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Lucy and Anne analysis

Lucy’s ability Anne (Anne of abyssal red) is a somewhat reflection of Lucy herself.

Let’s start with appearance and design symbolism similarities. Anne already looks similar to Lucy and it’s something that is somewhat obvious. Anne’s red hair and Lucy’s red hair are one of their biggest similarities and are both references to “Anne of Green Gables”. However if we put that aside and just look at their dresses/outfits they’re also very important.

Anne looks like a child’s toy made of scrap fabrics just like how Lucy’s dress is supposed to look like scraps of fabric have been added to her dress.

continuing on the topic of being a child’s toy, Anne could also represent Lucy’s more “childlike” behaviours at some times and desire for a friend.

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Okay, I finally (sorta) gathered my thoughts about this chapter so uhm.

I don't believe that this is another fake death (。﹏。)).

Akutagawa's body didn't bubble up like the others fast enough (which I also don't think they, the others who also got killed are dead, they're probably also in the 4th dimension somewhere farer from the core, Akinari Ueda.) before his head got crushed—Which is practically an instant death from how fast the Amenogozen's hand crushed Akutagawa's head. (Do not fully trust me on that, i have no idea if that would be correct.)

I'm too scatter brain to think anymore at the moment, might come back and add more on a reblog if I can think properly I dunno exams and this chapter are killing me at the moment...

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This is getting interesting :)

So the two blades are named after Ueda's ability.

雨月物語　Ugetsu monogatari, Tales of rain (雨) and moon (月)

But also one of them manipulates space time and the other, the one for the moon, manipulates life force.

The moon is related to Atsushi's ability beast under the moon. His ability is regeneration.

And the rain is related to Akutagawa's ability! Have you read Rashoumon? Rain and cloth.

Ahahhhhahahahaha

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The dehumanization of ability users is such a recurring theme in BSD, but it manages to be so devastating every time. The way they are treated, especially by authority figures, like the government, as nothing more than tools, as if all that is valuable, useful, about them is their powers, as if they are nothing more than their abilities. It's sad to think that this has been happening for the last 1500 years, that Ueda was not only forced into eternal life and imprisoned inside their own creation by the politicians of their time, used as a means to prolong Ame-no-gozen's existence, but that now this same creation has been fused with the corpse of an ability user and both are being used to fulfill someone else's evil goals, which contradict or distort their own ideals

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...

OH MY GOD HIS HEAD

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so uhm, well you see...

Please hear me out, I know they aren't exactly the colors of the flag but trust, they're asexual. Oh um, Twilight Sparkles totally exists in BSD, trust me. She was hidden in the backgrounds (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ).

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A little reminder the next bsd chapter is coming near ♪(´▽｀)

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cant stand seeing people take the complexity of atsushis relationship with the headmaster and claim that the author is trying to push that the abusers a good guy. holy oversimplification of an incredibly nuanced topic and portrayal.

atsushi hates the headmaster. he expresses intense anger at him for what he did even in recent chapters but hes also repressing his sadness at his death because that anger is blinding him and its preventing him from being able to complete the grieving process. i think just in general he was struggling to cope with his own emotions at the time. he hated the director and thought that meant he couldnt mourn him. it was much easier to believe the director hated him and that was that but im glad asagiri tackled this topic because it adds so much more humanity to all the characters and is a pretty common aspect of abuse irl.

when he first comprehends the news atsushi is clearly happy but it also feels a bit like hes playing it up. as if he doesnt exactly know how he should act. he reinforces all hes done to him “he abused me horrifically so of course i should be ecstatic” but it doesnt feel entirely genuine. his real feelings are much more complex than that. tanizaki asks him if he wants to know why the director was here looking for him and atsushi says no, insisting the director mustve been here to hurt him. but the way he responds when he learns of the directos true intentions suggests that he mightve been considering this from the start. after all, the director told him to never hate himself as a child but he either blocked it out or didnt pay much attention to it so he mightve already suspected this.

at this age, he already knew the answers to these questions. as a child he believed he was being punished solely because the director hated him (which the director verbally reinforced) and he continued to tell himself that, trying to ignore the bits that suggested otherwise. he told tanizaki the director was probably there to kill him even though he was told that his punishment was a lesson to help him learn to endure pain so he could survive in this world, even after the director told him to take all his hate out on him and to never hate himself, even after the “poison” didnt kill him.

despite all the realizations, he didnt want to accept it. or couldnt for his own wellbeing. at this point, he remembered the directors words about not hating himself, realized he was being punished for going rampant as the tiger and was being fed nutrients, remembered the directors actions that suggested he wasnt doing what he did out of pure malice yet he still couldnt help but try to deny that the director could ever care about him. by now, atsushi knows that its true but he doesnt want it to be

he was unable to cope with the duality of the directors actions and his own feelings so dazai helped him. he told atsushi that multiple things can be true. the headmaster is despicable, he thought he was doing what was best for atsushi, the directors actions are a huge part of what made atsushi who he is today, atsushi doesnt have to forgive him, the director is unforgivable. he told him that he could still hate the headmaster and that he could cry for him as well. he was validating both atsushis pain/anger AND his grief and it was then that atsushi finally allowed himself to mourn.

