#sorry for how rambly this is. its 6:37 and i spent 10 mintues typing this instead of getting ready for school

[ratsbanes]

Regarding Mori and Dazai’s relationship, the way I see it Mori giving Dazai so much power at such a young age, knowing how unstable Dazai was, was the abuse. I’m not even saying Mori had purely bad intentions, I think Mori projects a lot when it comes to Dazai so he thought that working for the PM, doing something he excels at, would fulfil Dazai as it fulfilled Mori, but it obviously did not. And BSD makes a point of showing the harm of children, but also young adults, having too much power and responsibility time and time again, so the way Mori basically let Dazai run wild seemed always sad to me because it’s not like Dazai’s guns were toys. Dazai was in charge of a lot of missions that got a lot of people killed or hurt. He literally let an emotionally impulsive teen play with guns and torture and whatnot. Also another thing we often see in BSD is how power is extremely isolating and alienating, so making Dazai, who already felt alienated from a lot of peers bc of his intelligence and depression, an executive only added to that. Anywayyy sorry for rambling but your post just made me think! Hope you have a lovely day!

no youre great anon! i believe that this is the beauty of dazai and moris relationship, its pretty ambiguous so it begs room for multiple interpretations. i think ive mentioned mori giving dazai so much power before as being part of the abuse, but the interpretation comes from why mori would want to give dazai so much power.

mori does have a constant problem of assuming dazai is just like him. its the exact reason why he assumes odas death would mean nothing to dazai, even though its very clear he has his own set of morals and values. i also think there might have been some personal intentions from it as well, almost as a way for mori to keep a closer eye on dazai, whether that was because mori is a controlling bastard or because he wanted dazai to be his successor is up in the air (i like to believe its a bit of both).

i also like the point of dazais teenage power play! ive called dazai in the mafia "the dumb decision of a fourteen year old" before, which is pretty much exactly what happened. mori knew how smart dazai was, but he also knew how impressionable he was. dazai definitely would never admit it, but he needed someone there for him. mori chose to fill that role for dazai as well as letting dazai do a lot of the hard work for him. pretty much moris signature.

this is such a good ask anon, a lot of people forget that dazai was really just a teenager in the mafia. i would imagine its like being a preteen in college. you look all big and smart and mature, which you absolutely are, but youre also the most alone you could ever be.