#I know we’re vague-blogging here but fffffsssss that post and their last reblog pissed me off so much

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Thank you both so much; the take that Dazai somehow isn’t allowed to kill anymore or that he’d have a moral dilemma over doing it simply baffled me, it betrays a complete lack of understanding of not only him, but more importantly of what Oda wanted for him.

Oda never told Dazai not to kill anymore; he literally never said that. The whole point is that Dazai has no strong sense of morals, he was just killing in the mafia because he thought that’s what would stimulate him, and Oda recognized that it was just making him more miserable, and recognized that Dazai’s core would never change (partly due to Dazai’s innate personality, partly due to mental illness), and told him as much. He wasn’t telling him to suddenly grow a conscious; he was telling him that regardless of whether he agreed with it morally or not, doing good would be more fulfilling to him. Because that’s exactly what Oda himself experienced. Oda himself didn’t have strong morals either, honestly, I mean he was in the mafia and didn’t judge anyone else for killing and hurting, even if he himself chose not to. Obviously Oda was a good and kind person, and he had stronger morals than Dazai does, but doing good and helping people was still an active choice that he made at 14 after reading the book, a choice simply to see how it felt (even if to him it was “to figure out why the man stopped killing”, which really just means to figure out how to truly live), not because he thought it was the morally right thing to do, and over time it made him feel more fulfilled and happy — which is what he wanted for Dazai, and what has indeed been happening to him.

Oda never expected Dazai to never kill again, and it’s disingenuous to say that he was implying that the instant Dazai did he would instantly be a bad person again or something, because Dazai will never be 100% good or bad nor will care about morals, and Oda knew it. Dazai wouldn’t have a crisis over having to kill anyone, because to him it’s probably just going back to his mafia roots, which he has demonstrated plenty of times if he feels like he has to, to protect the new people he loves.

Dazai is good, but that goodness had to be drawn out of him in this environment, again just like Oda did for himself after he was an assassin. He may not recognize his own goodness, and he may not care about doing the “right thing”, but he feels pride and fulfillment in helping others now, just like Oda did, therefore that makes him a good person. He cares, even if he can’t acknowledge it. But that doesn’t mean he’ll hesitate to kill again if he has to, if that’s what the greater good requires. Because yeah, the ADA is far from pacifist, even if we never actually see them fire the arms from their namesake lmao; they are 100% willing to get violent if necessary, and plenty of them probably wouldn’t feel too much guilt for it lol, not just Dazai.

Whenever I see people talk about how Dazai can't kill now that he's on the side that saves people I can't help but just... Dazai's resolution was to join the side that helps and saves people and make the world a more beautiful place. He didn't take on Oda's philosophy of not killing. He might have learned to respect others' lives more since joining a world that frowns upon murder, but like

He joined the Armed Detective Agency. His boss was ready to have another employee of his kill Dazai if Dazai had been a threat to others. Dazai made sure the culprit behind his first case as an ADA member, Sasaki, was killed because it was the only way to prevent even more deaths. He helped Chuuya punch a hole through Lovecraft's chest because his power was scary and unknown and then helped Chuuya blow him into dust.

AND ALSO

don't worry the Meursault guards are just having a little nap. Just resting their eyes. They're just so tired.