteen light novel, where he's (you guessed it) fifteen. he's a lot more chill in this timeskip like personality-wise, honestly he does just act like your average teenager ("i'm borreddddd i don't wanna live anymoreeee" and "do you actually think living is worth it 🤨"), but his interactions with chuuya are a lot more in-depth to his character. he toys around with chuuya a lot, and clearly sees him as the epitome of humanness (unlike him), because of how energetic and earnest he is

two scenes in particular i want to point out here: first, the scene where dazai stops in front of an injured enemy and basically goes "hey you're bleeding out and will probably die in five minutes. do you want me to kill you so you don't have to suffer?" when the enemy says yes, dazai picks up his gun and shoots him like six times. i'm just gonna link the scene because it's a masterpiece and gives me chills (yes it's literally just ten seconds of gunshot noises shh)

but so like. Holy Shit™, you know? he's fifteen and not even officially a member of the mafia at this point. what happened. why is he like this? the only reason he stopped shooting is because chuuya kicked the gun out of his hands, and even then it's like. clear that he wanted to keep going. like. hm. concerning.

the SECOND scene is just the part where chuuya tells him and rimbaud that he's arahabaki (for context, arahabaki is a literal god that blew up a large section of yokohama in canon). dazai is dumbfounded by this revelation, not only because he didn't predict it despite predicting the majority of the events of fifteen, but also because it just doesn't make sense to him. as already established, he sees chuuya as like. the Meaning of humanity. he's so human. he has human emotions and human bonds and he's so heart-achingly alive, and yet here he is, revealing that he's only really existed for 8 years and that he's not even really a Person.

i think fifteen is actually the lowest point in dazai's life, because he's been working with mori for a year (mori is like. canonically a pedophile sadist who likes torturing people so. yk. there's some subtext to be taken from that.) and at that point didn't have any friends or anyone to associate with outside of mori. so meeting chuuya was his break and kind of set him up for the rest of his life, because no matter how terrible his life could become after that, he had someone to remind him of his own humanity.

ok next up, the dark era! the start of it all!

dazai is 18 in this arc, an executive of the mafia, and friends with two dudes, odasaku and ango. i don't remember a lot of his arc, so i'm gonna keep it kinda concise, but basically it opens with dazai in a bar with his friends talking about the shootout that he was involved in. he's injured, so they're all like, oh god did you get shot, but he just laughs and goes "nah i had to pee but i tripped and fell in a ditch and got a lil banged up :(" (<- this actually happens i cannot make this shit up)

so it shows that he's still suicidal, but again, his personality has shifted. rather than being completely apathetic and uncaring, he's enjoying himself and he's having fun with his new friends.

so blah blah, stuff happens that has nothing to do with his mental state, OH RIGHT ACTUALLY THERE'S THIS ONE SCENE. there's this scene where they're confronting a bbeg and the bbeg pulls a gun on dazai. dazai not only ignores this threat but actively Walks Towards The Bbeg, calling him a coward for not shooting him when his forehead is up against the barrel. so that's something.

also there's all this shit with akutagawa and the cycle of trauma that dazai passed onto him, but i'm talking specifically about dazai and that could be a whole nother essay on its own so i'm not going to touch on that.

ANYWAY, so odasaku ends up getting shot. dazai panics and runs up to him, (iirc) trying to stop the bleeding and begging him not to die. and then odasaku says fucking THIS to him:

(the ending is a meme i apologize this was the best version i could find 😭) (also tldr in case you Don't want to watch all this i'm surprised if you're even reading this far: "whether you're fighting for good or fighting for evil you'll never be happy, so go and do good person things even so")

and you can see how shaken up dazai is. this is the most emotion he's ever shown in the show, like. Period. odasaku was his best friend and he was also extraordinarily human, he had a future ahead of him and kids and he died because of mori, and his final words to him are literally just telling him he's never going to be happy. why wouldn't this make him cry. anyway i digress

so, because of this, dazai ditches the mafia, and he goes and joins the armed detective agency.

from here on, you get Present Day Dazai, who is an actual clown and uses humor as a coping mechanism. he tries to kill himself basically every day, to the point that when he calls his coworkers telling them that he's on the verge of death, all of them just tell him congratulations and hang up on him.

