#genuinely their whole interaction is some of the best bsd has for me

[jounosparticles]

"kind ol’ hunting dog" OH IM GOING TO CRY. they have to become best friends

[asachuu]

(2/10)

Part 1: is there a “perfect” ship?

[List of all parts]

To truly get to the bottom of everything in a sufficient manner, I have to start from the absolute beginning, a bit further from highly specific pairings for the time being.

This is a question you might ask yourself upon simply thinking about this topic and subsequently the BSD fandom as a whole, though it is not limited to any particular piece of media at all. I will give you a short answer: no. In fact, most of the time, you could find criticisms in any ship if you tried, and many of those could be completely reasonable.

Now then, if that’s the case, why have I chosen to point Rimlaine out as a topic of discussion? The answer will be much, much longer than a single word, and you might be surprised to find out that my personal interests in the subject aren’t the only reason, although it goes without saying I certainly know a bit more in this area than other parts of BSD-related content.

For me, the distinction between something I would overlook and something I would rather speak out against is entirely dependent on two factors— the actions of any characters involved in a ship, both when they’re together and standalone, and their canonical interactions. There will almost never be a pairing free of anything we would deem at least slightly unhealthy or simply a bad sign, action or behavior if applied to the real world, especially in media such as Bungou Stray Dogs, the main focus of which is most certainly not on depicting a tale of some pure, untainted romance. However, even so, a vast majority of ships will not be directly labeled as “unhealthy”, no matter who you ask. Whilst I do not speak for everyone here, if someone were to have me explain my own reasoning behind it, it would be the aforementioned— the way the characters spend time with each other throughout the story and the actions they carry out. There is a vast difference between two or more people talking to each other in front of the reader’s eyes, knowing from their words and behaviors they do not mean genuine harm to the other(s) nor is some greater issue at play, and in Rimlaine’s particular case, two people who could only possibly reconcile on shaky terms after one of them had died. Even here, I should be using the word “reconcile” in heavy quotation marks, but I will elaborate on all this later on.

I will provide an example, which, albeit heavily outdated at the time of posting this, will still help me envision this better in one way or another. I’m sure anyone who has joined the BSD fandom has heard of Soukoku— a pairing between Dazai and Chuuya. I would say it’s the most popular ship of the fandom, hence why I’m choosing it in case less involved readers may be here, but I have seen it receive some criticisms over time too. Now, let’s take a look at those for a little while, shall we?

(Important note for the next part: I personally don’t ship SKK and am not trying to “defend” it because of my own personal enjoyment, nor do I believe it’s anyhow healthy myself. Due to this, the following section is NOT going to be taking anything beyond manga chapter 65 into consideration, as the claims originated many years before it, and I would have to make a separate essay if I were to truly shine the spotlight on today’s SKK from my point of view. The main reason I have chosen this very shaky example is listed above— its popularity making it easy to see even without much involvement, and there was a point in time during which it would have made for the best choice to mention, that to which I’m returning for a handful of paragraphs.)

One specific claim I have seen go around a long time ago, far before Stormbringer had even been announced, was that this particular ship isn’t healthy due to Dazai leaving/abandoning the Port Mafia, which could have potentially worsened Chuuya’s mental state after everything that has happened to him in the events of Fifteen (and subsequently the following novel as well, yet that one didn’t exist here), and additionally their current situation being nothing but constant “rudeness” to each other. If you’re someone who has heard me talk about the entire topic of fictional ships before, you may think this is pretty much the reason I claim Rimlaine to be unhealthy. To an extent, it is somewhat true, but once again— there is a vast difference, one that does not require me to go into details about both ships’ situations. Dazai and Chuuya, even back then, were seen to interact in canonical events again, long since that has happened. While I do have a lot of reservations towards them today, especially in light of more recent manga chapters/story developments, I’ve always had at least some of those, but they still had one thing Rimlaine did not— the actual ability to speak to each other in the story again. Seeing as this was circulating around far over three years ago, it was also at a time this was all we had, but back then, we saw that the pair was able to work with one another from the time they spent together without any heavy, deeper issues, and this canonical time between them showed us more than any speculation actually did.