its also worth mentioning he said “thats what i think” in regard to the orphanage directors actions keeping atsushi alive and teaching him how to live. at the end of the day, it must be said that this is dazais opinion and dazai is someone who has used similar methods. he gave akutagawa a reason to live regardless of how much trauma and pain it led to. he hurt akutagawa for the sake of keeping him alive. the director wanted atsushi to hate him so he wouldnt hate himself, wanted him to feel as if his entire existence is a burden and hes unworthy to live if he doesnt help others so hed save people just as dazai was degrading so that he could give akutagawa something to chase after, a reason to live, and just as he wanted akutagawa to depend his self worth on dazais approval and fear punishment so that he would listen to dazai and wouldnt become a slave to his own ability and destroy himself.

he did it with good intentions in mind but as he said, it isnt justified. although he can most likely somewhat understand the directors line of thinking because of that. so far it doesnt seem like he regrets what hes done because he believes hes getting the results he wanted (atsushi and akutagawa teaming up). he hasnt been shown to account for the pain he inflicted which i assume would be the case with the director as well. they understand their methods are cruel and horrible but they prioritize doing what they believe they need to do to raise aku/atsu right but i digress

and this wasnt the end of things. atsushi is still angry at the director. he didnt let this prevent him from hating him and he didnt start glorifying his abuser. he was finally able to healthily deal with some of his trauma which he still is dealing with to this day and he isnt portrayed as in the wrong for hating him

it is undeniable that he somewhat feels a bond with the headmaster. he looks to him for guidance and even had to cover that up by imagining dazai in his place. the journey is far from over which is another thing i love. him and akutagawa basically fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. both of them look towards their mentors for guidance but atsushis hate overshadows that while akutagawas admiration overshadows his contempt

in the main universe he has supportive people in his life and dazai is able to help him mourn but he doesnt have that support group in beast so when he learns of the headmasters intentions, he latches onto the idea of someone caring about him and glorifies him. it was a trauma response and including it doesnt mean asagiri is saying that the director was a good man. it is far from uncommon for abuse victims to form a trauma bond with their abusers and akutagawa is even shown doing some form of this in the main series. in beast, rather than helping atsushi mourn, dazai uses this situation to control atsushi and he doesnt get the chance to overcome this. at the end of the series, mori is the one offering to help him mourn and it is implied that he is able to heal eventually by letting go of the headmasters gift and finding something else to validate his existence with.

mori expresses he disagrees with dazai and his method of using atsushis trauma to control him as well as the directors cruel methods, insisting he lets him help him overcome his trauma from the headmaster and he is presented as a positive force in atsushis life who is there to help him heal. if asagiri was trying to insist that the director was a good guy, atsushis singular positive influence wouldnt be disapproving of his methods and preventing atsushi from leaving until he can discard of his gift. and he wouldnt continue allowing main universe atsushi to hate him right after dazai explained why he did what he did let alone in the recent chapters

this was longer than i expected it to be so i hope my thought process is coherent and i didnt screw anything up. im always too chicken to post the long stuff but maybe thisll make it out

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I love the fact that Agatha has pockets in her skirt.

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Uhm.

Most of BSD is missing from Mangadex—yikes.

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Where on earth did Tecchou and Ranpo go???

Is Ranpo just lying around on the ground somewhere? (Heh... *Insert that one Family Guy death pose*) And Tecchou is just there?

Tecchou save us all 🙏.

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I feel like Akinari's hair would be dark green.

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wait, wait, what if this is who Fyodor was talking about and Akinari was sealed within Amenogozen fifteen hundred years ago by Fyodor

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I ACTUALLY need to sit down because of chapter 123. Like. I need to sit down. Rethink my life. Press the restart button. Because WHAT

This chapter has been on my mind for the past two days constantly, and I'm still grappling with everything 🙏

Like what do you MEAN Akutagawa's reason to live is Atsushi. What do you MEAN the last thought Akutagawa wants to have before he dies is Atsushi. What do you MEAN Akutagawa's possessive of Atsushi and is demanding a literal GOD to bring him back. WHAT DO YOU MEAN ATSUSHI'S HALLUCINATION OF HIS HEADMASTER SAID HE'S GOING TO LEAVE "AS EARLY AS TODAY" AND ATSUSHI DOESN'T KNOW IF HE CAN BEAR IT BECAUSE ALTHOUGH HE HATES THE HEADMASTER HE'S THE ONLY FATHER ATSUSHI'S EVER KNOWN AND HE WON'T KNOW HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT THE FAMILIAR BURDEN OF HIS TRAUMA BEING EVER PRESENT???

This chapter is sending me reeling

"Return the weretiger to me." I'm actually banging my head against a wall right now, Akutagawa's character development is amazing. He loves Atsushi. He needs Atsushi. Atsushi is *his* heart. Atsushi is *his* ordeal. Atsushi is *his* weretiger.

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The light in his eyes—I am going to lose it; everyone chant we love Harukawa & Asagiri now. Thanks.

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My thoughts on the new chapter ig φ(゜▽゜*)♪.

Q's ability-caused hallucination of the Orphanage Director is now gone from Atsushi—which i'm glad for him. He finally let go yet..

(HIS EYES, PLEASE NONONONO-)

Anyways, same for Akutagawa, they both let go of their abusive relationship with someone (The Orphanage Director and Dazai respectively).

(holy fuck, he remembered the deal he made with Atsushi before death. You do not know how much this has affected me.)

We also got to see who the maker of the sword that caused this mess was (Ueda Akinari)! I like them already. <3