BUT. but.

if you take notice of his suicide attempts throughout present day, you can see that absolutely none of them are serious. attempted drowning in a shallow river (twice), mentioning a nice support beam and how good it would be to hang from, a Literal Non-lethal Torture Technique, eating sus mushrooms--they're all attention catching, but not particularly deadly.

and here is where i hit you with my thesis: dazai doesn't want to die anymore.

he might joke about it, he might try it sometimes, and yeah, he;s still incredibly fucked up, but he doesn't want to die. he's learned to fight for the side of good, and he's living not only for odasaku but also for all of his friends. after meeting atsushi in the first season, his suicide attempts also dwindle until theyre practically nonexistent in the later seasons. this might just be the author toning down on some incredibly dark jokes, but! it also might just mean dazai is finding his will to go on.

this theory is solidified by dazai's last few lines in season 4. even though his suicide attempts are coming to an end, it's clear that he still views humans as dull and confusing creatures that he doesn't understand and doesnt want to understand. but, when fyodor gives his speech about how weak humans are and how god looks down on them, what does he say?

"humans aren't nearly as boring as you make them out to be."

i think the true character development of bsd is dazai's growing fascination with being alive. it starts before the present plotline even begins, and it continues on in stride just as easily. when he meets atsushi, dazai admires his conviction and will to keep going. it inspires him, and it causes him to keep going.

i really do think at this point that dazai's final line in the series will be something along the lines of "ehh i dont really feel like suiciding anymore" or something like that bc i mean. just LOOK at this development

[monstersqueen]

i think, if you're determined to think ango is the bad guy in the dark era novel, you can read the break up scene as him trying to keep the advantage and be able to keep spying on the mafia even after having be exposed. every thing he says about his position in the special division could be a lie.

reminder : ango might not be a good enough liar to leave no holes in his stories that would fool dazai, but he IS a good enough actor to fool him.

ango is a great actor, you should reread the mushitaro jailbreaks chapters for proof. amazing actor really. so yeah you can distrust everything you think you see him feel because he IS able to fake it.

anyway this post is not about ango actually. it's about odasaku getting things wrong. by which i mean i was thinking about this sentence in the break up scene :

Ango shook his head, seemingly hurt.

i love the 'seemingly'. also it made me think about the dazai-odasaku confrontation in beast because wow. i haven't actually read beast, i have just skimmed this scene, and anyway :

His eyes were so genuine that I almost started to believe him, but this was the Port Mafia’s legendary boss. Lying to a two-bit detective like me was probably easier than breathing for him. I tightened my grip around my gun.

and

Damn it. I couldn’t even trust my own eyes anymore. I’d probably do better at negotiating and getting out of here alive if I gouged them out.

it makes me want to scream because dazai has zero barriers here. he's as genuine as can be. entirely 100% honest, feelings all out there to be seen, no intention to keep anything back, vulnerable as you are here where you're somewhere safe with people you trust -

and odasaku doesn't believe one bit of it. he doesn't have any of the context that would allow him to trust what he sees ! but knowing dazai is holding nothing back and is being met with suspicion and hostility -

it kind of makes me want to curl in a corner and cry, honestly

[c-h-pictures]

I gave the abridged plot of Dead Apple to someone who had never heard of Bungo Stray Dogs during Explorers tonight.

Here are the highlights.

Me: We start with Dazai and Chuuya killing people, then finding Shibusawa, then Chuuya's "I want my friends back" and shibusawa's like "too bad, bitch they're dead" so Chuuya goes "fuck you, i'ma activate corruption" and Dazai's like "are you sure this is a good idea?" And Chuuya's like "fuck you, my friends are dead" and then we see Fyodor stood on top of a roof and he just laughs.

-

Me: Them we meet the agency in a meeting and Kunikida's like "people are killing themselves and we think this man is why" and it's Shibusawa from the opening, surprise bitch, he's not dead. And Ranpo's just like "I don't care, I'm just going to put my snacks in a fucking safe"

-

Me: [Name of person in team] come here, [other person] finished her laces. Picks him up from the river lock with one hand and carries him down to the path

[Guy I'm explaining the plot to]: Holy shit, you did that with one arm?

Me: That's not important - then Atsushi goes to the cemetery and finds Dazai at a grave stone asks if it was someone he loved and Dazai's like "of course not, if I was, I would've died with them" and then we see that it's Odasaku's grave stone and everyone's like "oh no, Odasaku" and some people actually ship Dazai and Oda but I never understood why because when I first watched Dark Era, I thought Dazai was sixteen, then found out he was actually older but still had all of the interactions in my head as a 16 year old probable orphan and an adult that adopted every orphan he met.

-

Me: And then Atsushi and Kyoka find Kunikida and Kunikida's like "so, turns out we were all wrong as shit."

-

Me: Then Akutagawa turns up and is just like "Weretiger, you're dumb and that's why you didn't get your ability back"

The guy: Who are akutagawa and Weretiger?