Now, a sliver of my personal opinion is that I see nothing healthy between two characters who constantly go on about how much they hate each other regardless of how genuine it is and how many times they are shown to supposedly “care”, with the majority of their onscreen appearances together being argument after argument, no matter how humorous it may appear to a certain audience— however, I am only mentioning this on a side note as it’s not something that seems almost hidden in the public eye, it’s practically the very core of the SKK dynamic, and due to how extremely obvious it is, there would be no merit in me attempting to highlight those actions themselves. Even so, this brings me to another point, which I believe explains why I’m using a ship with interactions like that as an example of something that differs from Rimlaine, and why I cannot take as much issue with it despite my own thoughts on it.

This is an aspect related to not only these two ships, but also any other works of fiction, which I do feel is a little bit harder to explain in words and could cause quite a lot of disagreement as is, however it is something which goes without saying for the vast majority of people who engage in such content at the same time. This being what we view as “wrong”, and from that point, what I meant by “deeper issues” above.

For many people, perhaps even yourself, it’s not a dealbreaker to see violence in fiction, whether that be movies, books, shows, etc. Now, I am not qualified to claim this as anything beyond personal speculation, given I am in no way a psychology major or anything of the sort, but I do believe it’s because we already know it’s absolutely wrong from our entire lives, which is a lot more emphasized upon. None of us would ever condone the actions of these characters, but seeing as they’re not real and their worlds or lives usually operate under much different, often highly unrealistic circumstances, that fact simply goes without saying and we are still able to appreciate their individual selves— additionally, we will not be the ones to go and carry out the same things as them for a multitude of reasons, be it basic morality, lack of any realistic circumstance in which it would ever be justified or expected, and so on. If that sounds rather strange to you when I put it in such a way, ask yourself this: how many people have you seen enjoy a character such as Dazai or Chuuya, respectively? Now, with that amount in mind, how many of those people explicitly talk about not supporting their actions whatsoever each time they make a post about them? The amount is significantly smaller, right? It’s not because they don’t think those actions would be wrong in our world or they’re outright excusing them, it’s because it’s already established from the place of common sense, and due to the characters’ fictional nature, there are many other interesting things to focus on rather than their crimes and transgressions, which are also often a part, if not the full narrative of the given story, being fully guaranteed to be a feature of their lives from the start. This, however, gets far more complicated in other issues, which will be relevant down the line.

Just as with everything in the world, there are some instances which are deemed more “controversial”. As many will have vastly different opinions on where to draw the line, myself included, with this point being an extremely nuanced one that is simply impossible to properly condense, the following is my shortened perspective only.

Nevertheless, the term I used can apply to far more subtle things which many may not even notice the first time, but they mainly come in the form of content which perpetuates already prevalent harmful thoughts or behavior that is not deemed “straightforward” or “significant enough” by quite a large number of people. I’m positive many folks have seen such things centered around social issues online, for example, and I’m sure almost everyone has encountered it in some way, shape or form, be they aware of it or not. Even if my next words will sound quite far-fetched on paper, I assure you, it’s not something uncommon amongst fandoms of any kind— I assume you’ll certainly be more inclined to like a fictional character who has committed a lot of violence and criminal activity over a character who, let’s say, would be actively bigoted and/or predatory, with those just being two selected examples. I see this in many fandoms which feature both character types at once, and one always has a significantly larger fanbase than the other. Why is it so? Because, while the former lies within all the reasons stated above, the latter is something which, to many of us, seems entirely wrong for obvious reasons too, yet many people engage in and firmly believe they’re correct and in the right, even receiving support and zero consequences or proper attention far more often than the former— not to mention the large groups of victims with personal experience revolving around such behavior, of which many are taken far less seriously than ones of the former kind. If a perpetrator, or anyone else who might happen to be completely uninformed about whatever type of content is being showcased, is exposed to such things which aren’t painted in any explicitly negative light in the media itself, it may create or reinforce particular views in them, depending on what it is, and on the other side, if it’s the victims themselves or any other person who happens to understand the harm of such issues, many will most likely either not wish to be reminded of their experiences or simply like a character who is in any way linked to them, especially if there is no repercussion for them.

