#izaya paints

[ladsofsorrow24]

hito love?

NO,

PUPPY LOVE.

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

honestly, looking at izaya's life from a third person pov, it's just... sad? like.

here's this guy who touts himself as something akin to a god and a master manipulator and someone to be feared, and he IS very good at what he does, except... when you take a look at the rest of his life, you see a mid-20s man who has no friends, nobody who really likes him- his clients fear him, his secretary isn't fond of him, and the one friend he DOES have is honestly kind of a garbage friend. and when people draw attention to this, izaya goes on this spiel about how this friendship is so intricrate it can't possibly be understood by an outsider, but what's REALLY happening is that shinra routinely doesn't care for izaya on a personal level via ignoring and ostracizing him, and izaya kind of just. takes it up the ass

he sees everyone around him as an object and the sad thing is everyone, in turn, sees HIM as an object- less an actual living being and more an abstract concept, or at least something that only exists for others to gain something from. it's this vicious cycle of izaya keeping everyone at arm's length and denying his own humanity, which in turn leads to people also denying his humanity, unknowingly feeding into this fucked up cycle of self depracation that most likely started when he was a child- his parents didnt see him as a person, just a mouth to feed and later, a way to have the life they wanted while still appearing respectable- they had kids, just like society said they should, but theyre not obligated to care for them.

and the one person who DOES notice there is something unhealthy going on can't be assed to do anything about it- in volume 9, shinra explicitly says that he doubts izaya expects to live long enough to die of old age- celty actually agrees with him! celty not being assed about it i'd expect, she already hates izaya and doesn't actually know all that much about him, but shinra at least should realize that there's something off about the whole situation. wether thats out of apathy or he just genuinley doesnt believe izaya is being unhealthy, i don't know.

but as it stands, here's a man who insists he can't be manipulated and that he's in control, who's... routinely mistreated by his only friend whom he still talks to and expects some sort of closeness from, and who ultimatley not only loses control, but loses it so spectacularly that he ends up disabled, possibly permanently. i KNOW the spinoff novels said he couldve walked if he went to physical therapy, but "ability to walk" does NOT equal "not disabled anymore."

like... it's just. a sad life! it's a horribly sad existence of a perpetual misery cycle that izaya not only doesn't pull himself out from but actively perpetuates via constantly giving in to his worst impulses and keeping everyone away from him via said impulses, ensuring nobody will notice anything wrong, and that people who DO notice and DO realize its unhealthy, won't give enough of a shit about him to help

[mysticdragon3md3]

Durarara painted prototype Nendoroids revealed.

[thisteaistoosweet]

My entry for day 5 & 7 for the Shizaya week 2022. Yes I’m late. Even if technically i found out about it last week.

Enjoy the photo getting destroyed and some of the alts I made of the piece. There’s six more but nobody got time for that

[mathiastobewatsen]

where should i put this izaya sticker my mom bought

[xartwrk]

Know Nothing Else by Izaya Tiji

[femmefaggot]

please i can fucking not be the person that looks too much into things not now

[wachamambo]

(FREE) izaya tiji x Lucki x Iayze type beat - "Broken"

[pythonteeth]

kuramerukagari / drrr crossover | drabble | G just a little scene that came to me and i wanted to share.

Shizuo's body freezes when Izaya turns at the sound of his voice. 

 Izaya—right?           Izaya, right!?

Only there’s something off. He doesn’t smell the same, something about the way his eyes widen behind the glasses resting on his nose. Sure, sure Izaya’s gone around in disguise before—but not like this.

 Recognition and confusion mirrors and twists through the other’s features just as it does through Shizuo’s, the grip on the street lamp in his hand wavers, he almost takes a step back. He should have. Because as soon as he turns to fully face Shizuo he’s striding towards him, brows pulled tight together—Izaya was never this good at acting, right?

                                                                               Izaya…..right?

The weight of the lamp post drops to the ground with a crash when Iseya’s hands find purchase on Shizuo’s cheeks. Shock painting his features to match the librarian pulling him down by the gentle hold to get a closer look. It's as if all the strength in his body instantly dissipated under the delicate hands framing his face. 

                                Had Izaya's hands always been this soft? 