Me: Atsushi's equivalent of Dazai's Chuuya and Atsushi himself.

-

Me: And then it turns out that Shibusawa actually died and didn't realize, but I don't know when he died because it feels like it was set a decade ago, but Atsushi only looks a year younger, so I don't know.

-

Me: And then it turns out that A5158 is Chuuya and everyone's like "oh my god, Chuuya!" And he goes all i'ma activate corruption again and ango's like "you fucking dumbass we don't know where Dazai and he's most likely dead" and Chuuya's like "yeah, well I'm gay, so I know he's a live, fuck you!"

The guy: He says fuck you a lot, eh?

Me: That is the one sentence he has never said in canon.

-

Me: And then there's a fucking dragon that came from Shibusawa, who is, need I remind you, a fucking skull with a horn.

-

Me: And the dragon's the style of a Chinese dragon, so it might be some sort of reference because the author Nakajima did some stuff with Chinese stuff but even the author doesn't know what's going on at this point.

-

Me: And then Dazai and Chuuya disappear off to be gay and lazy.

The guy: Really?

Me: You have no idea how hard the animators tried to not have Chuuya faceplant into Dazai's crotch and they should've just gone with it because now, when Chuuya passes out, his chin goes up.

-

Me: And then at the end Akutagawa comes up and sees Chuuya and is like "where's Dazai" and Chuuya's like "fuck if I know, he just abandoned me. Look, I can't move, carry me. I'm short and tiny and you can lift me" and that's the plot.

[ckjbun]

What kind of ability would Higuchi have and its potential name?

Hi to whoever is reading this! This is my first self-written post so I’m still figuring out how all this works and I’m sorry, if it gets a bit chaotic. Anyways, recently, I came across a question regarding Higuchi from Bungou Stray Dogs. It was about what Higuchi’s ability would be called and what type it would be. So I won’t go into details whether she has an ability or not. I believe she has since she is named after an author (and Asagiri himself kinda confirmed it via Twitter). Thus, I just want to write my thoughts on the potential names and kind of ability. 

Since abilities in the BSD world are always named after rather well-known works of the authors, I compared some of the famous works of Higuchi Ichiyo. Now mind you, I haven’t read her works myself. I mostly relied on comparing summaries and analyses of them. Since there are not a lot of summaries, I read two lesser-known stories myself. I will add the links of the summaries/analyses of the works down below. However, while comparing I found two works that would fit Higuchi. Now, first what do I mean by “fit”? Well, it might be best to start explaining what I think about the type of Higuchi’s ability.  

I believe Higuchi has not an offensive type of ability. Nothing like Atsushi’s, Akutagawa’s, Kyouka’s etc. If she had, I’m sure she would have used it already, since she’s fighting a lot with her guns, why wouldn’t she use her ability as an addition, why would she hide it? There are two possibilities why we haven’t seen her ability yet. First possibility would be that her ability is not visible like Odasaku’s or Ango’s, maybe it’s even an ability that she hasn’t even discovered, just like Fukuzawa hasn’t realized he has one before the ADA. Second would be that she can use her ability only under stringent conditions. And I believe it’s the latter, hear me out. 

Remember this scene from Chapter 14? Higuchi reaches out to hold Akutagawa’s hand but then pulls back because she remembered him saying that he doesn’t need her help. Now, you could argue that holding the hands of injured loved ones is a gesture of closeness, a way to show them your support, a way to tell them that you’re staying by their side. And Aku doesn’t want this support, so that’s why she retracted her hand. But something bothers me here. In this scene it looks like Aku slapped Higuchi’s hand away, doesn’t it? And then he says, he doesn’t need her help, instead of support. I know, you could say support and help are almost the same. But to me, help is something that you do more “actively”, while support can be something passive. What if Higuchi’s hand represents this “active” help? And what would actively help Akutagawa in this very moment? A healing ability for example. Coincidentally, in the panel before, Hirotsu asks Higuchi what power she posses to make them [the black lizard] obey. Is this a hint that there is a hint about Higuchi’s ability in the next panel? Maybe. But let’s look at the next panel. It’s the title page of this chapter. 

