#It's either him or Beast Kyouka

[starlightshadowsworld]

The Fallen King

Beast Akutugawa: Nakajima.

Beast Atsushi: No.

Beast Akutugawa: Nakajima, we need to talk about this.

Beast Atsushi: What I do with myself is neither yours or the Agencies buisness.

Beast Akutugawa: Nakajima it's been almost 120 hours and you have not slept.

Beast Atsushi: My symptoms are both manageable and none of your concern.

Beast Akutugawa: What do you mean symptoms? You are exhausted.

Beast Atsushi: The serious...

He dozes off for a second before waking back up.

Beast Atsushi: I got it, I'm fine. The serious symptoms haven't even started yet.

Beast Akutagawa: What the fuck was that?!

Beast Atsushi: Symptom 7, minor narcolepsy. I'll get over it.

Beast Akutugawa: You have it numbered?!

Beast Atsushi: I have everything numbered. I'm organised, get on my level.

Beast Akutugawa: I'm calling Nakahara we're putting you to bed.

Beast Atsushi: He won't help you, he's much worse.

Beast Akutugawa:... How do you get worse than 5 days?!

Beast Atsushi: Lots of training, plenty of caffeine. The untimely death of a loved one.

Beast Akutugawa just stares at him.

Beast Atsushi: What's that thing you said? Never ending battle, right?

Beast Akutugawa: How are you not dead?

Beast Atsushi: I'm the Reaper.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

I was thinking about the jobs of BSD cast in the real world.

Well, I know that the Ada members are detectives and they formed the Private Investigation Bureau.

If I remember correctly, Mori and the other PM members are working to establish Port Mafia in the real world.

Nikolai is a magician ig.

And Lippmann is working to be an actor

.

I have some questions-

1) Do the Beast!Ada members also join private Investigation bureau with the og!Ada members?Then which Fukuzawa is the president?

2) Similarly, Do the Beast!Pm members join the PM with the OG!Pm members. Who is the boss then? Mori or Dazai? (Tbh, I kinda imagine Beastzai taking Og!zai's vacant executive spot)

3)What does Beast! Mori do?

4)What does both Fyodors do? I don't think they would choose terrorism again since they already live in their desired world.

5)What does the HD do? Does Teruko go to school with the other kids since she's only 12.

6)Does Sigma join the Private Investigation Bureau?

______

Jobs

_______

1. At first, it was the plan, that OG!ADA and BEAST! ADA will work together, with both Fukuzawas sharing the title of president.

However, two problems arise.

№1. Half of the time, Ranpos refused to work together. Sometimes, because they were arguing, who solved the case faster. Other days they were fighting because they can't decide, how to share snacks. Then they would fight over your attention.

Both Fukuzawas have to break the quarrels between Ranpos. But they would start again later. You also could act as a mediator, Ranpos did listen to you, but you can't just spend all day in the Bureau's office.

№2. BEAST! Akutagawa, OG! Dazai and BEAST! Oda have troubles working with each other.

BEAST! Akutagawa still doesn't like Dazai (any version), OG! Akutagawa will try to pick up a fight with BEAST! Akutagawa for his disrespect, which doesn't make BEAST! Akutagawa likes Dazai.

BEAST! Oda still can't believe, that another him is friends with OG! Dazai.

OG! Dazai, out of respect of BEAST! Dazai's situation keep his distance from BEAST! Oda.

At the end, BEAST! ADA agreed to establish their own detective agency. And BEAST! Kunikida will be a President of the second agency, at least on paper, so people won't question, why Fukuzawa Yukichi opened two agencies.

BEAST! Armed Detective Agency will be known as Insight Investigation Agency.

__________

2. It took a lot of discussion, but Port Mafia and BEAST! Mafia joined forces. With some rules for BEAST! Port Mafia

Rule №1. BEAST! Dazai can be executive, Black Lizard or took any Mafia's job he likes, even leave the mafia any time he wants, but, in return, he agreed to never took Port Mafia boss position.

Rule №2. BEAST! Chuuya will have to be a sub-executive, together with Rimbaud. He can become proper executive, when OG! Chuuya either become Boss, and gave BEAST! Chuuya executive spot, or if OG! Chuuya leave mafia and agreed to give BEAST! Chuuya executive spot.

Rule №3. BEAST! Chuuya works together with Verlaine and Flags. They try to help BEAST! Chuuya with his temper.

Rule №4. BEAST! Atsushi and BEAST! Kyouka will work under Kouyou. OG! Akutagawa is prohibited from going near BEAST! Atsushi without good reason. Because OG! Akutagawa doesn't trust BEAST! Atsushi in doing good job protecting you. Fun fact, OG! Akutagawa trusts OG! Atsushi, that he will protect you.

BEAST! PM are fine with new jobs. However, BEAST! Dazai does think from tome to time about leaving Port Mafia.

__________

3) BEAST! Mori and BEAST! Elise is working in the orphanage. They are a mix between medics/caretakers.

_________

4. OG! Fyodor and BEAST! Fyodor are working with computers, Internet security and IT. They mostly work from home, helping companies find weak spots in their defense with hacking skills.

And, yes, they aren't terrorizing anyone. Except your hair. Because:

"Myshonok, you looked so sad with unplayed hair, so I decided to help."

"Myshka, let me style your hair and give you scratches."

... If it makes things better, sometimes, Fyodors play with Shibusawas', Bram's or Nikolai's hair. The only difference, that with them Fyodors do it automatically, when they are thinking about something. With you, Fyodors do it on their own violation.

________

5. Hunting Dogs became bodyguards for hire. Tachihara works both as bodyguard and as mafioso.

As for Teruko... It's slightly complicated.

Teruko will go to school. However, Teruko wasn't to fond of this idea. Her ability makes her mind quite developed. Because of that, Teruko is much smarter, then average twelve-year-old, and also acts very mature. Teruko just thinks, that she can do something else, beside going to school and keeping an eye on kids.

However, she also can't use her ability to age her up to be a bodyguard with the rest of Hunting Dogs.

_________

HEADCANNON ABOUT TERUKO'S ABILITY

Her forms, that makes her older, require great amount of energy. Teruko can maintain them for a few hours, but, after that, she will "reduce" to her normal age and will need time to be able to use her ability again.

_________

You helped to find the compromise.

Teruko helps you with training, and she is a good couch. So, you decided to use Internet.

Teruko will go to school. But, she will also use her ability, make herself older, and film training routine videos. Then videos will be uploaded. This way, Teruko can have a "more or less" fine childhood and not feel like a burden.

______

6. He is. Sigma is quite happy to be a detective. But, if in Reader's country casinos are legal, Sigma also might open one.

[hopefull-mindset]

Finally understanding Beast Mori (as Asagiri intended)

Hello everyone, I am hoping you’ll be nice about me talking about Mori for two seconds and express my thoughts about such a guy like this. This isn’t going to be some fancy analysis picking apart stuff like I’d usually want to or even me addressing every trait he has because I definitely don’t go into everything. This is me finally being at peace with Mori’s humanity.

Before you say anything, I’d just like to share my own peace of comprehension. So if you were similarly confused the way I was, I think you’d appreciate this (Or if you’re looking for a different approach on Mori).

Im sure most of you have read the manga adaptation, so just to let you know, I am going to be using passages from the official Light Novel translation and if anyone needs it, I can send it to them!

For anyone who’s decided to read, hello! Nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ve all shared the same confusion when confronted with Beast Mori’s difference in personality and approach. Thoughts like “Why is he so much nicer?” Or “Why does he care much more about how kids are treated, when he himself has treated kids the same way he describes in the past?”

