#also what DID he do to dazai

[gothamcityneedsme]

yuzuru and dazai leading their nahobino pair partner hello?

[carbonateds-oda]

“do I look like the type of person who’s visiting a grave”

the reason why it surprised dazai that atsushi stated this despite it being so obvious is because he probably expected atsushi to assume something bad of him or suspect him of having more malicious intentions because that’s what he’s used to, he’s used to ppl assuming the worst of him even when he’s just existing so whenever he’s met with someone like atsushi, who even while knowing he isn’t exactly a good person still chooses to see genuineness behind his actions it leaves him shocked. like yeah i am just visiting a grave, not just any grave either this is the grave of the only other person who I thought would ever see me in such a light but that’s been proven wrong just by atsushi acknowledging the obvious. It’s like proof that he is capable of just being a person and having human emotions, he’s allowed to sit in a grave and visit his friend without ppl misinterpreting this innocent action as something insincere

[sableeira]

all of that ominous introduction of Hirotsu just for peepaw to be yeeted out of the window later.

[sabh0]

Can we yap about how much these two GENUINELY need each other and can't STAND the fact they know this and despise that it's true!! 😭

More so Dazai than Chuuya, honestly- he's a very needy guy XD

Like they don't need each other to survive - the 4 years apart made it clear, but. They both seem so much more alive and genuine next to each other aughhh

Both know there's no other person that understands them so well, but the fact that *someone* can basically read their thoughts before they even say em is what also scares em sm,,, like yeah i hate you and i hate the fact that you know me so well. And i also hate the fact that i know you so well too,,,

Tho there r times when they REALLY need each other to survive, not metaphorically or anything. Chuuya needs Dazai durning Corruption and Dazai needs Chuuya when uh. Making these stupid plans where he plays a princess who needs a prince on a white horse to save him. Be it Dead Apple or even the Dragon's Head Conflict.

And it makes me go so aughhh bc none of them have to use these tactics that put their lives in the hands of the other, but they still do and aughhh the trust they have for each other makes me throw up

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[videogamelover99]

Something that drives me crazy about the punch scene in the Dead Apple flashback that I finally can put into words:

Before the Dragon Head Conflict, Chuuya and Dazai weren't partners. They became partners during the conflict, and were so good at working together that they became notorious in and outside of the Mafia. And then the bodies kept piling up, and Dazaj got dragged back into nihilism. And that is that made Chuuya pissed. Like, SB Dazai would not have made Chuuya pissed like that, because at that point he expects Dazai to be an asshole. It's only after they became partners, when Chuuya saw the humanity that Dazai was capable of, that seeing the old Dazai, the Dazai he hates, pop back up again made him pissed enough to punch him and say that Dazai does not look human to anyone.

And then Dazai cares so much about Chuuya's opinion of him that he ends the whole conflict. He cares so much. He straight up says "I'm fixing this cause my partner is upset with me" to Shibusawa in that bonus story.

Something happened in DBH before then that made them truly care about each other. To see each other as important. Like, if anything, what I want is a DHC Light Novel because that is when they became partners, and that changed everything.

[aroacesigma]

Sometimes I feel like we moved on a little too quickly from this

[1bringthesun]

so when dazai was in the hospital with that nurse, who’s the right one to blame?

(discussions of s/a, medical unprofessionally, and other bsd-typical things)

asking this question is wrong to begin with. there’s no, “ oh no, but who will we blame for the situation?” are you really still looking for someone to blame in bungou stray dogs, the series of grey morality?

well, i don’t blame you. so im making a post about it!

for convenience, i’m just going to assume they slept together because it makes the most sense, and is also generally what the fandom assumes when they try to point fingers at either two.

to better understand why people think a certain way, let’s break it down and approach this problem from two perspectives!

the nurse was in the wrong:

dazai had just gotten out of surgery for having a bullet wound and is still under the influence of anesthesia. she sees him using his phone and takes it from him. he’s handsome and willing to do things with her, so she sleeps with him, and when they’re done, she’s willing to give it back. not only that, but she has the audacity to ask again if they can do it “just once more.” it’s obvious she has zero care for him as a patient if she’s willing to sleep with someone fresh out of surgery, and also being under the influence, he’s not able to properly consent. regardless, she takes her chance to be with a handsome man, completely neglecting her job to care for his health as a nurse and breaking probably every single aspect of professionalism.