As you can see, Higuchi has a bandage wrapped around her leg and they seem connected to Akutagawa. In this chapter, it is revealed that Higuchi contemplated about leaving the Port Mafia but her reason for staying is implied to be Akutagawa. This is perfectly symbolized by the bandages in this title page. The bandages coming from Akutagawa are holding her leg back, stopping her from walking away from the PM. But maybe there is a second interpretation? If you’re looking at Akutagawa’s left hand, the bandages are starting to come off. What if this means Akutagawa is healing and doesn’t need the bandages anymore? Instead it wraps around Higuchi’s leg, restricting her movement. What if Higuchi’s ability allows her to help someone else (doesn’t have to be necessarily a healing ability) but in exchange she needs to sacrifice something? Anyways, I think she has an ability which allows her to help other people in a non-combat way. With this in mind, I was looking through several works of Higuchi Ichiyo, searching for something that “fits”. Meaning that I was looking for parallels and themes in irl Higuchi’s stories that could be “converted” into an ability. Just like the coat that the protagonist of Rashomon stole in order to now die of hunger was used as Akutagawa’s ability which seems to be able to eat everything, or like the wish that one’s brother does not die in war in Thou Shalt Not Die became Yosano’s ability and serving as a basis of her background story. Anyways, I’d like to present the works that could be used for Higuchi’s ability and draw some parallels. 

1. The Thirteen’s Night

The story revolves around a poor woman, called Oseki. Thanks to her marriage to a rich man, her family was able to live a better life and her brother found a job. But on the thirteenth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (one of two special nights for moon viewing), Oseki visited her parents with the intention on asking her parents for approval for divorcing her husband. Before entering, she overhears her parents talking about how lucky they are that they have such good children who don’t cause trouble and that they are very thankful for this marriage. Hesitating at first, she finally goes in and admits that she wants to divorce her husband because he abuses her mentally. He insults her constantly and tells her that she's worthless, stupid, and uneducated. Her mother is outraged. But her father, even though he acknowledges her suffering, reminds her what her husband has done for this family and that she would lose her son since women couldn’t get custody of their children after a divorce at that time. Agreeing with her father, Oseki decides to go back to her husband: 

“It was selfish of me to think of a divorce. You're right. If I couldn't see Tarō, there'd be no point in living. I might flee my present sorrows, but what kind of future would I have? If I could think of myself as already dead, that would solve everything… Then Tarō would have both his parents with him. It was a foolish idea I had, and I've troubled you with the whole unpleasant business. From tonight I will consider myself dead — a spirit who watches over Tarō. That way I can bear Isamu's cruelty for a hundred years to come.” 

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

Just like BSD Higuchi contemplates leaving the PM, the protagonist here wants to leave her husband. The PM is like the husband. It allows her to support herself and probably her family (at least we saw that she has a sister). But there is constant abuse. Akutagawa is clearly the biggest source of abuse that we can see. But it’s not only him. In Chapter 14, Mori asks her if she is really suited for this job. Telling her indirectly that she is useless or that she is too weak for the PM. Later, you can see the Black Lizard doubting her capabilities, even threatening her. But just like Oseki she stays because of a loved one. What really concerns me is Oseki saying that she will consider herself as a dead spirit watching over Tarō. What if Higuchi, in order to use her ability, has to sacrifice part of her lifespan? Or maybe she loses a feeling? Like e.g. she loses the ability to feel happiness, making her a bit more dead inside? If you draw this parallel, you could also say that when ‘consider myself dead’ is the condition of the ability, then ‘watching over Tarō’ is a hint to Higuchi’s ability. An ability that allows her to watch over and protect her loved ones? This theme fits Higuchi perfectly, since a big topic in Higuchi’s story line is how she wants to help and protect Akutagawa. So it makes sense that her ability might be something that would help him (**intensely squinting at the recent events in the manga, especially chapter 88**). Moving on to the second possibility before the pain starts to set in. 

2. Takekurabe (literally: "Comparing heights", "Child's Play" in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, "Growing Up" in the Edward Seidensticker translation)

Now this is considered as Higuchi Ichiyo’s masterpiece. So the chances are high that the ability is based on this story. The story accompanies a group of children who live next to the Yoshiwara quarter. There are two rival gangs: the main street gang (’omote-machi’), lead by Shōtarō, a cultivated young boy who is the grandson of the owner of a pawnshop, and the back street gang (’yoko-chō’), lead by Chōkichi, the impulsive firefighter’s son. (Maybe a parallel to the ADA with (cultivated) Fukuzawa and the PM with Mori who’s a doctor which belongs into the same category of occupation as firefighters?). Among the main street gang, there was Midori, popular and pretty, who lives in the brothel where her sister works. Shōtarō probably has a crush on her. But Midori probably has feelings for the other main character, Nobu, the son of a Buddhist priest. Even though he returns her feelings, he distances himself from her out of his self-consciousness. Later he joins the rival gang after repeated request by Chōkichi. Anyways, they spend their days very care-free, attending school, playing with each other after school. One day, some conflict arises between the gangs and Midori, while protecting someone else, gets slapped by Chōkichi with a sandal. He then proceeds to tell her that their gang is backed by no other than Nobu. Midori feels humiliated and stops going to school. Soon she also stops playing with the other children. After some time passed, Midori is seen with her hair all done up. She has become a distant, lady-like young woman. This probably means that she got her first period and is old enough to become a prostitute or that she just had her first client as a courtesan. Little by little, the children grow up. Nobu is sent off to be trained as a priest and Shōtarō has come to accept the responsibilities of his family’s shop. 