The dust settles and he looks again at the man he assumed to be his enemy. At the way his eyes are blown on surprise and the soft curve of his mouth parted on the beginnings of a question. 

"Your hair." And there's a hand carding through Shizuo's hair. "What did you do to it?" 

The question is ridiculous. Bizarre and pulls Shizuo's face from shock to frustrated confusion. Sure, he always says he thinks Shizuo is a moron, but surely he doesn’t believe he’d fall for a trick like this? Before Shizuo can even begin to answer, the warmth leaves his cheeks as Iseya steps back, a pensive frown settling over the surface of his mouth. The pad of his index finger taps against his bottom lip thoughtfully and Shizuo’s eyes are drawn to the motion as he pulls himself back to standing to his full height. 

It's only now that he really takes Iseya in. His clothes, accessories. The mannerisms and even down to his hair, his features. They're all so close, so similar. He could be Izaya's Mirror image. But there's subtle differences.... 

The frown is not a mask, but a genuine look of concern, one he's only able to recognize because he's seen Izaya wear that same look exactly once. 

[azumasoroshi]

minidura chapter 4 react

simon i SWEAR ill get you out of there and that horrendous art style

also though. TEENAGE SHIZAYA CHAPTER LETS GO???? idk if narita made the minidura or if it's a separate illustrator but they are giving the FOOD rn

i was wondering where the official knowledge that simon forced izaya and shizuo to eat sushi together came from. i mean i guess this isnt official and it was probably stated in the anime somewhere but still, good to see it illustrated pff

AAAAAAAAA ive seen this image around tumblr but i didnt realize it was from minidura 😭 i thought it was fanart or smth (<-dumbass)

wait im actually going crazy over this akwjhkjdshs they're washing dishes together!!! now we just need them to do laundry and taxes and-

im going to go over the image limit this time on god

wow cant believe they're bathing each other too (<-delusional)

something about the first shizuo panel reminds me of aggretsuko. which is. actually. huh. arent they both like adults with anger issues. durarara aggretsuko au when

also deadass i forgot dennis existed until i read about him in a shizaya fanfiction and i was like "who's dennis" pfgfkhkd

so true though never throw kitchen knives kids

LMFAO HE JUST GAVE THEM MORE WORK INSTEAD OF RESPONDING

they're gonna be here all day at this rate. actually shizaya as fast food/restaurant staff au when because they'd have the stupidest rivalry known to man and i need it

fucking imagine shinra walks in and sees shizuo and izaya working by the counter

i hope izaya gets to eat fatty tuna by the end of this though. god knows he's gonna look cute as hell

made funnier by the fact that izaya at least definitely knows how to cook with how long he's been on his own and needed to feed his sisters

damn ive actually never seen someone's vein burst in a way where blood sprays out in anime akshGKJHJKSD thats impressive actually

dont look now but this may or may not inspire me to make a mermaid/pirate au (<-obsessed)

who needs kaiju battles when you can have blue fin tuna vs crab

they're literally never leaving this place bro they're gonna be stuck here for eternity. anyway here's a literary analysis of durarara pointing out why russia sushi is actually representative of dante's inferno /j

i want to read those blurbs so baddddd screams sobs bangs table

rip dennis dude he doesnt get paid enough to deal with shizaya

rippp time to listen to izaya pine hopelessly for the man he cant stop annoying for five seconds

simon had the right idea. too bad shizaya are shizaya

what is that face izaya. i cant tell if he's irritated that simon's right or irritated that simon cant understand how instinctual their hatred is or amused that simon thinks he and shizuo could be friends or amused because he thinks meaningless fighting is hilarious

oh......that kind of hurts actually

i can imagine izaya suggesting it as a joke and then lying in bed that night thinking about how it's never going to happen and it really sounds like a funny joke huh? (he is not crying)

i cant believe simon's been dealing with these bitches for like 7 years now like dude has the patience of a saint

😭give him his 50,000 yen simon

we can see that the crack in the sign is actually fixed now too ahhh time really flies when you're stuck in a relationship of mutual hatred

chibizaya is so cuteeeeeeeee

im sure he intended to paint himself that way in his recollection though pff

THATS RIGHT SHIZAYA BE THE PORCUPINES. SNUGGLE. DO IT

step aside erika, simon is the face of the shizaya nation now. especially with that "you just have a shizuo complex dont you" quote that i found the other day which i still havent recovered from