How could this person be the same guy who was Mori the Port Mafia Boss? The war veteran who used Yosano the way he did? So we came up with many idea of why he’s different to justify it, but here’s the thing: Mori is the same person he always was, this is a universe where everything is the same, but different where Dazai chooses to intervene.

After a few days, I was able to recognize it but I couldn’t hold myself to acknowledge it. It’s hard to see a man who represents the dark, the Port Mafia, to the Armed Detective Agency’s light. I couldn’t wrap my head that such a controlling, manipulative man could have humanity like the rest of the characters.

Why was this so hard for me to see? Well two reasons— the fandom and how the anime cuts down Mori’s emotions when adapting canon material. This happens to Dazai too, but people are much more willing to talk about it compared to Mori. Now the fandom really does love blaming everything on Mori and that’s not the most constructive thing to do when talking about abuse narratives. I can’t blame anyone for taking this route when it came to Mori because of Asagiri’s poorly thought out choice with him…. we all know what I’m talking about. Elise.

However, I need some of you to understand that abuse narratives are never as simple as “oh, it’s all this persons fault because they’re a horrible person, so [character] is resolved from any guilt or responsibility”. This not only dumbs down the situation and seriousness of it, by mischaracterizing the abuser, you’re also mischaracterizing the victim as well and what they’ve gone through. You’re putting their story in jeopardy.

Bungou Stray Dogs is a story about human beings, morality, and what it all means. Mori, and in turn Fukuzawa, are important to understand Bungou Stray Dogs because they are in two pinochle positions that start this discussion of Morality. I am baffled that a story like this, one that approaches these topics with so much appreciation for humanity and nuance, has a fandom that doesn’t want to talk about what it has to offer.

Asagiri’s poorly thought out writing decision of a joke is going to have lasting effects with how Mori is going to be approached forever and I see this, but I think the little girl jokes are the least important thing to talk about because they have as much impact as the Tanizaki siblings do. He’s also written to be not a good person either, so you can dislike him easily, but how many of these characters are traditionally good people? Kouyou, for example, is not a “good person” and emotionally abusive in example to how she treated Kyouka. That doesn’t stop people from liking her friendship with Chuuya and making content with her.

So this attitude toward Mori had me lost when it came to him because I could see how much thought Asagiri puts into writing him the same way he does with so many, but I’ve seen so many disregard his humanity that I had no way to express any of my thoughts to sort out what to think about through anyone else when faced with Beast Mori. Everyone was as lost I was, and the people that weren’t never explained it in a way I could break that barrier.

So what finally made me wrap my head around Mori? It was exactly one conversation I had with a friend and it wasn’t even about Beast Mori in particular, it was just about Mori and his poor humanity while navigating how to lead. Everything just clicked with that.

(Dazai, Chuuya, age Fifteen)

This right here is where Mori tells us what he thinks his position means after the struggling we visibly see him go through. Is it an inherently correct conclusion to make? No, but does it make sense as someone who’s a leader of a huge, dangerous underground criminal organization? Yes, it does.

We have no backstory on Mori, but his poor humanity is easy to explain when he’s been in positions that require him to disregard his own and everyone else’s humanity for years now. As someone who’s seen war up close and a physician, these jobs require him to take control of the other person. Well in his mind at least, he sees these jobs and chooses to the route that’s most efficient.

It’s never positioned to be for himself though, he doesn’t take glee in what he does for self serving purposes, it’s always for the country, the city, the organization. His thought process is never the power hungry yearning we see everyone mistake it for. It’s never that he wants it, it’s that he needs it for everything to go well.

That’s exactly how he treats Yosano because even though it’s creepy to base your abilities looks on a little girl, that doesn’t stop him from seeing her use before her age and humanity.

His clinical utilitarianism is his core trait but also most disliked one from what I can tell in the fandom, and people tend to misinterpret it to make the more non-favorable view of him. But again, he’s not supposed to be the greatest guy ever and you can understand where these traits started forming. And again, to paraphrase another’s words: he’s cunning, but not power hungry.

He’s also not disliked by his subordinates and actually respected, he respectively enjoys the company, but there’s a mixed answer to that and that it is… nobody is going to listen to you if you don’t treat them with decency. Why would you expect a tool to work if you break them? One of his earliest lessons he learned with Yosano and leadership.

(Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen)

For example, we all know this scene is manipulation. He’s baiting Chuuya with information while still treating the teenager with respect and enough honesty to form a bond. Chuuya is perfectly aware that he’s being used in the present and in the past, but he respects Mori as a leader objectively after his own considered failure and lack of control over the sheep, even if he didn’t consider himself one. I don’t think this honesty comes from nowhere because that quote, “only a Diamond can polish a Diamond”, came from Natsume in reference to himself and Fukuzawa.

He sees himself and Fukuzawa in Soukoku fondly, but I tend to rethink this quote time to time because at first it comes off as a quote about partnership and building off of each other’s good qualities to perfect their own, but the way Mori uses it here feels as though it’s positioned to mean that one of them comes out perfected and the other weared down. Pretty competitive if you think about it.

(Bungou Stray Dogs BEAST)

We’re finally at the part you’ve been waiting for guys! So what was my point for analyzing canonverse Mori? So as I said before, these are the exact same guy and all that word jumble? That was an extended version of what was communicated with me to finally get what was going on with Mori in this universe and why he’s suddenly in an orphanage.

Now I couldn’t tell what was going through Beast Dazai’s mind and where this decision came from instead of actually killing him like the rumor’s implied, but I can come close. I think that Beast Dazai recognized this potential of change either from the multitude of universes he was able to witness or recognized it in his own considering canonverse Dazai never does anything against Mori (even if he visibly dislikes him).

Possibility is one thing, the why is another. It was either that he saw potential and good that could come out of this in the long run, Mori’s intelligence and expertise still proves usefulness, less dangerous for Oda in the long run if he let Mori stay there instead of the Mafia, or all three.

I can say for sure though that this is better for Mori because after the years of being in atmospheres that require so much of him intelligently and exempt of any emotion involved for the sake of efficiency, being able to rekindle his humanity where nothing is expected of him except to raise kids in a non-exploitative context sounds really freeing to me. Considering he’s been there for 4 years, I find the development understandable.

Okay I’m hearing what you guys are saying again, “What about him saying he wanted to save Dazai? That doesn’t seem like typical Mori.” And I’m gonna say something really controversial: Well maybe he did.

Really though, I think he did care about Dazai and not because he saw a child struggling (think about Yosano and Q for 3 seconds), but because he saw himself in Dazai, which ultimately changed way more about their relationship than you guys think. There’s a lot of comparisons to Yosano and I understand where they come from because I think there’s a lot you can see similarities in, but Dazai is not purely a tool for Mori the way she was.

The avoidance of letting him die do come from his use and overall importance to the original plan of becoming the new boss, but I don’t think he would’ve left Dazai alone like that for 4 whole years after leaving the mafia if he didn’t care in some way way. What strikes me the most is how Asagiri decided to add “the man who raised Dazai”.

For Beast Mori, I think he’s had enough time to actually feel guilt and regret for Dazai as a person like a normal human being does. Oh I guess Elise is important too. Her aging up just meant that Mori has become less controlling and not like the little girl who he literally sees as a tool since kids are easier to manipulate. Can’t bring that energy to an orphanage, nope!

There’s better stuff out there about Mori that I think if you’re more open to thinking about Mori after this, you should check it out, these are just my thoughts recently. To end this off, here are two links to Asagiri’s own thoughts on Mori.