There are several themes in this story that I’d like to point out, namely unrequited love, Midori’s transformation and underlying unchangeable fates. The first one is obviously a big theme in Higuchi’s story. Midori and Nobu are unable to express their love for each other because of their positions in life. Just like Higuchi is unable to express her feelings for Akutagawa. If you want some hope, AkuHigu shippers, maybe Aku has also feelings for Higuchi but is still very confused and self-conscious about it just like Nobu. Anyways, because of their positions in the PM, it would make everything very complicated if Higuchi confessed. Additionally, Midori feels like she was humiliated by her love when she got slapped by that sandal. I’m sure that Higuchi gets humiliated by Akutagawa a lot. The next theme is Midori’s transformation from a tomboyish to a lady-like, distant woman. We all know Higuchi looks really badass in her suits. But again, look at the title page of chapter 14. Higuchi is dressed up all prettily and lady-like in a dress, and her hair is done all up. Just like Midori after her transformation. Midori’s transformation stands for Midori accepting her occupation as a prostitute even though she doesn’t want to. In this chapter, we see that Higuchi has accepted her job in the PM, even though she doesn’t want to do this job. At the end Shōtarō sings the following: 

"Growing up,

she plays among the butterflies

and flowers.

But she turns sixteen,

and all she knows

is work and sorrow."

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

I don’t know about you guys, but to me that necklace that Higuchi is wearing in that title page looks like a butterfly to me. This is really farfetched but maybe this could be a hint about when Higuchi joined the Port Mafia? However, the biggest theme in Takekurabe is the underlying unchangeable fate of the children. Shōtarō was destined to become the next owner of the pawnshop, Nabu was destined to become a Buddhist monk and Midori would become a prostitute. Maybe this gives us some insight into why Higuchi joined the PM? Maybe one of her parents was a PM member? I also like to think that since Aku is in the PM, since she wants to be with him, she can’t but stay in the PM, and this is her fate. Nevertheless, fate is a central theme in Takekurabe. This is the reason why I think, if the ability is based on this story, Higuchi’s ability would be something like changing fates. Changing fate of someone else but in return she must sacrifice something. 

Okay, so this post has become quite long. But I still wanted to mention two other stories Yamizakura (Flowers at Dusk) and The Sound of the Koto where I saw a lot of parallels. I just want to briefly tell you the story of The Sound of the Koto. In this story a woman abandons her son in order to leave her husband who has a bad reputation. The husband then turns into an alcoholic and dies later at a party because of alcohol intoxication. The boy becomes hardened to the world, despises his mother for leaving them, and even contemplates suicide. The story shifts then to a woman playing the koto.  I want to give you an excerpt for the end of this story: 

“On this night the sound of the woman’s playing helped another to be reborn. Through fourteen springs and fourteen autumns, the boy had been buffeted by the rains. His heart had gradually toughened until it had become as hard as stone. No arrow could penetrate it. He seemed destined to follow the example of his father, to die among the fields or in the mountains, where his remains would be bleached by the elements. Some were convinced the boy’s life would end in prison chains, while his bad name spread to every roadside. 

But now, at once, the tenderness buried in his heart was freed by the midnight strains of the koto. For the first time in many years, he felt tears come to his eyes. Or were they jewelled drops of dew? He would not exchange them for anything. 

He, who had known neither love nor compassion, and who had no idea what the player of these refrains could even look like, felt a moment of happiness as the music drifted over the garden wall. […]

[…] How could a stormy wind blow now? The clouds in his heart had disappeared. Once more the woman began to play. The sound of the koto would be his friend for a hundred years, the seed for a hundred years of yearning. He had entered a world where a hundred different flowers wer in bloom. 

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

This boy somehow just reminds me so much of Akutagawa. Just like this boy, without any parents and home, wandering around in this world, Akutagawa has become hardened to the world. I’d like to think that Higuchi’s ability could free Akutagawa from his pain, just like the sound of koto does for this boy. 

