#and i wonder if odasaku feels the emptiest of living a life with a beautiful paved path that prevents him from ever getting too injured

[etrevil]

I cannot get over this absolute banger of a front cover.

First we have Odasaku front and center, and then there's Dazai - split between side A and side B - right above him. There's a clear, jarring difference with Beast!Dazai's dead eyes, bruised skin, while almost drowning in bandages, compared to Main!Dazai's mischievous grin.

Their worlds are such vast contrasts to each other, and yet Odasaku remains unchaging in both, especially in appearance. Same old striped-shirt, beige-coat wearing Oda.

And then there's the cards. Someone made a really good tweet about the meaning of every card (here's the link) but basically, Beast!Dazai has cards that symbolise commitment and death - which greatly connects with the fact his main goal in the Beast world is making Odasaku stay alive, a plan that probably started way before he was fifteen - while Main!Dazai has cards that express genuine self, freedom, acceptance, and personal growth. Development that we see in the main story, nearly growing alongside him sometimes.

Now if that isn't a knife to the gut, I don't know what is.

Oh wait. I do.

The future of the Beast world. The frames that have Dazai and Oda's confrontation, where everything came crashing down until the jaw-dropping finale in Beast. I absolutely hate how I'm still not mentally, emotionally, of even physically recovered from this scene.

How can I when Oda described Dazai as a child about to cry 😭

Anyways, my parting words is that I wanna imagine the burnt page in Oda's hand signifies that because of Beast!Dazai's intervention, he "burnt a page" about the good relationship they could have had. For him to survive, Dazai made himself be the enemy in the Beast world and made something of a good world that still feels emptier than the original one.

🥲✌️