[rimbaudthursday]

so who is going to transfer from the agency to the port mafia

okok i thoughts they are not in any way coherent but im trying my best

first i think it depends on how the ada n pm are going about choosing.. is it just mori?? do the executives have a say??? unlikely but are other members like aku or the black lizard involved?? or is the agency choosing someone to send off?? is it fukuzawas choice?????

i may be biased as a tanizaki hater but i honestly hate the theory that it's going to be him bc the black lizard said he had a useful ability for assassination. he might have interesting interactions with the rest of the pm?? him n aku bc of their dynamic in beast is so!!

i doubt its going to be yosano, dazai, or kyouka. yh sure the angst is angsting but narratively it would feel so boring. nobody in the agency would let it be yosano so she's definitely out.

kyouka has potential to be interesting (especially since she has no canon interactions with gin((besides wan ithink???) n verlaine) but it would end up defeating the point of her whole arc. like ur telling me she put in all that work to leave the pm n accept her place in the light only to go back to the pm???? i can't see verlaine being happy about her rejoining either 0_o

dazai....... -_- again i think it would make a large part of his development redundant. don't even get me started on "dazais gonna join the pm n take it down from inside" IMM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH RN/NEG SO NEG

what would be the point in anyone trying to dismantle the pm??+?!!? its not like they're an active antagonist they haven't been since the guild showed up. there's no purpose in destroying the alliance NOT TO MENTION IT WOULD BE SO MF BORING IF THAT HAPPENDED WHAT we've seen the pm as enemies already then it stopped we're done just say you want it for the angst n leave

[cookiekat-blogz]

Why is Akutagawa literally like the best Bungo Stray Dogs character ever?

this is half satire by the way, but I mayyy go into depth for SOME things if I feel like it. (big fat silly kinnie rant with spoilers)

#1

hes a cutie patootie. yeah he's brow-less but like, its 2024, who isn't? seriously. show me an alt person on tiktok with eyebrows /hj

#2

hes silly. Yeah he may be extremely violent especially twoards Atsushi (the foot in the face was definitely personal) and anyone else he is made to defeat, but that's quite literally how he was raised. Don't forget we're talking about PM Dazai here. He was raised by Mori, what can we say? (#justice4dazai2024) We can assume (using the BEAST manga) that up until the point where Dazai turned him down, the things that occurred were relatively close to canon.

(or not idk I didn't finish the mangas. why read some rando's essay that can't even spell's abt some sassy victorian man child on the internet, infact, why are you even reading this in the first place?)

So we can assume he's been through a hell-of-alot of trauma with everyone close to him. His siblings and friends dying, and even himself tasting death and Dazai was practically his savior-- his controversial, abusive, strict, hot, gay, problematic, silly, teenage savior. Even if that's not what went down in the main series, what he went through was enough for Akutagawa to idolize Dazai, the same man that has hurt him oh so much.

(hey its the cycle of abuse, and guess who was next in line?) that's right, Kyouka. (even if Kyouka was more impacted by Kouyou) But no, this won't be a rant about Akutagawa and Kyouka's relationship, it's simply "Why you should love Aku" and totally nothing else. wait, what was I saying??

#3

he's headless, be nice /j

#4

the fit is fire. I mean like, bring back ruffles frl. he ate down. he's even so silly he doesn't even know the name of the ruffle thing he's wearing (the collar ruffle thing is called a cravat.)

#5

hes a Picies. They do no wrong. Trust me, I know. (totally not biased or anything)

#6

His relationship with Atsushi. Their so cute like every scene together even when their fighting its just like 'make out alr'. He seems heartless and cruel and its like he hates Atsushi, but really as you can see when "Where's Your Head At?" by Basement Jaxx started playing, he cares for Atsushi deep down inside. Deep, deep, deep down. Must be really deep if it took literally dying to be nice. Seriously, even if he called him a 'damn fool' he's smiling, it's so sweet it makes me cry. As the blood traversing in his neck goes on its repetitive journey for its sole purpose of bringing oxygen to the rest of his body, it suddenly changes direction, hurriedly spraying out of the newfound opening made by a time traveling sword, and finally escaping through his pale, soon to be lifeless, dark red soaked neck. Yet, he is smiling through it all, telling his furry boyfriend "rival" to run. he cares. Just look at this beautifully colored pannel by Akutagoth on reddit:

def didn't want an excuse to show this beautiful art or anything.

#7

hes an introvert, fight me on this real.

#8

hes fruity. you don't even have to ship sskk to agree, just listen to how he talks. either this or he's a time traveler from the 19th century.

#9

the hair solos, like seriously, his hair is so cool I want it. bring back dark to light fade. /srs

#9 1/2 (I made a specific post just for this so you can just skip it.)

Also, speaking of hair, anyone else ever notice how yin-yang Akutagawa and Atsushi are? Yeah they are both orphans that were taken in by Dazai and "abused by their handler" ('handler' is wild ngl) but in the main series Atsushi is more Yang and Akutagwa is more Yin, character wise, and even design wise. Yet, in Beast (a spin-off where Akutagawa ends up in the ADA and Atsushi ends up in the PM) the roles are reversed and Aku is more Yang and Atsu is more Yi, further emphasizing that this difference between the two isn't accidental (not claiming simply speculating).

Akutagawa is relatively bad but he has shown how he could be good, in the main series, Wan, and beast. he's undeniably a good brother (just look at how much he cares for his sister in beast, he even joined the ADA and made it his purpose to find her after he learned that she was in the mafia.) He keeps promises, hates meaningless torture-- which believe it or not shows a bit about his character-- (haha he does have emotions even if it may be stemmed from a deep psychological trauma). He also has a mainly dark but light accent wardrobe, from the ends of his hair to the very same accessory that he can't even name. help I ran out of good character traits I think I'm failing

Atsushi is relatively good, and even seems to be blind to it at times, but he has shown his not the best traits. He's kinda like Gon, but less merciless, even when it comes to fights with Akutagawa (sometimes). His good:bad ratio is pretty skewed though, no matter how much he may envy or hate his kindness kinda just... drowns it out. Evil headmaster dies? cry. Evil goth boyfriend partner dies? scream. Evil American enemy still lives? team up with him. Evil 14 year old serial assassin in the port mafia exist? save her.

Although, he's pretty rash/blunt (that Dazai diss was wild aku didn't do anything to deserve that) and its also shown in wan and other scenes in the main series that he would probably participate in a 2017-19 roast battle(hj) and holds some strong grudges. (help I ran out of bad character traits he's too good, its like he's so good and he doesn't even try.) Butttt apperence wise, his singular black hair streak in a head of light whatever-colored-hair (in contrast to Akutagawa's) and accents of black (suspenders, tail-belt-thing that moves as if he was Cat Noir, tie, gloves, pants, shoes) do what Akutagwa's 19th century ruffles do best. Be utterly useless and ugly and feed into the theory that he is a time traveler Contrast.

Basically, Shin Soukoku canon because opposites attract.

#10

back to number 2, he's silly. he's super sassy and may be a bit slow sometimes have thought that shrimp grows from the dirt but just watch/read bsd wan! he's so cute <33 sure his back may be bigger(j) but still, just look:

hope that was enough to convince you cause I'm out of reasons sorry bro.