HAUDGHUSDH orihara izaya, pro unreliable narrator

hilarious how we never see tom's face. just his dreads lmfao

dennis and simon are so done with like izaya bro i think they can tell at this point that he's horrifically pining and has no healthy outlet for it. the bills go to him because they're bullying him

it'd be funny if they billed him 50,000 at the end actually pft

I KNEW WE'D GET THEM EATING TOGETHER!!! I HAD FAITH

they're so cute oh my god can i make that my header or something

10/10 chapter im going to punt izaya into a wall and get simon flowers

[tiaragqueen]

The Sleeping Horror

Yandere! Izaya Orihara x Female! Reader

Hello! It’s been years, hasn’t it? Idk if you guys missed me, but I do miss writing for other fandom beside genshin and twst. I was planning to make a whole new account, but I was too lazy so here I am! Let’s start with something ‘soft’ and fantastical, shall we? Inspired by the line in the Wikipedia page of his relationship with Shizuo: “Izaya also holds the belief that only humans possess the ability to slay monsters.” And Sleeping Beauty story (would you believe me if I told you I rewrote this three times?).

Admittedly, marriage wasn’t something Izaya really had in mind.

Not because he was a player, but because he was still young. Still adventurous. Still mischievous. He wanted to see more people, more kingdoms, more chaos. His position as a prince allowed him that much, but it also came with many responsibilities. And one of them was an arranged marriage.

Until now, Izaya wasn’t sure how to react when he found out he was already betrothed since birth. On one hand, he was somewhat irritated with the fate his father had oh-so-kindly lay out in front of him. Even as a child, he should at least have some freedom to choose his own suitor, right? It wasn’t as if he was a particularly naïve kid who thought suitors were equal to playmates. He’d always been intelligent, albeit quieter and more distant.

But on the other hand, you sounded quite… interesting. Yes, sounded, because he’d never seen you. There wasn’t even a painting of you somewhere in your castle. It was either you vanished or you only existed in people’s imagination. Then, his father, Shirou, disproved of the latter because he recounted a story that happened during your christening. Apparently, your father had enraged a wicked fairy by excluding her from the event and she promptly avenged her wounded ego by cursing you to prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel before the sun set on your sixteenth birthday and die. One of the pixie fairies whom your father did invite, used her blessing to weaken the curse so that instead of dying, you’d fall into a deep sleep, only broken by true love’s kiss. Because, apparently, her magic wasn’t strong enough to undo the curse. So, your father ordered all spinning wheels throughout the kingdom be burned and the remains were hidden in the dungeon.

It certainly explained why Izaya heard a few peasants grumbling about the lack of spinning wheels when he occasionally visited your kingdom. But, alas, Shirou didn’t seem to know about your whereabouts. It didn’t help that he forbade him from mentioning the incident to your own father too, despite the fact that Izaya had a right to know as your fiancé.

So, using the intelligence he’d built up after years of scheming and illicit dealings, Izaya managed to pinpoint your location. It was a humble cottage in the middle of the forest, secluded enough to avoid the wicked fairy’s eyes but not enough for his. Izaya smirked as if he’d won a high-staking gamble, and with the leverage he had on your father, it could be described as one. Shirou wasn’t a fool, but his job as a king did prevent him from knowing the full extent of Izaya’s secret occupation and hobby.

And thus, Izaya set out to find his cursed fiancée. As expected, you were every bit of a country bumpkin; naïve and improper. It was clear that you’d never seen a stranger beyond your three bumbling fairy ‘aunts’, judging by how you openly gaped at his sudden appearance when you were singing to your animal friends. And yet, Izaya allowed your curiosity shine through, anyway, if not because of how pathetically cute you looked right now. Like a dog, or a kitten, that he could easily pick up and bring somewhere else because you were just so defenseless.

Did your aunts even teach you not to trust a stranger, whoever it was?

Apparently, no. Because there was a limit to how ‘human’ they could pretend to be, and you wouldn’t have known any better because they were all you had growing up. Even now, a good parent shouldn’t let their daughter play too long in the forest where anything and everything could happen to her, especially when she didn’t possess any self-defense skills.