dazai was in the wrong:

an annoying woman is disregarding the gravity of his work and holding him, someone who’s important to the fate of the city, by normal hospital standards, when he’s been shot by a bullet before and knows his own body inhumanly well; another doctor even gave him permission, so who’s she to act like the boss of him? obviously, this bothers him, and he needs his phone, so he decides to take the quickest path to getting it back, and, spoiler alert: it isn’t recovery. he seduces her and puts her job at risk just so he’ll get his phone back, and when she becomes attached to him, he says yeah, sure, they can fool around again… if he feels like it.

they’re both in the wrong:

people blame her of sexually assaulting him, and also blame him of sexually assaulting her. they say he couldn’t have consented, she overly wasn’t interested in the beginning, she was meant to care for her patient, he’s a scumbag and a womanizer, etc.

but don’t you see? the fact that both of them have done awful things in these two panels…

…is the point.

dazai is an asshole for sleeping with a woman he doesn’t give a damn about just so she’ll do what he tells her to, and she’s totally insane for letting a patient who was just in surgery share physical intimacy with her.

she’s an awful nurse, and he’s a bitch! they both suck!!!! why only blame one of them for sucking?

from an outsider’s perspective, the nurse does seem to be more in the wrong. she was meant to be his caretaker for a while and completely neglected that, even going so far as to have relations with a patient still under the effects of drugs.

but… was he? he was speaking completely lucidly, and none of his thoughts or words or actions resembled someone under the influence in the slightest. he made a sour face at her when he realized he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted to do, and her attitude in the beginning was clearly appropriate for the situation. calling dazai a victim in this situation is wrong. he clearly took the initiative to change her position. is that not consent?

he manipulated her for access to a phone, and she used him as means of gratification, and both of that is wrong.

[t4t-dazai]

there was supposed to be lyrics from somw cheesy song but i got distracted by kaveh va playing genshin

[altruistic-meme]

i am putting Kunikida in Situations <3

[lesbiankordian]

you know how Dazai makes references to the princesses? he should now make one about Chuuya and the Little Mermaid:

her natural habitat is water

she's ginger

she lost her voice (and Chuuya is under sb's control now)

she became a different species at one point in her life

she was used for her voice (and Chuuya for his ability)

also Dazai'd laugh his ass off if he called Chuuya 'little'

[whoviandoodler]

i've been thinking about akutagawa and dazai, about how dazai was a broken child himself when he took akutagawa on as a student and about how dazai broke him completely in turn because his own worldview and priorities were fucked up. he taught akutagawa that strength was the end goal he should strive for regardless of who he might damage trying to attain it because he himself saw strength as the only way to survive and get anything. he drilled it into akutagawa's head so brutally that, now that he has grown past that and come to seek different values in the people around him, akutagawa is incapable of adjusting. he keeps trying to get dazai's (forever unattainable) approval by chasing strength and he keeps hitting a wall, and it's so heartbreakingly clear that he doesn't understand why. and dazai being dazai, he tries to teach lessons the hardest way possible, by making people struggle and writhe in agony until they see the light of the answer themselves, instead of explaining what he wants and why he wants it. despite everything that has changed within him, he still sees pain as a motivator and a tool; the roots of a lifetime of cruelty are so deeply embedded in him that the kindness he tries for hasn't managed to reach the depths yet, and he keeps falling time and time again into old habits.

[daz4i]

i don't get why ppl keep making art or fics of mori being abusive towards dazai (doesn't make sense bc it won't contribute to his goals and even actively hurt them, ooc for their type of relationship etc) when guys . dazai has a whole backstory we don't know of. you can just put the abuse there 👍

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

genuinely i cannot Stand bsd gachatubes takes on dazai-akutagawa-kyouka i think my mutuals should explode you

[lyloneliness]

Fyodor's way of communication and the planning of meursault arc

In order to understand all the subtilities of the arc we are currently facing, I reread all of fyodor's interactions with other characters in order to get how his way of thinking functions. Well... I'm not a psychologist and don't know much about religion either so I still don't really get his philosophy, but after analysing how he handled several situation I at least got a hold of how he works as a strategy.

Fyodor as a strategist

He uses how people think, not to get them to do what he wants - like it's done by dazai or Mori- , but by placing others in a situation where they do it by their own will... as it is the best way for them to act.

We saw that with how he got rid of ace. First, he got caught willingly. Then, he made ace think that his ability was to plug his oponent in an illusion from where he could never escape. The logical solution to this situation would be to commit suicide according to ace's logic, which Fyodor had saw through. And just like that ace committed suicide.