[rash0mon]

reason of living: akutagawa ryūnosuke

debatably, bungou stray dogs is easily the most existentialist anime out there, as the main premise of existentialism (in a rough sense) - that reason of living is something individual to man, is an underlying compartment of the series, making it as awe-inspiring as it is. each character is seen to either have, or be striving towards finding their distinct reason for living. now, i wanted to retrospect a bit into akutagawa's character and how his reason affected him, his actions, morals - as well as how it possibly shifted (especially in recent chapters of the manga and anime episodes). keep in mind that at i am just laying down my opinion and observations of akutagawa`s character - some things may be fairly obvious, some uncertain or not matching your opinion, which is why i leave space for conclusion, theory, discussion.

pre-mafia

generally, we know little about akutagawa`s life before the mafia, other than small snippets shown throughout the main manga as well as in beast (although beast is an AU, it can still effectively aid in understanding his character in the canon universe). as akutagawa's companions were annihilated, it seemed that he had no reason to live. where, as we all probably know, this soon happened afterwards. from then on, everything changed.

mafia

after that night in the forest, akutagawa's life completely shifted - or moreso, he got a new life. his whole new reason of living being - pleasing dazai, getting validation from the person who gave his life a new meaning. exploring the relationship and dynamic between these two is a whole another post, which is why i shall keep it short. now, i would like to note that even if akutagawa has an unhealthy attachment to dazai, and is being emotionally manipulated by him - he is very much sensible of it. in fact, akutagawa is remarkably self-aware and perceptive, especially of the people around him, just more subtly, through his cold layer of stoicism. he is not the cold-blooded murderer with no sense of morality that many like to paint him as. yes, he is intently focused on achieving dazai's approval, pursuing that ideal in a way familiar to himself. he knows that it is not what is considered "right" by general moral rules, but he does not do much about it, as his reason of living would then diminish. dazai leaves him with a looming sense of inferiority, as he feels he is worthless no matter what he does, unless he is to achieve dazai's attention and approval. this sense of inferiority haunts him, and guides his recklesness and death-or-glory actions.

he sees the ethical issues in his own actions, and he knows there is a better life for him. he just doesn't pursue it. this is also portrayed well in his relationship with kyouka, which could have been yet another repetition of the abuse cycle started by mori and continued by dazai - but it was not, as kyouka found the world of light. he is even happy for her, as we can see. this is one of the few snippets where we can see his sensibility when it comes to others. when he stated "i knew a man with the same eyes as yours", referring to himself, in a way, he sees that he also could`ve found the world of light. but at that point, it seemed to be too late... or at least that is what he thought.

akutagawa doesn't hate atsushi. he sees him as a reflection of himself, himself if he had a different reason of living, if he met dazai a bit later, if he pursued the world of light. he is jealous of him in a sense, yes, but he does not blame him for the fact that he didn't get dazai's approval as many like to speculate. atsushi is the first person who challenges akutagawa's "way", philosophy of living. as he sees himself in him, he fulfills their promise of not killing anyone for 6 months... perhaps because of a faint hope for the world of light? he holds onto this even as a vampire, which shows his pure determination. and it makes me think, that he did not go and protect atsushi only because of dazai, as often speculated, due to the points stated beforehand. as dazai stated: “Akutagawa—he’s like a sword without a sheath.” Dazai grinned from ear to ear. “He’ll surely become the Mafia’s strongest skill user in the not-so-distant future, but for now he needs someone who can teach him how to put that sword away.”

perhaps, atsushi is that person for him rather than dazai.

chapter 88 and vampirism

as stated beforehand, akutagawa obviously does not go to save atsushi only due to his wish to be approved by dazai. there is something deeper underlying, and we have seen numerous times before that akutagawa genuinely cares about, and admires atsushi in the same way he admires and is happy for kyouka - although he would not admit it explicitly, of course. akutagawa fights fukuchi alongside atsushi, leaving himself in a completely vulnerable state, in a simple wish as to redeem, or prove himself in a way. to fulfill his meaning. he is in a special rush to do so even so because of his lung disease, which has a severe impact on the intensity and ruthlesness of his actions throughout entirety of the series. he lays his life down, but he does not go down without a fight. he stays true to his purpose...until his last moments.

at his last moment, in the given panel, however, something changes. we see a different vision of akutagawa. as he lets go of his coat, and is able to manifest his ability without it, i would say that his reason shifted. he states "i don't need words, but only actions", which is the most important sentence in understanding his character and development if you ask me. words being dazai`s words of approval, which he lets go of, like the coat he gave him. a new reason emerges, "actions". he does not need dazai anymore. he only needs himself, raw. this is further emphasized as his coat is lost in the sea by atsushi, who he gave it to. there is no reason to hold on to the past anymore... as a new era emerges.

a new era where akutagawa is not alive, apparently. he is a vampire. however, we can still see that he holds on to some of principles that caused him to change in the first place, such as not killing aya, and keeping the promise he and atsushi made. even when not concious of his actions and controlled by fukuchi, he still holds on to it. which leads me to believe, that there is truly hope for him. atsushi shares the same line of thought... as his perception of akutagawa gradually shifts to a positive one, which is why he wants him to snap out of his vampirism. atsushi understands akutagawa to the core, as they are two sides of the same coin. which is why he hopes for him. if possible, i wish for him to let go of the vampire curse and continue on developing his new reason of living... his new life. we can only long for that at this moment.

we have seen the gradual evolution of akutagawa's character throughout the series in terms of seeking his reason of living - something that is central to each character in bungou stray dogs. which leads me to end this post with what dazai stated to kyouka, which quite well describes his, and all of the other characters ordeals in striving to find a reason to live:

Your anguish isn’t yours alone. What should one do, when what they want to be isn’t what they’re best at? Everyone fights, searching for the correct way to live their lives. What do they seek by fighting? How ought they live? No one can say. All we have is the right to waver. Like stray dogs that have hit rock bottom.

[littencloud9]

What do you think are Itadori and Fushiguro’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

P.s

If you want to answer the questions above with Atsushi/Akutagawa's or Cheng Xiaoshi/Lu Guang's dynamics, I don't mind....😁

hello!!! sorry this took me so long to get to i have been procrastinating on answering this cause i cannot be normal and give one paragraph answers. thank u for the questions :)

🩷🐾 itafushi:

i think yuuji's greatest strength is definitely his compassion and perserverance! he is just so so kind and always thinking about others, even strangers. e.g. at the detention centre when he wanted to bring the dead bodies back, at the station when he paid respects to the person who was killed by that grasshopper curse, how he cheers nanami on when he's feeling anxious and so on. even when hes lost and lost and lost, he gets back up to keep fighting. hes really incredibly strong both physically and mentally and I LOVE YUUJI. his weakness is arguably also his kindness. he lacks the brutality to live in jjk's world (put him in a romance anime now) and that hinders him a lot. he constantly blames himself and that makes it easier for people like mahito or sukuna to tear him down :( for megumi, i think his greatest strength is his intelligence. my boy is SO clever. we always watch him analyse a situation quickly and hes able to guess the opponent's ct, and then counteract that. he also uses his own ct in really cool ways like combining shikigami, storing things in shadows, or even blending himself into the shadow <3 his weakness, which is kind of mentioned in canon, is how much he doubts his strength. he lets other people do the job. he tends to summon mahoraga when things get tough. he has a lot of potential thats acknowledged by really strong characters like sukuna and gojo, but he holds himself back, and i think he loses battles because of this itafushi my loves... i love that they care SO much for each other. they have their whole 'save me' thing going on which is great. also black cat x goldren retriever dynamic is always a fav. i love that they have SUCH faith in each other and never give up on the other and how they're always protecting each other (dont tell itadori & dont you dare say that to fushiguro). gege give them their happy ending now please