This point, however, doesn’t only revolve around issues of in/direct harm caused to people or various types of prejudice, as one may think. It also encompasses and shapes what others view as “normal” and “acceptable”, which extends to personal dynamics and relationships between people, too. This may look like a very obvious concept already, but for the sake of this essay, I will use another example to fully get this thought across. Let’s say you grew up surrounded by media concerning relationships in which one partner is constantly belittling the other. In every such instance, it is depicted as entirely normal and “the way things are”, not even people around you have much to say about it. You’ll very likely get used to it, begin thinking that’s the way it is for everybody, and if you do wish to pursue a relationship in the future, you might end up in a similar situation. Due to the influence all that media had on you with nobody to truly deny it or go against it, there is quite a high chance you’ll simply believe this is what everyone goes through and the way it’ll always be. You might not even begin to think that something may be wrong with it, even if it potentially makes you feel unhappy, unsafe and whatnot— after all, this is what has been presented to you so many times. If you do realize it, however, there is also a chance you’ll be an outlier amongst many people who will not treat your concerns with any amount of seriousness, having also been exposed to the same things and arriving at a much different conclusion, no matter if they’re personally satisfied with it or not. To some, this concept of influence seems apparent from the start, yet we cannot deny that there are many who would disagree entirely, precisely due to things like this.

On a side note, I must add that this does not mean one cannot create explicit content about unhealthy, violent or otherwise harmful, triggering and provocative matters, and if we are to look at another side of it, a lot of it can even bring awareness to these issues instead of promoting them or normalizing them. Most of it comes down to how it’s portrayed, if anything is said about it by the creators themselves and how they view their creations, but also the thoughts and takeaways of the viewers themselves— those will naturally never be a single monolith, yet if only a small minority come out of your work thinking the content was about anything I listed above, not acceptable, everyday things that one can easily overlook, perhaps this work should be assessed once more.

Anyhow, this brings me back to the “deeper issues” phrase I have used before. In the case of Soukoku, not only are they not meant to be portrayed as any kind of romantic relationship in canonical events at the time of me writing this, but their arguments and violence are both heavily out in the open for anyone to see and understand that this is not supposed to be a depiction of a healthy friendship/partnership at all, yet simultaneously leaning more into the fictional, chaotic and dramatized aspect of things that leads many to believe this is simply not how it should look in real life— but this is not real life, it’s fiction, and additionally, neither of the two characters seem affected by it on a level that would start raising many questions about whether it is acceptable to show support for, or what such a thing implies.

As for Rimlaine, however…that’s a much different story, one which requires its own set of details.

[Part 2]

[letters-from-eros]

I know you don't have rules for that already but can I ask for relationship hc's for Chuuya and Dazai with a fem or gender neutral s/o?😳❤

A/N: Am I foaming from the mouth for my first BSD request? Maybe. I hope this is good though. I added in a short part on how they asked you out cause I wanted this to be different and unique from most dating HCs.

Pairing(s): Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara x GN!Reader

Warnings: Slight mention of suicide in Dazai's, cursing

Form: Headcanon

Also: These ran super duper long I'm so sorry

You managed to cuff the suicidal maniac, huh?

Well done, my friend, well done

It took him so long to ask you out, and even when he did it wasn't planned. In all honesty, he never planned to tell you about his feelings. The excruciating part for him is that he did fall pretty fast, and realized he was falling even faster.

He didn't deny them, that wouldn't make it go away. He knew that. He sat and let it festered, hoping it would just disappear at some point.

Had the mindset of anything he loved he'd lose, y'know? Sad but so.

The way I'd imagine it happening is that you both are either working late at the ADA (with just the two of you there) or just at his place hanging out into all hours of the night.

Both of you are laughing at some dumb joke Dazai made and as the laughter dies out he feels.. Bittersweet. You make him feel genuinely happy, like there's no need to put on any mask or facade. That was not a feeling he had with anyone else.

Once silence fully overtakes you both it slips out of his mouth, purely on accident.

"I love you"

"More than suicide?"

"Y/n I'm serious!"

From that night forward you had the pleasure of being the partner of Dazai Osamu, with his feelings being released in an extremely cliche coming-of-age-movie way.