Especially when she was you, a princess in hiding.

Perhaps you were lucky that he was the one who met you. Izaya couldn’t imagine what would happen if it was that wicked fairy instead?

… Or he could! There was no limit for possibilities in his mind. That was how he could stay entertained despite so many of his plans veering off their tracks.

Truly, it’d be a shame if you were to get caught, right?

Well, it would, but he wouldn’t do that. He wanted to see what would happen if he didn’t intervene in the course of your life. Would it end happily ever after like Shirou hoped? Or would it become a nightmare for you and your kingdom instead? So far, you were the most interesting woman he’d ever met despite your obvious flaws, which some lessons in table manners and etiquette could rectify. And perhaps Izaya would bestow more of his ‘love for humanity’ in keeping you by his side regardless, even if the latter were to befall you.

Was this what the power of bias felt like? It wasn’t that bad, and it might’ve made him feel a bit closer to being a human, but Izaya wanted to know more about your feelings when you found out that he pitied you. Would you be offended? Touched? Upset?

Ah, the possibilities were truly endless, weren’t they?

Apparently, you’d fallen for him at first meeting, and were excited to tell your aunts about him when they revealed your true status as a betrothed princess. You could never meet ‘him’ again, they said. It was somewhat foolish of them to not allow you to tell them about him, but then again, Izaya doubted they’d known him let alone see his face. It was enough that they neglected you most of the time, albeit accidentally. How could he trust them to remember who he was?

Then, the fated thing happened.

The wicked fairy found out about you.

After the fairies brought you to your father’s castle in disguise, they let you grieve over your broken heart in your new room. But the wicked fairy used your sadness to entrance you and led you to an abandoned tower. All this time, Izaya watched from the shadows without anyone’s knowledge, not even your own father. His fingers twitched with an unexplainable urge to help you when you were forced to touch the conjured spinning wheel, while his brain – the more dominant part of him – convinced him to watch a little longer. It wasn’t as if he could challenge the fairy head-on, and he didn’t have any magic to do so despite his yearning heart.

Eventually, you succumbed to the curse, and the wicked fairy gloated over it to your belated aunts.

While waking you up with a kiss sounded ideal, it was more tempting to kill the wicked fairy first of all, if not to feel the rush of adrenaline and victory in his hands. Maybe you’d be grateful for it too, and thus, strengthening your love for him and salvaging your broken heart. But since he didn’t have the appropriate weapon to defeat her, Izaya was left to approach the pixies.

“Excuse me. You three look quite flustered. Is there something wrong?”

“Oh, my! You surprised me there, young man.” the pink one gasped, holding her tiny chest. “A-and no, we’re fine. Thank you for asking.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, still with the amiable smile that took him years of etiquette lessons and scheming to perfect. “You see, I have a fiancée, and I was told that I’d be seeing her today.”

They exchanged quizzical glances at each other.

“My name is Izaya Orihara.” He took a medal from his pocket as a proof of his own identity. “I’m betrothed to the princess of this kingdom. But, unfortunately, I was never able to see her. It upsets me terribly to postpone another meeting with her, when we should’ve been together since the very first start.”

Izaya languished at them through a sad friends as he clutched the medal desperately. Almost all too easily, the fairies fell to his trap with a sympathetic ‘aw’. They didn’t even question why he had the medal in his pocket rather than in his person as a prince should be. But, at least, he wasn’t lying.

“It is against our nature to be in the way of fate, especially a fated love.” said the green one. “A wicked fairy has cursed your fiancée to sleep forever unless awaken by a true love’s kiss, and she’s currently sleeping in this tower right now.”

“Ah, how terrible.” Izaya moaned sadly. “I wish I could do something to that fairy for daring to hurt my precious fiancée.”

Once again, they looked at each other.

“Let us help you with a bit of our magic, Child.” The blue one declared. “Hopefully, with these, you can end the wicked fairy’s reign of darkness once and for all.”

They armed him with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue, which they stated to be weapons of righteousness that would triumph over evil, and Izaya felt more powerful than ever. He wondered if he could even beat them with these, but they might prove their usefulness again in the future. That, and it’d be easier to manipulate you with them seeing as they were practically a ‘family’ to you.