🐉🐯 shin soukoku:

i think atsushi's greatest strength is that he chooses kindness. a little different from yuuji who is inherently kind. atsushi grew up tortured and bullied and has every right to be cruel, to lash out, and we have seen his strength. he is able to kill. but atsushi chooses to be kind and forgiving. he has his sassy moments but hes gentle to kyouka, he loves dazai and the agency, he shares a sort of understanding with akutagawa and so on. id say his weakness is his uncertainty. i mean definitely not his fault! but hes new to this world, and in bsd it's be quick or be killed. he also tends to throw himself in the line of fire due to his regenerative abilities so thats not great either sjfsks akutagawa's strength imo is his determination. he is often compared to a dog, in the way that he is fierce and sinks his fangs into things he wants. in beast, it’s especially clear how much he cares for gin and how far he will go for them, the fact that he’d do ANYTHING. he keeps his promises, like the one with atsushi, where even as a vampire he managed to refrain himself from killing aya and anyone else. thats insanely impressive and i think it’s a really overlooked part of his character! however, his weakness, to me, is the way he sees himself. i read a post about how easily akutagawa dehumanises himself, referring to himself as a dog, a murderous beast etc. i think a part of his jealousy towards atsushi stems from this factor. because atsushi is this shiny, perfect version of him, and he is a monstrous dog from the slums (and he also has dogs on his dislikes list so that makes me go hmm). sorry i dont know where im going with this but i think basically akutagawa needs to recognise his strength in order to BE stronger, and thats part of the reason why he remains stuck in this cycle of hatred and anger with himself—he cannot see his own worth, and that makes him bitter. i love my dear sskk they are INSANE. they have everything—enemies to lovers, yin and yang symbolism, not so different after all trope, funny sassy moments, HUGE angst moments (this isnt you!!!), horny vampire bites etc. their development across the series continues to be the best of all time in my opinion. akutagawa going from this terrifying, horrible beast in atsushi’s eyes, to being one of his guiding lights (asking him to look out the door where dazai is pointing). and atsushi going from the source of akutagawa’s bitter jealousy and fury to the person he gave his life for. they are WONDERFUL i love them sm

🩵💛 shiguang:

CHENG XIAOSHI MY BELOVED. i think his strength and weakness are the same—his bleeding heart. cxs is shown time and time again throughout the series to be so empathetic towards everyone. i think him being able to feel the emotions of the person he’s possessing symbolises this more than anything. he’s had a rough childhood—lost his parents, shunned for being different by other kids, other adults shitting on him etc, and yet he remains so kind. his speech with emma really made me cry. the way he was delivering chen xiao’s messages as well was so heartfelt. he cares so much for qiao ling and lu guang too. also the way he so easily extended a hand to invite lg to play bball with him and his friends! cxs is just so sweet despite everything i love him cxs’s bleeding heart is a huge source of his meltdowns. lg tells him time and time again that he cannot change the past, but cxs tries and tries and tries. the earthquake episode really stuck out to me with how devastated cxs was about failing, when there was really nothing he could do. then he blames himself. he falls apart and starts giving up. he loves too hard, empathising with strangers, and then he gets caught up with the emotions and fucks some stuff up (sending emma’s parents that text message), which as we can see created a butterfly effect to the entirety of link click lu guang’s strength imo is his sensibility! i think this is really important in link click, as we are showed that the key message/takeaway is to not change the past. to let things be as it is. lg understands this (though hes a hypocrite) and he is cxs’s guidance, helping him grieve, even lying to him when he has to in order to get cxs out alive. i think it takes a lot of strength to make your best friend hate you and lie to them the way he did (again, earthquake episode i am looking at u) lu guang’s weakness comes in the form of one person and that is cheng xiaoshi skfnsk. not even for shipping purposes cause this is canon. we see how he absolutely FREAKS OUT over the possibility of cxs dying. hes not as strong of a fighter as cxs is, but he went feral. he was throwing punches and yelling, which is really different from the cool demeanour that lg usually has! then we find out hes been trying to save cxs, going against HIS OWN RULES, things he know can fuck up the timeline, all for him. just one person. cxs makes him lose his sensibility (his strength!!) and it gets him into trouble pretty often shiguang means the world to me because they are so devoted to each other. they vibed one (1) time and became bffs of all time. cxs is gentle and teasing and annoying to lg because hes comfortable around him. lg does loosen up around cxs imo, and his willingness to break his own rules just for cxs!!! ahhhh!!!! i also love their dumb inside jokes and how theyre both so smart but also share one brain cell. they’ve been doomed from the start. i cannot wait to see where link click goes with them and how we will progress now knowing that lg has been breaking the laws of time askfjdb

[youroriginalsublimecupcakestuff]

Bsd otome isekai AU : in a world where beast is an original novel and bungou stray dogs doesn't exist.

a young poet Kashimura Chuuya who was killed by truck kun while crossing the street had his memory come back to him when he's eight year old because of the shock of the explosion.

Losing his friends and family was hard to him but he pushed it all away too focused on survival, he joined the sheep like in canon and when he meet dazai in suribashi city like the original chuuya he couldn't stand him, he decide to avoid dazai as he though that he's a big reason for what happened to og chuuya ( became insane and captured by the gov like in the movie) ( and a part of him who already lost too much though why becomming to attached to someone who would die anyways).

But dazai doesn't make it easy and he's forced by mori to partner with him, chuuya decide to leave when dazai became the boss but everything is wrong, neither Akutagawa nor oda We're supposed to be in the mafia ???? He's freaking out thinking that his presence changed things and withdraw even more from dazai who doesn't take that well, he's pushing every buttons refusing to let himself be ignored by chuuya.

This chuuya was also friends with Oda because he wanted to know what changed for him to join the mafia and would join when the buraiha trio went to drink but he was still friends with the flags and losing them hurt him too much even with all his knowledge of the plot he was uselesss to save those whom he care about , he even tried to leave the mafia but dazai stopped him, he promised him that he'll never leave.

But to his shock and horror oda died and dazai left without telling him , he try to mentor akutagawa like Oda did in the Book but took all that really hard and after a reality check from kouyou he try to date or just make new friends even demand to be relocated outside Yokohama and take akutagawa with him.

He can get close with tachihara ( it can even be akutagawa or ( or with oc ) who can even catch feelings for him ( like a second lead in kdrama/otome isekai ) then he have his reunion with dazai who's jealous and possessive.

As for atsushi he's either found by dazai like in the Bsd canon and join the ADA or chuuya who was bugged out by atsushi not being in the mafia, sent a contact that he know thanks to Verlaine or kouyou to search for him and never told anyone his contact found atsushi when dazai left and it was chuuya who became his savior and mentor and brought him upon the PM , he and akutagawa are a team but both have a rivalry for chuuya praise and affection.

He also choose to mentor kyouka even bribing elise in order to have her convince mori and had Verlaine and Kouyou to back him up ( in the case when atsushi was found by dazai, he had her being partnered with akutagawa and both of them were trained together, they have a rivalry which benefit them both ( he's also close with gin and often invite the akutagawa siblings ( or/and black lizards to his home).

They had big fight while chuuya refuse to speak to him and dazai get more and more ridiculous and obssessive in trying to get him to talk to him , then release all their tension and get together after Dazai tried every way to convince him because chuuya was too scared to lose him again to give him a chance, he can even had dream but it's beast chuuya and all the others reality memories and feeling who are transfered to him.