So, now I said everything I wanted to say, I guess. If there is really anyone reading this and reading this until here, thank you so much! I appreciate it very much that you kept reading even though my thoughts are probably quite chaotic. I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or weird sentence structures or anything like this. English is not my first language. I’m very happy, if you could point out any mistakes or have any suggestion for improvement. Lastly, I just want to remind you that these are my thoughts, I love discussing so feel free to comment your thoughts but I’d like you to keep in mind that there is not necessarily a wrong or right, theories are theories, interpretations are interpretations. Everyone has another interpretation. They can only be proven wrong by Asagiri sensei himself. Until then just keep the discussions friendly and tolerant towards other people’s thoughts and opinions. 

Sources:

All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans

Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口 一葉)

Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"

In The Shade Of Spring Leaves: The Life Of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine Of Her Best Stories, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

In the Shade of Spring Leaves – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 1

“Flowers at Dusk” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 2

“Encounters on a Dark Night” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 3

“Child’s Play” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 4

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY

The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)

Female Subject, Interrupted in Higuchi Ichiyō's "The Thirteenth Night"

GAME OF TRADITIONS: TRADITION IN THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT AND DIARY OF A MAD MAN

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ IN MODERN JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN DRESS: Modern Japanese versions (gendaigoyaku) of Higuchi Ichiyō’s Takekurabe and their Relationship with English, Castilian Spanish and Catalan Translations

Separate Ways Summary

Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”

Flowers at Dusk

Nigorie (Wikipedia)

From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō's "Troubled Waters"

[tender-rosiey]

Hi! I hope you're doing fine and taking care of yourself. If it's okay with you, can you do relationship headcanons with Port Mafia! Dazai? Thank you!

❥ PM!Dazai Dating Headcanons

ᴀ/ɴ: why does notes make me think that I wrote a lot but this damn app is like haha no; anyways I hope you enjoyed this, dear 💘

Let’s bear in mind that Dazai was more closed off in the Port Mafia

So it will take furthermore time to even get on his trusted side of people

And he will deny the fact that he got feelings for you after you two trust each other

So you will just have to lure him to accepting it

Kind actions with no ulterior motives and just be there to support him

Now when you guys get together

As I said before he might take 6 to 8 months to wholeheartedly open up his heart to you

We can’t blame him tho, man has went through a lot :(

He will gradually start increasing how clingy he is but to a healthy extent

Like at the beginning it might be more of hand holding and an arm around your waist

He would like to show people that you are his and that you are taken

And it reminds him that he isn’t alone anymore and that he has you by his side

But as I was saying it will slowly get to him demanding hugs every 20 minutes because he likes hugging you

It gives him a welcoming warmth

Ayo everyone your girl’s love language is physical affection

I don’t think he would like when you go on missions and stuff

What if something happens to you?

What then?

Does he have to endure the loss of another person?

Does he want something to trick him to thinking that he is the reason everyone around him is suffering?

No, and he won’t take the risk of losing you when he has an option not to

He does prefer that even if you go on a mission that he is with you

As you can probably guess it’s that so he can make sure nothing happens out of plan

Now that we got the sad stuff out of the way

Let’s move onto fluffy things ;)

I think he would give you kisses at the most random times and even inappropriate times

In the middle of a meeting?

Kiss

You are cooking?

Kiss

You are arguing with someone?

Kiss

When Chuuya joins he teases him mercilessly and proudly comes to tell you the story of his “accomplishment” everyday right after said incident

“Y/N I dropped a bucket of sardine and sewer water on Chuuya! :D”

*obnoxious angry gremlin noises from said chihuahua*

Sometimes you might find Dazai staring at you blankly

But DONT misunderstand that

It’s just him thinking about the fact if he deserves you or not if he is allowed to actually enjoy life :(

Which brings me to the part that I think Dazai would want reassurance and comfort yes

But without making it obvious

Like a “you are strong and I am here for you”

Not a “you are vulnerable so I am supporting you” type of comfort

He doesn’t like vulnerability and/or showing a weakness

So just hug him and whisper sweet nothings to him

It will slowly convince him and that he indeed does deserve to be happy

And there is a value to life even if it’s as simple as making memories

And that now his memories can finally be happy and full of light rather than the darkness and emptiness he has been feeling for a time now

Moving on

He would love when you and Odasaku talk together

It makes him happy or rather the more I am trying to find is content that two of his most trusted people are getting along

You sometimes gang up on ango, all the three of you together

And at the times you are not with them in Bar Lupin then when he gets home he will tell you all about what happened

“Me and Odasaku had just came from a mission and then hugged Ango and he was screaming because we were dirty <3”

I think Dazai would love cuddling both in PM and the ADA

Most preferably when you are laying on top of him and he just has his arms around you

Another one is saved for the moments he feels particularly bothered and vulnerable

It’s when he is facing you but slides down a bit that his face is facing your chest so he can bury himself in it

Probably because he doesn’t want you to see him when he is weak, but not for the reason of not trusting you

Rather that he just wants to give you his best him

Dazai deals with jealousy—the same way he does now

Someone hitting on you?