Okay, onto actually dating Dazai

Still goofy as all hell. Honestly the only thing that has really changed is the he lets you in a lot less hesitantly on small things. Its easier to put cracks in his walls, per se

Unbothered by PDA and will probably make out with you in public and not see why that isn't a thing that should be done or why you wouldn't like it.

(Just tell him if you don't, he'll get over it eventually)

Will kiss you everywhere, doesn't exactly have a favorite place, but where he does end up kissing you the most is your forehead for convenience. He'll kiss your wrist if he's holding your hand, too.

Clingy as all hell, always wants to be touching you in some way and becomes the biggest dramatic bitch when he can't be around you.

Kunikida will actually punt him if he says he'll die if he's away from you for another second. For the tenth time

No more suicide attempts once you two are dating, and doesn't ask for a double suicide with you because he knows it'll upset you quite a bit

He flirts with you like he's trying to get you to date him lmao he will never ease up, especially if it gets you bashful.

Dazai would NOT be dating you if he did not trust you a whole lot, so thats something that is pretty vital to the relationship.

That being said, please be understanding of the pieces of Dazai he keeps locked away to never see the light of day again and trust him just as much as he trust you. Its important especially if you don't want the relationship to be one-sided

Also with the high amount of trust he places in you, he doesn't get jealous easily. I mean he may get pissy that you're not giving him any attention but jealous is never the right word to use

Mf finally washes his fucking clothes once he starts dating you. Doesn't smell like the bottom of the ocean on a regular basis anymore.

Dates are always chill and rarely super extravagant. Park dates are often but Dazai's truly preferred date is snuggling inside, watching a few movies and slipping in and out of naps.

Belladonna is his go-to petname for you, of course, but he may bounce around with other petnames for kicks.

He will start calling you weird shit if you ignore him for to long.

Never raises his voice at you unless its in some joking manner. On the rare occurrence that you two have an argument he would need to get extremely riled up before he resorts to raising his voice. He tries to have patience and usually succeeds.

Dazai gets SO soft and SO loving sometimes, and it can be out of no where or something minuscule could have sparked it. All I know is that its nice and cute 🥰

He's usually pretty vulnerable himself when he gets like that so match his energy, alright? If you don't he might end up a little sour for some short amount of time and be more hesitant to get like that

10/10 Lover. This is by no means an effortless relationship, its a constant battle of figuring out boundaries, running into walls and respecting them. Dating Dazai isn't toxic if you treat him right and when you do? It definitely pays off.

(This got so long. I've had so much pent-up Dazai love and all around BSD love and I finally had an outlet to completely let it out)

HUSBAND. THE LOML

Okay, sorry. But this man is the love of my life, and he will be yours as well.

Took him a while to really figure out his feelings for you, or to better put it, it took him a while to label the feeling he had towards you "love"

But ONCE HE DID mans was practically whipped before you officially started dating omg.

You could notice the shift in attitude when he figured out his feelings. He got nervous, went stiff and blushy all against his will. Maybe a tad bit more snappy.

He'd try to keep his cool and then just eat shit and become a babbling angry mess.

After every encounter and interaction with you he'd end up overthinking all of it and when he catches himself doing that he gets so upset with himself. It's really when he realized that he won't be able to keep his feelings a secret forever.

Definitely started avoiding you when planning on the 🌈perfect🌈 way to ask you out and blamed work if you asked him why he was avoiding you.

Anyway, the way he asks you out was almost as calculated as a proposal.

He asks you to meet him at the port and dress comfortably towards the end of the day

When you get there, Chuuya has a nice place set up for you both. A blanket and a bottle of expensive wine because we all know he's lowkey an alcoholic along with a very nice view of the ocean/port.

Chuuya made sure it didn't radiate too much romantic energy to give his plans away; also, he wasn't that nervous. Once he gets truly determined to do something, he doesn't let something like anxiety get in the way of it. The idea of being rejected was essentially an afterthough

Made an effort to make sure he didn't drink too much and neither did you. He didn't want to take advantage of the possibility of you being drunk by the time he asks you out and he knows he himself has a low tolerance

Once the sun began to set is when he asks. Stutters a little bit towards the beginning but smooths it out.