They're even the possibility of either because he somehow got in contact with a page of the Book , because of an ability who somehow affected him or even because of magic or others way but that dazai get memories of all reality and know that something is wrong which led to drama or another possibility chuuya who is moved by dazai's efforts and decide that he can trust him , tell him about his past life.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Thinking about what if it had been Atsushi on the boat. Because Fukuchi's initial plan before Akutugawa showed up was to kill Atsushi.

The sheer amount of guilt that Ranpo would feel. Ranpo who once defended the decision not to save Atsushi from a kidnapping. Saying it wasn't the Agencies job to protect him.

And growing so much from that moment. The guilt at having to leave Atsushi on the boat now because otherwise Ranpo would've been killed.

He sent the signal flare and all he can do is put his trust in Atsushi and Dazai. It feels like years and he deduces when it's safe to leave the novel.

And his worst fears come to life.

If they've left the boat than either Ranpo has to deduces what's happened. Or Akutugawa has to explain, bitterly and failing to hide his anger and sorrow.

But if their still on the boat there's a good chance he finds Atsushi's body.

And has to leave him behind, once again to escape with Akutugawa before Fukuchi kills them both. This information is valuable, it needs to be told says his mind.

But his heart screams because he knows how much Atsushi hates being alone.

Ranpo having to tell everyone, having to watch the Agency fall apart. Dazai's not here but Kunikida is, Kyouka is. He didn't know when he's supposed to be a genuis. He didn't know and it cost them everything.

He's supposed to be invincible. Atsushi thought he was invincible.

There's a glimmer of hope when the Port Mafia is attacked and Akutugawa, one of the only survivors confirms who it was. He's still here, somewhere.

The anger in Ranpo is something else that it almost scares him. He doesn't care for their former friendship. Nor his reasonings or justifications. Fukuchi crossed the line, he stole someone dear to them all.

There's no place on earth, no ability or weapon that can sheild him from Ranpo's wrath. Oh he'll bring Atsushi back. Atsushi who's always been afraid he's a monster, now a mindless beast under someone else's control.

Atsushi who looked at Ranpo with admiration, and now snarls at him with no recognition. Oh Ranpo would bring him back. And he would make Fukuchi pay. Even if it took him a thousand years.

Even if he had to become a demon to do it.

[daz4i]

What are some of your favourite BSD headcanons that you have?

oh oh i have a few i'm attached to!

nikolai has a normal ass background. he was Just Some Guy who kinda snapped and lost his mind from the monotony of everyday life and felt like he has to break free of it somehow, and that's why he is Like That now (i bring it up often so i kinda feel like a broken record hehe sorry :P)

dazai is the one who caused akutagawa's lung disease by injuring him somehow during their mafia days (given how in beast he doesn't have it). i mentioned it a few times bc i do stand firm on this hc bc i think it adds a very tragic layer to their dynamic

some more lighthearted stuff. atsushi and kyouka make time to hang out every week. either after work or on a weekend they will always make sure to go out and have some fun for a few hours. they deserve it

chuuya trans. that's it

ok i ran out of stuff for now. i'd be happy to read other people's hc and incorporate them into my belief system tho >:)

[note-boom]

One of the things that has been eating away at my brain is the idea of Buraiha SSK + Kyouka. And I just don't mean them as a second generation Buraiha (that too, but that's another post/tag ramble) but as a sort of...role-reserve/AU of that.

Part of it was inspired by this role-reverse AU that I re-discovered recently (and messed me up once again because guys. It's SO compelling to think about). But part of me has always liked to think about Kyouka, Atsushi, and Akutagawa as a trio rather than a duo.

Spoilers for the linked fanfic, but.

At first, I thought Oda!Kyouka and Dazai!Atsushi with Akutagawa being a sort of Ango who stays in the PM, as it went in the fanfic. And it IS compelling, especially when you see Beast and how well Atsushi fits into the PM. How Kyouka was a former assassin just like Odasaku but got roped into the PM because they didn't believe they could be better. A Kyouka who doesn't kill people, too, also...(I could honestly see her canon arc going like that)

But then my thoughts went to...okay, but what if. Atsushi as Odasaku (aka, dying) with Kyouka and Akutagawa as their own sort of...individual characters that roughly follow the same arc but not really. Because in canon, it's Atsushi that has both the strong bond with either, or its his strong bond with them both that's emphasized. Kyouka and Akutagawa do have a meaningful relationship but I do feel it gets sidelined (sort of like sometimes I wonder how Oda and Ango were canonically like, Dazai-less, though they give me a bit of a Dazai and Ango vibe as well given the whole former superior thing).

So what this is all to say is an Atsushi who adopts a bunch of children and doesn't kill after a meaningful encounter with literature but breaks that oath after the lives he valued are run over, a Kyouka who is lifeless after joining the PM and gets pulled into the light because of her dying friend's request, and an Akutagawa who was a spy for the government after it offered him and his sister protection but didn't want any of this to really happen (from mafia dog to government dog).

[sensitiveheartless]

I tried to post the concepts in my head onto my Tumblr blog like a normal person but found I couldn't articulate anything in my head unless it was specifically in your inbox so enjoy my incoherent ramblings - Goblin anon

Building off that one post (the one about ADA Chuuya not hiding the fact that he has an ability, but never using so no one has a clue what it is), my basic thought is that Chuuya's ability is revealed to the rest of the agency during the Guild Arc, specifically during the period of time while Q's ability was active and everyone is scrambling to do damage control. Chuuya's already used his ability exactly once before this (and I might just send you that as a separate rambling) but he's still hates it.

Anyways, Kyouka's welcoming party. Festivities are in full swing, with Dazai cranking up the antics to an obnoxious degree, while Chuuya just kind of sits next to a window with a bottle of wine (because he gets to have exactly one unhealthy coping mechanism and he chose alcoholism).

But Dazai's distractions eventually stop working, and conversation turns to Chuuya's ability, because it's the less depressing of the two Solved Agency Mysteries (the other one being Dazai and Chuuya's previous jobs ofc). Talking about how cool it is, how useful it could be, how powerful it is and how well Chuuya uses his ability. Through all of this, Chuuya is still sitting by the window, not exactly ignoring them but not participating in conversation either.

I imagine that Tanizaki is the one to prod the bear, and it goes something like this...

Tanizaki: How come you don't use your ability, Chuuya? It's really cool!

Chuuya: It takes 9 G Forces to kill someone.

(He takes the empty wine bottle and crushes it with his ability)

Chuuya: That was 30.

(Definitely kills the mood of the party... Also have this little snippet between Chuuya and Kunikida in private:

Kunikida: What exactly did you do before joining the agency?