And so, the group traveled to the mountain where the wicked fairy lived and began the most exhilarating battle he’d ever had. Cornered, the fairy transformed into a fire-breathing dragon. Another wrench to his plan, but Izaya wasn’t too worried because his agility saved their lives at the end of the day. He managed to stab her through her chest with great effort and watched her fall from the cliff.

Truly, only humans had the ability to slay monsters.

“That was wonderful, Child!” the blue fairy gushed, while the others clapped and nodded in agreement.

Izaya feigned a humble chuckle.

“I couldn’t possibly do that without your help, either, so please don’t give me all the credits.”

Flattered as they were, they hadn’t forgotten their second priority: waking you up with a true love’s kiss.

But, shockingly enough, Izaya’s kiss did nothing to your sleeping self.

“H-how could this be?!” the pink one shrieked. “Prince Izaya is supposed to be her fiancé, so why doesn’t it work?!”

While they proceeded to question each other, Izaya took the time to observe you. Your forehead was wrinkled as if suffering from a nightmare, your lips parted slightly as if wanting to say something, and your hands grasped the red roses as if trying to protect yourself with it.

It was far from the peaceful sight he’d expected to see, and the realization brought a mocking, almost humorless laugh from his throat.

“What’s wrong? Why are you laughing?’

“No, it’s nothing. Pardon my unseemly reaction.” said he, wiping his teary eye with his gloved hand. “May I ask you to bring her father here?”

“The King? What can you possibly need from him?”

“You said that only a true love’s kiss can wake her up, right? Well, he’s the one who asked you to protect her. Isn’t that what a ‘true love’ is? The feeling of wanting to protect someone?”

And such feeling wasn’t strong enough within him, or rather, he merely allowed it to wash over him. Otherwise, he would’ve stopped the wicked fairy from bewitching you earlier. Besides, Izaya was too logical to ever fall for someone at first meeting, no matter how interesting they were, and the curse said nothing about needing both parties to love each other for it to be broken.

While the fairies were occupied in bringing your father, Izaya approached one of the maids that happened to pass by.

“Bring me the dragon’s head from the cliff in the wicked fairy’s mountain.”

“Is it her own head?”

He merely smiled, and the spy nodded with a sigh. He wasn’t sure how you’d react once you woke up, but it didn’t hurt to have another ‘decoration’ inside his room. Then, he returned to the tower where your father was already standing at the bedside.

“P-Prince Izaya?!” he stammered. “Since when have you been here? Shouldn’t you notify me beforehand? Why are you dressing so... casually?”

“Now, now, that part isn’t as important as our dear princess is. And I must say, I’m quite hurt to know that you neglected to tell me that she’s been cursed all along.”

Your father flinched and looked down guiltily.

“I didn’t want it to become an international problem.”

“But there were many guests at that time, no? Don’t you think I deserve to know, as her fiancé?” Despite the feelings that Izaya didn’t quite absorb and understand, and your flaws that he mocked and used, a hint of bitterness managed to slip through his tongue. He waved his hand dismissively, both to your father and to his own emotions. “Regardless, you have the duty to save your daughter from the curse. So, go ahead. Don’t worry about the wicked fairy. I’ve slayed her, and her body is at the bottom of the cliff in her own abode. I’ll bring her head if you don’t believe me.”

The fairies gasped, while your father merely gaped, shocked at his callousness. The king glanced at the pixies, and they nodded hesitantly, confirming the part of the battle.

“I… I believe you.”

Slowly, he hovered over your face for a moment before he leaned down to press a deep kiss onto your forehead. Your troubled face relaxed little by little, and Izaya almost felt jealous when you fluttered your eyes open.

“She’s awake!” one of the pixies enthused.

Your father heaved a sigh of relief and smiled almost shakily. And yet, when your eyes landed on Izaya, they immediately widened in fear.

“No, I refuse to marry him!”

[drrr-emporium]

From WonHobby38! Izaya | Shizuo

They've been painted, and the look pretty good~

[roseserpentpress]

Another book completed! Not entirely thrilled at how the cover came out and had a few problems along the way with the binding, but it is finished now. Alethia, and it's companion fic are very cute shorter Shizuo x Izaya fics. I've been meaning to branch out from the ships I've done so far, so that was nice!