"Y/n, I uh.. I brought you to tell you that I love you."

"Have you drank too much already, Chuuya?"

"No! I'm completely sober!"

It was overall super cute and unforgettable, just as he planned.

Honestly, being in a relationship with this boy is just 🥰

Spoils you so much. You'll deadass be dripped out head to toe purely in stuff Chuuya has bought you.

Dw, he has an alright sense of fashion

Don't try to discourage him, that'll only get him to buy more stuff.

Chuuya's short and the concept of a size difference doesn't bother him at all, he'll find a way to kiss you regardless lol

On the topic of kissing, his favorite places are your lips and hands

He takes of his gloves whenever he's with you and let me tell you his hands are the softest things ever. Albeit his knuckles are a little calloused sometimes.

If you're anything like me, you'd want his soft hands on you 24/7 and y'know what? Chu would happily oblige.

He isn't like the biggest fan of PDA but certainly isn't against it. He'd rather keep things behind doors as much as he can. Holding hands and small kisses on the cheek are very fine by him.

He isn't like the biggest jealous type? He doesn't become overly irate or anything but certainly doesn't take any pleasure in watching you talk to other guys.

Chuuya does have some form of self restraint when it comes to that. Him getting a lil jealous is one of the only things that'll have him completely make-out with you in public or smth

Chuuya is very snuggly and touchy behind closed doors. He practically becomes Dazai but a lot less goofy

Oh yeah he definitely rants about how much he fucking hates Dazai now n again

Isn't huge on petnames but definitely calls you them every now and again.

Princess, babe and baby are his top few.

Chuuya definitely has a morning voice where it drops 2 octaves and its just 🥰

Never yells at you, its pretty shocking. The only times he's ever raised his voice with you is when its very obvious that he's not genuinely upset with you. Almost for comedic affect because it is angry short boy Chuuya

One may think arguments are often with Chuuya, but they're sort of not. He may be a pretty stubborn individual but he never argues to argue unless its Dazai-

He always works towards and agreement to end the argument as soon as possible. He keeps his cool and will never raise his voice. You can barely call them arguments because of how much he tries to keep his cool.

When he's stressed or had a bad day he gets extremely quiet because he doesn't even want the opportunity to open his mouth and take it out on you. The only words he'll say to you while he's in that state is that he's stress and you didn't do anything wrong just to make sure you're not worried over it.

All and all? Chuuya is the best and there's no way around it. He has his faults but always tries to improve and be his best self for you :)

(I had even more pent-up love for Chuuya and it got even longer, whoops-)

[chazukekani]

Analysis - The Chain of Salvation (Dark Era)

I personally is not a hardcore Dark Era fans because I genuinely like exciting and joyful stories, but it is undeniable that the Dark Era is incredibly important to the whole BSD plot. Asagiri, together with Bones really nailed the Dark Era. The final product of the animation really brings a ‘Dark Era vibe’ that none of us can escape after watching it. There are few reasons that I consider why the Dark Era is important.

-

①It brings out the theme of salvation.

We all know that salvation is a core theme of BSD, and mainly portrayed via the relationship of Dazai, Atsushi and Kyouka in canon. In fact, the ‘chain of salvation’ was started by Odasaku, and I consider this man the perfect candidate to start with this chain because he had a tough story. In Novel Vol. 3 (yes, the founding of ADA), Odasaku killed as if Dazai. Odasaku assassinated aimlessly in accordance to orders without soul, which he had no idea of what his reasons of living were. But he was lucky enough to meet Natsume-sensei, and able to realise his ‘guilt’ of his previous actions. Such realisation finally led him to the side of kindness.

I think the reason why Odasaku told Dazai to go to the bright side is that, not only Dazai was his friend, but perhaps Odasaku saw his old self in Dazai, which he hoped Dazai would acquire the same realisation as he did in the future. It shows that regardless of how tough and sorrowful that Odasaku had been through, he was able to realise the importance of saving others, and managed to insist his morale through his uncrushable determination and discipline by fulfilling ‘not to kill’. It portrays that everyone was able find a reasons of living through countless struggle and strong will.