Sigma is another example. He needed sigma to choose the wrong information to pick in his head, so he needed him to focus on something else. What did he have at disposition? His true nature, that he knew sigma initially intended to know because of Nikolai. With ace it was a lie that got him to his goal, but there, he didn't even need to lie for his plan to work. A single memo as a trigger sufficed. Sigma, also stressed by the gunshots, the thing with the knife and the menace of fyodor's ability, would then decide it's more important to pierce the enemy's secrets.

Just like he placed sigma and ace in situations where their better options are what Fyodor wanted them to do, I think he placed nikolai in situations where his freedom was compromised so that he wouldn't stick to the part of the plan where he needs to die for real.

The birth of meursault arc

He knows nikolai better than anyone else, nikolai himself says it. There's no way he didn't think he wouldn't follow the plan till the end. "But if he knew, why didn't he take any precaution to keep that from happening?" you'll ask. Because that causes no harm to his plan. Quite the contrary actually, he can even use it as he is doing now to get rid of dazai with the nikolai game... Which is his sole goal in the current situation, since escaping can't possibly count as a goal since he placed himself in this situation willingly, and knowing dazai would get there too.

Since he doesn't want to escape, then why choose chuuya as a partner/pon in the nikolai game? Literally a third of the world is vampirised, and there surely are ability users stronger than chuuya... So why did he choose someone who might turn as an enemy in the middle of the battle? Why take that enormous risk?

That's where his strategy pattern interveens. By choosing chuuya, he places dazai in a situation where he would want to get him back. To prove their bond to a man that considers everyone as pons and sinners. To prove that the bond his humanity depends on isn't shallow.

The planning

I said in a prior theory that they were both placing pons right from the start of the game until chap 109. But if the above is true, it means Fyodor was placing pons all along, his start being way before what we expected.

I thought he got to know dazai's way of thinking from their talk in the prison and then used his comunication way to tell fukuchi to send chuuya specifically to the prison, but what if he did that before even getting in prison?

It would all make sense, all the bsd canon events right from the start. He used the guild and the canibalism arcs to get the page and know his enemies. He was pulling the strings the whole time : Moby Dick's fall, Q being used by the guild, the canibalism... But everytime, someone countered his plans. And this someone is dazai.

Nemesis

Up til canibalism, he was discovering his oponents and getting what he needed to make Fukuchi's plan a reality... Until his direct confrontation with dazai and their little talk about human foolishness in the dark allyway where dazai let himself get shot.

I think that's how his curiosity started.

That's also when he felt that he needed to get rid of him, therefore needed to know him better, and then changed his approach. It becomes more direct, more provocative, he let dazai know he is the one pulling the strings. And with how dazai reacts, he already was aware of his functioning ways, beliefs and habits from the precedent battles. With cannibalism, he learns how far dazai is willing to go to counter him, and that's why he was surprised when getting caught in the cafe. He wasn't surprised of being caught, he was surprised of dazai relying on Francis, a former enemy, when he ran out of options.

And honestly, what was the point to participate in the battle of dead apple since he wouldn't get anything out of it...? Well.. He did get something actually. He got knowledge on the ennemy he'll have to face for the doa to succeed.

He didn't have to wait for the discussion in the prison to get how dazai treasures his relationships and function in a more general way, he knew all along and that was merely the last adjustments. Just like the prison talk happened because he wanted to know more about the differences in their viewpoint on humanity, that is the only thing that makes them different as persons and as strategists.

Now I'm getting to my point...

That's because of all I explained above that I think he doesn't have a direct way to interact with his allies. He already had all he needed to know when got caught to elaborate his plan and get the situation to how it is right now! He doesn't even need to reach out to Fukuchi!

He could very well had told fukuchi the entire plan before getting in prison.

Even his way of communicating in the canibalism arc (the radio recommendations) could have been to get dazai into thinking that is his usual way of operating. And then suggest he actually had an alike way of communicating in prison by saying 'finding the others way of communicating' simultaneously to dazai. He knew dazai would think he had one just like himself, and that Fyodor would try to understand his, but it was just to lure him and comfort him in his thoughts.

Oh and, everyone agree that Fyodor always planned things in the long run, right?

Anyway thx for reading and good luck to cope with the new chap x)

[raininyourblackeyes]

Okay but it would be cool if that war Fukuchi received warning about actually happened. Like he received a warning and was scheming this whole mess of a situation to stop it but what if that exact plan of his is precisely what leads to the conflict? What if the warning was sent as a desperate hope that something would change, that he'd make a better plan... but no. It was always going to happen. There was no escape. Ever.