Chuuya: Don't make me answer that. Trust me, you don't want to know)

OOOF oh man that’s really good—angstttt, Chuuya needs a hug ;;

Think he’d ever get more comfortable with his ability again? It might be interesting to see him using it for more harmless things, kind of like Akutagawa using Rashoumon to play with Oda’s orphans in Beast :0

[kaurwreck]

What do you think of the relationship between Mori and Dazai or Mori and Yosano? I find the particular dynamic between the lot of them a very fascinating one that I often see misrepresented in an odd fashion. Mainly with this thing that it’s so common for Mori to be like Dr N levels of abusive in a lot of fics or whatever that people fail to realise the ways that he was actually abusive towards Yosano and Dazai and also kind of erasing a lot of Mori’s like manipulative traits because it goes from he’s either a child predator like that mob guy from Banana fish or he’s just really guilty about everything and just wants the best for everyone which is true but not in the way people describe it. There’s also of course the label of “abusive” in regards to Mori’s dynamic with Yosano and Dazai is also a weird thing because a lot of people seem convinced that either abuse can solely be physical and otherwise extremely overt(like most abusive dynamics in BSD like Dazai and Akutagawa or N and Chuuya,Aya and her dad, or Akutagawa and Kyouka) or they label Yosano and Mori’s dynamic and Mori and Dazai’s just toxic which is a very hard thing to define in real life and even harder to define in adult and child relationships. I think I would consider Mori’s dynamic with both a little more like Kouyou and Kyouk’s. I think Mori definitely likes both Yosano and Dazai and like Kouyou projects heavily into the both of them which is why he makes the decisions he does in regards to them though in a conversation between what he’ll put more time towards being better for he’s picking the safety of his nation/city. He’ll project Yosano from over active soldiers and entertain her silly threats towards him then turn around and overwork her ability and guilt-trip her into using her skill when she doesn’t want to and even offer up her powers for a greater goal that he wants to work toward. With Dazai it’s different because while Mori and Yosano are similarly in ways of their positions as healers Dazai and Mori are alike in more personality yet not entirely philosophy. There’s still that like child-weapon-y thing with Dazai because Mori did plan to get rid of him after ensuring his position as boss but realised Dazai was too useful to kill off and such and there’s the instances in which he pretends like he’s gonna help Dazai kill himself but doesn’t and there’s the stuff with Oda but there’s still a sense of care there in a weird way. I see the take of Mori being a father figure to the two of them and while I would just think of Mori as a manipulative mentor rather than a father because I don’t either of them would see Mori as a father and I don’t take BEAST as a canon indication of Mori’s character but a weird toxic parent with estranged children is like the easiest way to describe the lot of them. Like Mori as a bad dad who kinda cares more about his job than his kids and doesn’t really know them as well as a parent should and gives them weird advice and talks to them like coworkers than kids is a interesting take I think. But anyways this is really long sorry I just wanted to ask had got carried away.

I've already said all I'm going to say about Mori's relationships with Yosano and Dazai here.

[monstersqueen]

bsd beast but dazai never got memories from canon.

atsushi still ends up in the mafia and akutagawa in the ADA, odasaku is still alive and writing, main difference (at first glance) is that it took longer for dazai to become boss of the mafia. (in short, mori was out of ideas to make him keep going on, so he faked his death and made him boss) , and that he never met akutagawa, and gin is still with her brother. pratically the only think that brings this dazai any kind of joy is to torment chuuya.

well, that and his weekly drinking session with two strangers whose identity he is careful not to know. he already knows that one of them at some point was working in the government and spying on the mafia, but it was years ago ! who knows what he does now. and anyway it was long ago. he might be confusing him with someone else. if he knows he's drinking with the new mafia boss he's not saying anything.

ango absolutely knows he's regularly drinking with the mafia boss and a member of the agency, but if the other two don't know each other's identity, he's not going to tell them, and so he's not going to tell them his identity either. anyway this is NOT a place where he drags his work and rank and status and allegiance in, so. might as well not matter. (this is two people he would absolutely betray the government for. if they don't know they can't ask him. if they don't know he'll never have to choose. (if they don't know he'll never have to live with them not even asking him to choose, just rejecting him, but he doesn't know to fear that outcome))

odasaku has no idea. he knows dazai-kun is the loneliest person alive, and that ango is a man of secrets. he's aware there might be something about their lives that they're hiding, but he thinks he knows all he needs to about them. (he's right. but if he knew what they're hiding, he might change his mind, depending on how confident he is that he knows them)

this lasts either to

the day when work happens and ango touches the Book and has a complete meltdown upon witnessing canon and also all the verses where odasaku dies and realizing that one constant is that the only way for odasaku to live is for him and dazei never to be friends, and also that he's in a lie of a world and that he's going to have to face them without telling them, because he can't tell both (people who know the truth count limit), and anyway they don't deserve to be cursed with this knowledge, or to

the day where dostoievsky/DoA go after the books andFukuchi/Dostoievsky/whoever lose but odasaku dies in the process

akutagawa and atsushi inevitably meet, and because it's not canon (no 'akutagawa attacked atsushi for the bounty and says the worst things to kyouka') nor regular beast (no dazai to push them into fighting) just start dating. that does immediately out dazai's identity, and ango's. ... and then we're back to point one or two.

(for info this version of dazai and ango have spent tonight having a discussion in my head where ango tries not to give too much information to dazai and odasaku but dazai keeps figuring too much out. ango planned to get an ability user to erase his memories, except he knows that one way or another odasaku is going to die and he can't forget that.)

(also ango and dazai call each other dazai-san and sakuaguchi-kun in this universe, and no one calls odasaku that; ango uses 'oda-san' and dazai uses sakunosuke. odasaku addresses them the same way they address each other because he picked it up from them)

[parkerthejester]

Who is the most babygirl in Bungou Bungou? -Pookie <3

You’re getting a long winded answer to this, so lets go through the contestants

Warning! Slight BSD Manga and Anime spoilers

We’re only using ADA and PM characters for this for the sake of my sanity. We’ll go through a quick rundown to eliminate some of the people from the running based on the following criteria. Remember, babygirl is a state of mind and has nothing to do with gender or age, instead a babygirl usually has these contributing factors

- morals

- cat attributes

- bloodied

- tragic

- tired

Now for the characters who are not babygirl

- Kenji

- Kyouka

- Oda

- Mori

- Tanizaki

- Naomi

- Kunikida

- Gin

- Kouyou

- Motojiro

- Q

- Hirotsu

And for our runners :

- Dazai

- Atsushi

- Chuuya

- Ranpo

- Akutagawa

- Tachihara

- Yosano

- Fukuzawa

To thin out the running we’ll go through our criteria for each of these characters and why they are or are not babygirl enough for our purposes. We’ll pick the three top babygirl characters and move from there.

Dazai fits our criteria almost to a T. He’s strange and unsettling, he’s morally (dark) grey, he does the asshole cat smirk, and he’s tragic. In the manga and the show he doesn’t get bloodied very often, and he isn’t shown to be tired in the way that really makes or breaks a babygirl character

Atsushi is lower on my list than I’d like to admit, as I love him dearly and he’s my babygirl at heart. He gets bloodied often (and he looks great doing it, might I add) but where the evil would exist in a babygirl character he’s pathetic instead, which is a babyboy character trait. He has plenty of cat attributes and he’s plenty tragic, though I wouldn’t say he’s tired in the babygirl way. (Side note, Beast!Atsushi is DEFINITELY the winner of the babygirl category for me, but we’re focusing on the main story here)

Chuuya has got a lot going for him in the babygirl categories. He’s a little bit evil, at the very least morally grey, he’s tragic, and he’s only just barely earned his babygirl-tired title. He’s unfortunately lacking in cat attributes, and though he doesn’t get bloodied as much as I’d like for my purposes the use of corruption fills that slot.

Ranpo is a grey area for me in terms of babygirl-ness. He isn’t bloodied often (a running theme with the smarter of the babygirls) but he does have the cat smirk that Dazai has which gives him cat attributes. He’s morally grey, and he’s relatively tragic (though, compared to some of the other babygirls not so much). He’s not babygirl tired, either.

Akutagawa is really up there for me in these criteria. He’s morally grey, deeply tragic, and the epitome of babygirl tired. He gets bloodied pretty often which is so great for my purposes, but he’s lacking in cat attributes in canon. You can argue for fanon a lot but the most canon attributes he has is that he’s aloof even if he likes you.