Cover done via a wash of blue ink, then the designs painted on with gouache, with the shading mostly done via india ink. Titles done with Winsor and Newton's gold ink which I'm still not thrilled about, lol.

Oh fuck I just realized I misspelled the title. Ah ok. Here's your yearly reminder to double check titles when typesetting, and also when working on the cover kids 🫠

Fic below the link:

Aletheia (T, 22k)

After Izaya gets Shizuo hit by a train he visits him in hospital only to find out that the blond doesn't know who he is, the informant tries to abuse Shizuo at his most vulnerable, but for some unknown reason - he just can't.

“I suppose,” Shizuo continued, his tentative tone bringing Izaya’s focus back to him. “We must have been friends.”

The Sleep Deprived Tale of Kimura Kiyoshi (G, 700)

This is just based off of a comment on the last chapter of my fic Aletheia (if you haven't read that it will make absolutely no sense)

The story of the guard who was supposed to be watching over Shizuo when he climbs out of his hospital window to go and get answers from Izaya.

[icestar-74]

Shizaya Week 2023

Day 8 Free Day Part 8/8

Home Sweet Home

So I did it. I'm at the end! For this last one I just wanted to show the house in full and show some other things with it. A peek behind this shabby curtain if you will.

I never really show the front of the house. It sits on a dresser in my spare room. It's a PAIN to try and rotate but I managed. When my husband and I moved into our first home THIS home was the hardest thing to move. Oh and don't get me started on the these shingles. EACH AND EVERY ONE were hand stained by soaking in dye and then attached one by one with glue. That was a stressful time. Can you spot my three friends in the windows?

So the side of the house opens for easy access. I didn't wallpaper the inside here due to pure laziness. I hand sanded AND painted the entire house. Building a doll house is a lot of work and took about three months I think. Totally worth it if I could give these boys a bigger home. Anyone that follows me MIGHT remember what their house used to be. It was SO SMALL!

The railings, oh lawd these railings. Each. Single. Little. Piece. Was hand sanded and painted. I don't recall showing the building progress but if anyone is ever interested I have all the photos. Everything from start to finish. It took a week to just do these I swear. They have broken off a few times and I think are currently on with sticky tac, or mounting putty.

Here is our front door. Someday I want to do lighting but that's really pricey so.... not today. The front door opens and closes so that's pretty neat. Don't mind them missing hands. I just take a hand off for the pocket pics.

Speaking of hands. This is how I keep them separate. Pieces have gone missing of course. Izaya's phone and knife are gone so he uses Shizuo's phone. Shizuo only has one cigarette left (THOSE ARE SO TINY). I'm pretty sure I have mixed up their hands at some point but hey, I'm doing my best.

I use sticky tac a lot. Here it is on Shizuo's butt so Izaya's hand can stick and hold him up. I use it to help them hold things in general if their hands don't work. It's also used to keep furniture in place or things on the walls. It looks like a wad of chewed gum. So if you ever see it in the background where I missed it, I swear it's not gum!

This. This masterful pile of nonsense is all the supplies I use. I have tried to organize it but that's not easy. I have containers of food, props, seasonal decor, outdoor stuff and just some random crap I've bought. Don't ask about the grapes...

Here I would like to express my grievances. Shizuo is almost always in his shades because the hair piece WITHOUT them falls off constantly. Sometimes I concentrate so hard it startles me. IZAYA doesn't like to stand and falls over a lot, startling me as well. I jump very easily and when I'm in the zone, loud noises get me. Once I was stacking lil cans and my husband poked his head in to ask me something. Tiny cans scattered, violent words were said and that photo was delayed.

Finally here is the full space. I'm a 32 year old adult that loves her stuffies, anime boys and crafting. I have many hobbies but my Shizaya house is something special. It's something I worked hard to build and something that continues to give me joy. I really hope that I can continue to use it to spread joy to others as well.