Cheerfully approaches the person and slides his arm around your waist then pulls you close

“Hello there, what buisness might you have with my lover?”

and proceeds to shake hands with the other person

Almost crushing it as a warning ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That’s exactly why people should take the hint

TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY HIPS BEFORE I PUNCH YOU IN THE LIPS STOP YOUR STARING AT MY—

The good times of these songs

Now back to the sad stuff cause I am not sparing you today in the name of making this longer

When he witnesses Odasaku’s death and Ango’s betrayal is a day when he would just like to rant about everything

He doesn’t normally show too much feelings and he probably needed to vent, after all his two most trusted friends are gone

Then he would like to be held by you for the rest of the day

A silent reminder that you are here to stay

He also won’t hesitate in asking you to leave the Port Mafia with him

And will be happy and joyful if you do accept but if it’s the latter..

Then we will save this for another time

AHAHAHAHA

BYE BYE

LOVE YOU ALL

“What did my lovers do to you so you can leave them on a cliffhanger?”

I am feeling evil today

༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ

copyright © 2020 tender-rosiey

do not copy or plagiarize or you will be reported

[bunchofstraydogs]

Dazai Osamu in a relationship

Just a lil warning before you proceed: dis a chonky one, kay?

○

Depending on why Dazai is in a relationship affects how he will act with his partner.

If Dazai is curious about them, enough to enter the relationship,

it will last at best a handful of months, at worst about 2 weeks. Enough to get to know them, test them out in terms of reaction, values, honesty and morality, and get bored of them. Thus leading to him braking up with the person or, if he predicts that the person would react badly and cause a scene, get them to break up with him. But even that is dubious because i doubt Dazai would make the relationship official. He would probably just act as if they're dating, leading the partner to believe they actually are without having to verbally confirm anything, and then as soon as he loses interest, pulls a now-you-see-me-now-you-don't and disappears with little to no notice. Hey, he never said they were dating, he calls everyone Belladona, the fault is that person's for being delusional. Yes, he is an asshole, what did you expect of Dazai?

But if Dazai is in love?? Unrecognizable.

I will make a separate headcanon(? whatever these are I'm writing) on what i think a person should be like to sweep Dazai of his feet, but now i want to concentrate on what he would be like in such a relationship.

Is it possible for Dazai to fall in love? Absolutely. He loved Odasaku and Ango, perhaps not romantically, but he's definitely capable of love. People like him- aware of the world's cruelty, dealing with demons and guilt, roaming the world for the sole reason that they haven't died yet, hoping to find something worthwhile they can feel the need to be selfish about and call theirs; don't fall in love, they crash desperately. It takes a lot for them to feel those emotions, but when they do, they can never really let them go.

He would try to act as he usually does in public and try approaching the subject of his trepidation and disarray in many different ways. Distancing himself and going as far to actively avoid them would just come back and bite him in his boney ass. To effectively avoid someone, you need to know their schedule, hobbies, interests, habits, etc. And having learned that would just constantly remind him of them, they'd never leave his mind. He'd look on the clock, see the time and know that they'll be in that specific class because he knows their whole curriculum and class schedule/ at the grocery because they're surly out of their favourite snack/ doing black laundry and yes, he knows unnecessary details about them as well. After that disastrous failure, he comes back running and commences new ways to handle that person. These beta testings are for him as much as they are for them. Just how much and what exactly does he feel for that person, what buttons can he push and which ones he doesn't want to.

When i say Dazai in love would be unrecognizable, i mean it. Not superficially, where everyone can see it, but where it matters.

After doing his best to rail in the unfamiliar feelings under control, going as far as using some of Mori's techniques, the realization of the situation he's found himself in hits him hard.

He comes back as if nothing happened.

The deadpan that person gives him and a "Are you done with your bullshit or do you need some more time to brood about issues you made with yourself?" He doesn't even blink, "Oh, my Belladona! Does that mean you've missed me? Were you worried about me as well??"

All of this was said in your typical, Dazai maniac style, the only difference is that he actually wants an answer. He wants to hear the confirmation, in whatever form it may come- he can read between the lines and body language, just give him something to work with. He's desperate.