Switching from killing to helping others, Odasaku first senses the happiness and satisfaction of helping others, especially through the five orphans that he adopted. The ‘compensation’ of his previous guilt allow Odasaku spread the good deeds of saving others to his best friend Dazai, whom had a similar past as he did. The whole process of inheriting the will of Odasaku to Dazai, then to Atsushi and Kyouka is as if ‘a lantern of salvation’, where they pass the good deeds and belief to others. That’s why by putting Odasaku as the ‘founder of salvation society’, it gives a bigger picture of the story, and further consolidate the theme of salvation by telling readers about the origin of it.

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② Dark Era further introduces Dazai’s character.

Do you realise that Asagiri actually never directly describe the thoughts within Dazai? I remember Asagiri once wrote in twitter that even himself, as the author, doesn’t know what Dazai is thinking in his mind. So I think the alternative way in portraying Dazai’s personality is through an indie text way.

By describing how other characters think, see and perceive Dazai, we know what kind of person is. Such indirect portrayal makes Dazai a special character. It also adds a sense of mystery of him (as Mamo said). Let me give you some example: in canon, we mostly understand Dazai through the perspective of Atsushi and Kunikida, because these two are the one who have most interactions with Dazai. They together  portray the happy, silly, disorganised Dazai that we know (sort of).

Likewise in Dark Era, we know the dark side of Dazai through Odasaku and Ango’s impression. So, we seldom get a direct description of Dazai’s personality, but only via other’s impression and comment. Dazai is a sophisticated person. None of us, even Asagiri don’t know how to correctly portray Dazai’s thought. Hence, by creating a story that is completely different from the canon line, Dark Era brings a completely different Dazai that we know in canon, and I think it further reveals the mystery of him.

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③ It lays down a foundation of the future story.

Ango is now the communicator of Dazai in the prison, and this role is crucial to the plot in recent chapters.

Even in previous era with guild, the relationship of Dazai and Ango also serves as a lubricant to the story as their personal relationship facilitates a cooperation between the agency and the government. Having a personnel in the government brings the story into a wider perspective. So their relationship is really helpful in moving the plot forward.

You may now hate me for viewing Dazai-Ango relationship as a mere ‘story-moving machine’, but please allow me to continue. I think Ango also helps to portray a bright side of Dazai. Because Ango used to think that Dazai doesn’t forgive him but actually Dazai already does long time ago, it shows the humbleness of Dazai. The willingness of Ango to return Dazai’s favour and assist him in recent chapters also demonstrate the kindness and loyalty of Ango.

In addition, such actions of Ango is also crucial in recent chapters because he is able to demonstrate an independent thinking despite the whole government are against the ADA. Therefore the motivation of Ango helps to further strengthen the core themes of the Sky Casino Era - The Truth (see my previous analysis). You may think that the cooperation between Dazai and Ango, as well as the smoothness of recent chapters as granted, but it actually cannot be demonstrated without the existence of Dark Era. Dazai and Ango in fact have a similar motivation, where they wanted to compensate their past. It thus nurtures the collaboration between them, and hence they can help each other in fulfilling their own aims.

That’s why I think Dark Era is really really important to BSD because the Dark Era effect is still affecting the story nowadays. Without Dark Era, we will never come across the story that we know today.

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Another little thoughts about Dark Era is actually the portrayal of Lupin Bar.

As you can see from previous post, that the personnel in Lupin Bar changes, where there was three, two, and now only one person in the bar. I think the venue of Lupin Bar symbolises Dazai’s heart in certain extent, where he had his two best friends initially, and the ‘betrayal’ of Ango made Odasaku left on Dazai’s heart. With now, where time and circumstances changes, only Dazai was left alone in his heart again. It was indeed devastating to see that two of Dazai’s important friends leave ‘his heart’ in a short period, and now Dazai is left alone again, but I also consider this as another potential in Dazai’s character development. Lupin Bar may not only symbolises Dazai’s own heart, but also symbolises his memory and thoughts about his past. It is because in Dead Apple, you actually sees Dazai leave the bar, and determined to confront against Shibusawa’s evil plan (where the camera literally captures Dazai ‘leaving’ the bar). I consider this as an important moment because I think even though his friends had left him, Dazai has found a new aim - saving people. That’s why the scene of Dazai leaving Lupin Bar in Dead Apple may actually says that Dazai could have let go (but not forget, because Dazai has left a drink with Odasaku’s birthday flower. So I am sure that Dazai never forgets his friends) of the past, and able to move on with the new purpose in living - saving the city.