I think I said it in the first post but if anyone ever has questions or needs help with a similar hobby I'm always here! Support your hobbies and just have fun with them. Happy Shizaya Week 2023 everyone ;*

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

i literally only made this blog to make this post but ive been reading lots (LOTS) of shizaya and a common thread in all the fics ive read is that izaya feels as if hes undeserving of affection and love etc etc to the point where, if shizuo is nice to him, he automatically assumes its pity. its in literally ALL of them, and usually the Point of those narratives is that izaya is wrong, he's deserving of companionship, and he shouldnt hide behind insane emotional walls to avoid getting hurt.

simple, sweet, we all know it we all love it. its good soup

BUT.

there are some fics ive seen that completely bungle the landing so hard- the least egrigious form of this is if the ending wraps up nice and neat with izaya quitting his line of work and entering into a Good Honest profession. the most egrigious are the ones where its painted that all the things izaya did, he didnt REALLY do. or he had some kind of noble motive for doing it. i hate to rag on fics but the example that encopasses this the most is one where its revealed hes been an undercover cop the whole time

you see the problem with this, no?

the point is that izaya thinks that he's undeserving of affection because of who he is. the narrative sets out to prove him wrong. the narrative also changes who he is, fundamentally.

but shizuo still works for loan sharks? so, what makes izaya differ from everyone else, who is allowed to stay the way they are?

i'm going to extrapolate a TON from here, and if you're still reading, thank you :) if not then idc im partying without you

so. everyone calls izaya a sociopath. it's another common thread i see in shizaya fics.

i'm not going to contest this. it's a correct observation. if you go to the dsm page for antisocial personality disorder, there's actually a picture of izaya there.

its not AS common of a thread as the base observation about izaya's insecurities and emotional walls, but i'm willing to bet this: even the people who do not mention it in the narrative, did notice.

and sociopaths are a good boogeyman.

sociopaths cannot feel emotion. sociopaths do not cry. do not yearn. do not love. they are something other-than-human, both an untouchable, godlike figure, ready to strike and ruin your life at the slightest provocation, and simultaneously the weakest, most pathetic scum of the earth.

izaya is loved, by me and by you. and in fanfiction, by shizuo.

sociopaths are undeserving of love. they are amoral monsters, doomed to never recover- but the doom is not for them, for they do not care. they do not suffer from antisocial personality disorder, they enjoy every minute of it.

(a good number of the fics i read are from the 2010s- before everyone realized people with cluster B personality disorders are, in fact, people. even now, awareness of the humanity of narcissisits and sociopaths is still a bit lacking. i suppose i'll need to wait another decade to be acknowledged as a person. sad!)

(and i'm not going to sugarcoat it by saying "people with NPD" and "people with ASPD." you lot use those terms, and god dammit you will read them here.)

anyway, the crux being: for a sociopath to be deserving of love, they need to change their sociopathic ways.

for a sociopath to be able to change, they need to cease being a sociopath.

(for a sociopath to truly, really change, they need to stamp out every iota of their despicable illness. not a single speck can remain, lest they be the unchangeable subhuman they were destined to be.)

for izaya to be deserving of love, he needs to be stripped of his illness.

people are not stupid. they will notice signs of neurodivergence in people. and yes, sociopathy is a neurodivergence- its not all sunshine and rainbows and good, pitiable crazies. they will notice it and single them out, and they will try to save them from themselves. of course, by "save," they mean "fix," and "from themselves," they mean "so this horrible creature doesn't hurt me."

sociopaths are a good boogeyman. a boogeyman cannot be afforded luxuries such as love, or friendship, or a reprive from the crushing lonliness.

(i mean, its not like sociopaths FEEL emotions! silly!!)

izaya is a sociopath. you know it, i know it, he knows it. but sociopaths are the convinient label we slap onto the worst of the worst. there can never be a shizaya fanfiction where izaya is acknowledged as a sociopath, stays a sociopath, and is loved despite it.

(that's hyperbole. there are quite a few that keep him as-is, although none bold enough to use the word "sociopath" and stick to it. always backtracked, always sanitized.)

anyway. hi, i'm new to the fandom but ive been lurking for quite some time. here is my too-long metapost about how some of you are unconsciously (or consciously) ableist towards people with ASPD. i may post again or i may not. whichever.

if you read all of this, thanks.

[subarashiihibi]

celebrating shizuo and izaya nendoroids getting painted🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