While the public Dazai persona won't change, his inner musings and his approach to the love interest will.

Osamu will, sometimes sneakily, usually not so subtly, immerse himself into their daily life. Get them accustomed and used to his presence. What this will do is cause a sense of familiar coexistence, that of people living together; make the person unconsciously continue to include him in their activities; learn to depend on him (not in a unhealthy, yandere way, but if their car brakes down or they're feelinh unsafe, Dazai will be the first person they feel the urge to call) because Dazai can be reliable and he will be reliable for that special person. He will also be the first person they share good news with as well, because if someone is always there for and with you, it's only natural.

Make no mistakes, Dazai is transparent only when he wants to be.

The reasons he does this is because 1) he wants to gauge their reaction to his great interest in them, 2) mask his subtle advances which are the most important part of integrating himself into their life, 3) to get that person in the position where he needs them to be for him to move on to the next phase of his plan.

Now, i may have said plan, but that's a somewhat loose term since what he'll do next depends on their reaction. He definitely has a rough outline of the whole thing in his head, but he's also adaptable and ready to react accordingly to whatever they may throw his way.

[I will be using l/i or LI for "love interest" bc I'm tired of writing that person or whatever, okay? Good.]

Once his l/i made effort to go out of their way for him or commit any type of love language, basically:

act of service- pay for his bills, massage his shoulders, buy crab based food or alchohol he really likes for their own fridge so that he can have it when he's over (often) even if they don't like those things especially then

words of affirmation- thank you Dazai, how was your sleep?, please take better care of yourself i can't help you if you're not making an effort

physical touch- ruffle his hair, lean on him when tired, hold his hand or wrist because it's crowded and it would be a pain to search for you Dazai

gift giving- "I noticed you were running out of bandages", "I bought you food, figured your lost case would forget to eat", "saw this mackerel, reminded me of you^^" "BELLADONA, NO >:("

quality time- spending nights with him because he has insomnia, playing games at the arcade, drive around town run from the cops

He would be overwhelmed. In the best way possible. He'd feel overwhelmingly good and pleasant and warm and worried.

He didn't feel like this, ever.

Not even with Odasaku and Ango. They were probably his first friends, but that's the thing. They didn't make his heart race, they didn't throw him into panic attacks, they didn't overwhelm him, they didn't keep him up at night because he couldn't get them out of his head or completely monopolise his mind during the day.

He gets panic attacks.

A lot of them, actually. Usually he can fake being fine, but sometimes he hyperventilates and can't breathe and all that he can smell is the blood on his hands and his chest is as hollow as l/i's eyes. He knows what can happen. They can and will be used against him. Hell, it could even be an accident. He is vulnerable just because they exist and he can't do shit about it.

He could do his thing: pull some strings, have them move to another country and never speak to each other ever again. He has the power, but he lacks the strength. He could do it, but he doesn't want to. His thumb won't press the numbers, his voice died out, his mind went blank.

The wind blows and it carries their scent with it. The bells ring and it's their laughter that resonates within. His bandages ruffle and it's the warmth of their touch he feels. He's dying, but he's not just ready yet to leave. Hopefully, Odasaku will patiently keep a seat for him.

That was what gave him away, actually.

That's when Ranpo realised, with zero doubt, that Dazai Osamu is in love.

Dazai could be going on and on about suicide.

Enter l/i.

"I found an amazing tree yesterday with really sturdy branches. I wanted to test them out today, but i promised l/i I'd go to the new bakery with them today and who would they go with if i die?? Unacceptable!"

Ranpo: "A new bakery? I'll happily take your place."

"UNACCEPTABLE!!"

With every panic attack he feels stranded on an island in the sea of death.

He's exhausted. For the first time he finally wants to escape alive. Then they walk in and the storm in the sea moves to his heart. And into his stomach and his hands and his knees.

"I'm here for you, Osamu. Everything is going to be fine."

His insomnia goes by a different name now.

It still keeps him up at night and makes him restless.

But this time, when he fills his nth glass of whiskey for the night, when the TV is muted and the trafic quiet, when he can hear their breathing beside him in their shared bed, he raises the glass to hope for the halcyon days.

●

Fucking finally. You think you're exhausted, you waste of bandages?? I have a final today I'm going to fail and actually wrote about your musky ass. You try doing that with my brain.

Hope you guys like it and if you made it this far, here's a cup of ☕ or 🍵, whichever you prefer. I wrote him as i see and envision him. Hope it all makes sense. He's a complicated character, but he is still human and he is not immune to emotions.

Have a good one~☆

I will probably come up with more things for him, because i doubt i covered everything, but for now this shall do.