Tachihara is one of my personal babygirl takes, he’s relatively tragic and he’s morally (light) grey (and he’s a double agent which is like the most babygirl thing ever). He doesn’t have any cat attributes and he’s not babygirl tired but he does get a little bloodied but only once which is pushing it for the babygirl scale

Yosano is so real and amazing and beautiful and perfect. Shes morally grey which is part of her being tragic, she gets bloodied often (part of her ability) which is so great. She isnt a super cat-like character and she’s not babygirl tired but she is a secret third thing (my favorite character in the series) which bumps her up a little bit.

Fukuzawa has the extra babygirl treat of having seventeen kids. He isn’t the babygirl level of tragic that I usually look for but he is the embodiment of babygirl levels of tired so he has that going for him. He’s pretty morally grey and he has what I like to call “old street cat” attributes, but we don’t see him bloodied often.

Based off these analyses I’ve narrowed it down to the following characters :

- Atsushi

- Dazai

- Yosano

From this running now I’ll be looking at how they look and how they act. This includes fashion choices, hair choices, and how they treat the people around them.

Atsushi definitely dresses the most like a babygirl. He wears suspenders on top of a white button down with a tie and NO VEST. And he’s got the stupid flood pants with the flared boots, he just makes horrendous fashion choices which is so babygirl of him. Not to mention the atrocious haircut, horrible really. However the way he interacts with people (outside of Akutagawa, of course) is more babyboy than it is babygirl.

Dazai is just on the cusp of babygirl clothing. The bandages really add to his look, but what really makes it for me is the full trenchcoat in all weather. Babygirl behavior. The way he interacts with others is also very babygirl, seeing as he’s an ass and I want to beat him to death and also hold him gently in my hands (the typical reaction to babygirl character).

Yosano doesn’t dress babygirl pretty much at all (she dresses relatively boring and they should have given her more because she deserves it) but the way she interacts with others is so very babygirl its nuts. Absolutely bonkers.

FINAL ANSWER THAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR : The most babygirl character in all of Bungou Stray Dogs is the one and only Dazai Osamu. He’s the perfect balance on most babygirl scales as well as personality, social interactions, and clothing choices.

If you actually read all this thank you and drink some water or something idk

[kyouka-supremacy]

so, kyotag, your super honest opinion about bsd characters please (aka, who is your fave and who is your least fave. i promise, i am not trying to get you 'cancelled', i am just curious!) 🎤

Ever since I've gotten this ask I've been trembling, I don't think I can ever give bsd honest opinions for the sake of my own future mental sanity LMAO. The upside is, I can talk plenty of the characters I like!!

My favourite character is Kenji! For real, ahah. I'm just always drawn to characters that are just... Good. little guys only trying to do their best and be kind. I suppose there's also a factor of “that's who I want to be” that makes me like them in particular. I don't like the direction they went for Kenji's character in chapter 100.5, but really? I wasn't particularly let down by it either, like it's so fundamentally coherent with the worldview bsd expresses, if anything it was chapter 13 that was out of the scheme. I'm a professional canon ignorer at this point and I'll keep doing just that ahah.

↑ Saw this scene for the first time in the anime, went “Slay! Communist king!”, and he's been my favourite ever since lol.

Although, if we count in Beast, then my favourite character overall must be Beast Atsushi. I mean, have you seen him... Most fucked up guy ever. He went through unimaginable trauma and he still kept being so soft at his core. He just wants to live but everyone is making it so hard for him. He cares for Kyouka so much and he cares for Dazai so much and (to me) he cares for Akutagawa so much like little traumatized boy how did you manage to save all that love in you despite the Horrors. I can't put in words how much I love him but really he's the only character I can say I really sympathize with, like, I want good things to happen to him. I want him to spend the rest of his life coddled and adored.

I love all the female characters <3 I ADORE Kyouka, I think among the other female characters she's the most multilayered and complex character with a structured and compelling story arc. I think she's seriously nice, I really love this stark contrast between her sharp, cynical side and her side that is so sweet and kind and so utterly 14 y/o, and I love how these two sides aren't really in conflict but just come to be together and make her so authentically Kyouka. She's so dear to me. Also, she's the only female character who can compete with the s.kk / ss.kk four for the role of main character, so like, I'm rooting for her ahah.

I adore Yosano for self-explanatory reasons lmao. The chapters of her backstory may not be my absolute favourites for a mere matter of personal taste but I definitely think they make for the best written chapters in the whole manga. I really like how sensitive she is of others' suffering, I think she's amazing– I think her compassion is truly amazing. I want to read more stories of unapologetically compassionate characters. I also generally really really love “older sister” kind of characters!!

I love Kouyou with all I've got. I'm sorry, I genuinely think her story was this good on mistake, but still. I think her backstory makes her genuinely intriguing, I think she's extremely cool and powerful and a joy to see in action, I think toxic mother / daughter relationships are super fun to explore, I think she deserves so much more spotlight and should be back as soon as possible.

I love Mitchell lmao. Like I know it may not look like it but I truly think about her 24/7. I just love women that are kinda silly and over the top. She's got like four lines and every single one is a gem and I adore all of them. She's got those big evident flaws and they make her so human and likeable!!! She's my best friend. Not to mention how loyal she is and how much she cares about her family, I really like those traits of her. Oh, and gowns! I love love love gowns.

Okay but seriously I love all female characters. I didn't like Lucy in particular at the start but she's really grown on me and now I adore her with everything. Wells is spectacular and I need her back as soon as possible. Every woman I didn't mention, from Higuchi to Egawa, believe me I love with all my heart.

I went off a tangent I'm so sorry </3 I know you asked for one character, but how can I not mention the others??? It's just been so long for me in the fandom now and I just can't but grow attached. And I've got so much untapped love for women I never get to talk about on my silly blog that focuses on two men. Following up the list, would be Akutagawa. And I don't want to talk about him because I suppose there's no need to after having made one trillion posts about him but also can I just say? I like him for the same exact reasons I like Kenji. She's just a guy trying to be good. The difference is that he sucks so bad at it, and it makes him SO fun to explore as a character. I really have so much fun playing with him. Then would be Tachihara, Jouno...

... ........................ For the characters I like least, I suppose, R/anpo. I'm so sorry peoples. In R/anpo's case, it's just... Why do you have to be so mean and disrespectful all the time. Seriously, dude. Why is he always treating others as less than he is. I'm sorry, I really am, but I just can't help but find it displeasant? Like it takes zero energy to treat other people with common human decency, c'mon dude. At least Akutagawa is trying to do better, but everyone treats R/anpo like he's entitled to be a jerk? Idk man.

K/unikida. In his case, I Do Get why he's the way that he is (and genuinely can relate to him to an extent), it's just... For the way I am, I consider to try and forcibly impose your own ideals on other people to be about the most insulting thing you can do. And he does that a lot, with Atsushi and Dazai and everyone else. He also has this whole forced lack of empathy thing going on like... I get why he does that, and I get what he went through that made him like he is, but that doesn't change the fact you're kinda being a dick to everyone all the time dude. Please get some therapy.

That doesn't mean there aren't moments when I've genuinely liked them both and found them seriously cool!!!! I still think K/unikida is an interesting character and I genuinely get why people like him. I love the helicopter scene, I remember when I was reading the manga for the first time, when he said “no one ruins my schedule”, I was like, whaa, I was completely in awe. For R/anpo too, the Untold Origins arc from what I could see from the anime was really nice, and I also highly enjoy that one scene of his in chapter 81, the “To tell the truth, I had absolutely no assurance they'd believe me”.

Thank you for the ask Nyusa!! I hope you could find this at least a little bit interesting (?). If anything, now you know a little more about me, ahah. Also not talking about Dazai this time because really I can't be here the whole day.