[hanaa-chann]

30 Days of VNC : Day 2

Who is your favourite character ?

Well I love them all ( except Gano and Dr. Moreau) but I kept only three...

Louis

He doesn’t appear that much but the role he plays for Noé and Domi is quite important. How mature he was for his age, the pain he went throught knowing something was wrong inside of him but not being able to put words on it nor talk about it. He was free in a way, to do whatever he wanted, but at the same time he was locked i this mansion for so long and without a single soul to talk to before Noé came in his life. He was tormented and sad and yet he was the reason his sister smiled. He’s teasing and mischievous personality hid a geniune dificulty in social interactions and opening up about his feelings towards someone. He was surrounded with people and he probably felt lonely. His parents rejecting him and considering no more than a dead body probably resulted in a lack of confidence and self-esteem. And yet he played that role, the older brother caring and protecting his sister while he was the one who needed affection. But he never showed it. He knew he was going to die, but he always made sure that his sister’s future was as bright as possible. His backstory remains a mystery and I only have guesses as to what happened to him. And that’s why I love him.

There are a lot of parallels between Louis, Vanitas and Chloé: The loneliness for Chloé, the tendancy to hide what’s wrong to express feelings, and the teasing with Vanitas... I could go along for so long frankly xD

Dominique

On to Dominique. Firstly I totally fell in for her design and her high and mighty “ I don’t give a damn about people’s opinion” attitude. Also, she has a sword so that’s even more a reason for me to love her. But as the story unfolded , and new facets of her personality were revealed, I started to take an interest in her. Her childhood self was the polar oposite of her present self. A sweet and shy little girl. Her current evolution in the last chapters finally reflected this. How she changed her style and personality, that it was all a facade to match the image her parents and older siblings wanted her to be. We haven’t really seen her reaction after Louis’s death, what she felt and thought. The fact that she hides it and acts strong in front of Noé can only tell how broken she’s inside. She probably feels useless and powerless for not being able to help her brother, and all that is toped by her other two siblings who don’t seem to help at all if not to make her feel worse. Her relations with Jeanne and Noé seem to be her only source of light and I just love her.

Roland

And finally we have Roland ! Now I don’t remember my first reaction upon seeing him but I do remember my reaction when I saw his weapon like OMG I LOVE IT I WANT THE SAME. He kept giving me those Jack Vessalius vibes but also Dazai from bsd. But I don’t think that it is love that I feel towards him, more like I want to understand him more. Where do I start...

His personality. I can’t help but think that he’s sort of a Vanitas mind hidden in a Noé facade. Acting all naive and innocent but ploting every inch of his facial expressions and adapting it depending on the person he has in front of him. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he pretended to be lost in order to wander at will in places where he shouldn’t be for example. I loved how he totally changed his way of looking at vampires but I’m afraid it might be the cause of his loss... Even his best friend and confident, Olivier, has a hard time reading him, let alone others. The library scene made me both love him and being scared cause if you thimnk about it, his personality resumes very well,too well in my opinion : that when some are ready to resort to the worst and immoral methods for the survival of those they love, for Roland it’s the opposite. He is ready to suppress any individual putting himself between him and his ideals, may it be a stranger or even a close friend like Olivier. The whole gevaudan arc made me ever more suspicious of him 8D A lot of frames involve him but without a face at all, or looking away from us. I also love h ow he seems to genuinely care for Astolfo and Vanitas, even acting as a sort of father-big brother figure for Astolfo. I’m really eager to know more about his past and how he joined the Church and met Olivier !

Anyway this is getting really long XD I’ll stop there.

[lovingatsushi]

Oh, Lane, Lane, Lane… What a beautiful person, both in and out.

I still remember the first time we met; although I believe we did have some brief interactions in a big BSD server at one time previously, it was through a mutual friend or two that we were actually introduced, and from the very beginning, my impression of you was completely spectacular and I liked you a whole lot, though I likely never said it enough due to the fact that I was admittedly quite shy around you at that time, along with the fact that there was a small difference of opinion that we had that made me feel…that perhaps you didn’t like me so much — though that quickly turned out to be nothing more than my own paranoia, looking back at it now. lol

I think that is one of the things that I really like and admire about you; as someone who is very used to having the very uncomfortable and unpleasant interactions that all of us pro-shippers and pro-stanners face in a world filled to the brim with closed-minded antis and cruel people with hardened hearts, talking with you has always been, by contrast, very refreshing and soul-healing given your capacity to accept and love even the people who sometimes have a different viewpoint than you on things.

To me, your presence has always been and always be very comforting; I am a very insecure person, and many times I second-guess myself and beat myself up over things I really shouldn’t, and that has often led to me feeling awkward and even doubting my own welcome in the Fic Support Server we’re in together…but every time I have started feeling that way lately, you have been there to reassure me otherwise and make me feel wanted. You really have no idea how much you’ve helped me in the time we’ve been there, and how much you’ve saved me and made me cry happy tears every time you’ve showed interest in my words and even said you valued my thoughts and opinions and hope to hear me talk…

Out of everyone in the server, though I love you all each very much, you really are one of the people I feel bonded to the most and though I know you are insecure about speaking at times, you are also one of the people I love engaging with the most and also hope to hear from in turn. I really wish that I could properly express how much I adore you as my friend and how much I enjoy hearing all of your takes, but I think that even if I went on for another few thousand words, it still wouldn’t be enough and I would still be dissatisfied with what I’ve put down here and just keep droning on and on until you were bored to death with all I’ve given you to read. That’s a problem I always seem to have when it comes to things like this; that I don’t know how to communicate all of what’s in my heart without just going on forever, because try as I might, no matter how much I say or how I say it, I can’t help feeling that there aren’t enough words in any language anywhere to truly bring my feelings to life in front of you and make the people I love feel all of the love they deserve to feel.

Be that as it may, I’m certainly going to try and to hope and pray that somehow, someway, you’ll hear the sound of my heart pouring out all of my respect and admiration through the things I have to say. When you’re out there facing the hardships you face in fandom and in life, please just know that I am always here and supporting you to the best of my ability, my dear friend, for you mean the world to me, and every time someone says something hurtful to you or your tastes, I just want to erase it all and make it all right for you again, because you are amazing and all of your likes, your faves and your ships are, too.

Bless, my good sir, and may you always feel safe, secure, and happy in spite of whatever the world throws at you.

💌💌💌

“ It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living. ” - Tender Is The Night

Such a pretty quote, right? Well, that’s what I believe about Valentine’s Day, and the simple act of a smile can go a long way! With all this rhyming out of the way..

Happy Valentine’s Day, Lane!

It’s been an absolute blast getting to know you, and here’s to a long friendship, right? You’re one of the kindest and most enthusiastic people I know and (this is 100% giving away who i am ;0;) I’m really so glad you enjoy original characters as much as I do! It’s always a little inspiration boost whenever I talk to you, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

You’ve got such a wonderful heart and it really shines in everything you do. You’re a beautiful person, in your soul and wherever else beauty counts, and I truly wish you happiness wherever life may take you. You deserve all the joys in the world, from the small to the big, and you have my word that you’re never alone <3

All the best chocolates,

- Your Secretest Pal

💌💌💌

What do I say about Lane except that you’re awesome and a really swell dude 10/10 would befriend again. But seriously man I love having you around and I’m so glad always to meet another person who’s willing to ship even the strangest of rarepairs, and also like… fyokarma rights. I haven’t read much of your writing because we don’t often share ships, but of what I have read, I super love it and I think you’re really skilled and talented, and you have such a good grasp over your characters! I can’t wait to see what all you end up putting out, and I hope I’ll be able to read lots of it!

💌💌💌

What a lovely, lovely person you are! We don’t talk much, but whenever we do I can tell how kind and genuine you are and it’s always so nice to chat with you! We don’t share many ships but your writing is inspirational and you are such a dedicated hard-working person! Have a wonderful day!