#skk is so complicated

[ssaraexposs]

That's just a normal conversation between two exes PARTNERS

[lotus-pear]

dude your experiment is so real actually. i came in looking for dostoyevsky literally because a friend of mine convinced me he was dazai's girlfriend and guess what happened. i accidentally "they're really good friends"'d skk when they showed up and it took me until i watched dead apple to understand the skk appeal

UR SO REAL FOR THIS,,,,,,,,,,horrible horrible thing that fyodor is not introduced until much later bc my lawlight shipping ass would've ate the fyozai dynamic up like it was addictive morphine. meursault fed us well but like i hope asigiri delves a little more into fyo backstory later so i can start drawing parallels between him and dazai, especially considering they're narrative foils

[lesbianyosano]

2nd round of shipping bingo here! Ranpoe, higuchi/gin (?) suegiku odango

ranpoe: i don’t think about them too much tbh but the perfect crime arc is one of my favorites and they’re so cute in it :(( i like to think yosano makes fun of taboo for dating a white guy

higugin: i love higuchi so much it’s unreal, she’s my cringe fail babyboy she’s so stupid and i love her to death, i wish we knew a little more abt gin outside of her relationship with akutagawa bc i think her and higuchi have sm potential but rn it’s basically just headcanons (although there’s that one omake when they hang out outside of work and idc that was a date to me)

suegiku: they’re so fucking stupid together it’s very entertaining, i also think they’re the only people who don’t realize they’re together

odango: oh god,, when i was watching dark era for the first time i didn’t realize those were like flashbacks/light novel and i was very confused the entire time and the only coherent thought i had was that they were in love, divorced but never married, i choose to make them alive and happy in every au i come up with just bc i can

[originalaccountname]

Waaait, pls help me, so does Asagiri mean in his recent interview that he didn’t want skk but producer made him?? Or he simply just misses kunikida and wants him back in action? Or both? I’ve seen different translations and am sooo confused, would be kind of sad if he isn’t actually invested in them but was pressured instead

The way I read this was:

- Kunikida and Dazai were designed to be partners

- Chuuya was designed to be Dazai's past partner, but became so popular that Asagiri ended up having to use him more

- An accidental consequence of that was that Asagiri gets asked to write Chuuya (and Dazai) more, which ended up being at the expense of making Dazai team up with Kunikida as planned

- From these same consequences, Asagiri misses Kunikida and wishes to write him more, especially interacting with Dazai (to which I say, then stop killing him PLEASE)

- Asagiri has no plan to play with the skk ~secret feelings~ in canon, and for canon what we see is what we will get: a scarily powerful duo who throw insults at each other (because they don't like each other). Glimpses of fear or remorse like Lovecraft's battle and Meursault jailbreak are probably as much complicated feelings as we're gonna get.

- The "but, actually..." of their feelings for each other is the fans' responsibility. Derivative works (fanfic, fanart, headcanons, etc.) were explicitely encouraged for such cases

- A lack of interest in playing with the metaphorical "will they/won't they" of skk does not mean a lack of interest in the characters. Asagiri still loves Chuuya and wrote an enormous light novel about him. Asagiri still loves Dazai and all his ~mysteriousness~ and thinks that in different circumstances Dazai could be the main character. But Asagiri yearns for more Kunikida action.

- if anyone tries to use this in ship discourse tell them to sit down because the author doesn't decide what is allowed to be shipped and Asagiri literally encouraged fans, not for the first time, to play with 'what ifs'. WHAT are they talking about.

- Asagiri if you're reading this: malicious compliance. Write Chuuya and Dazai as everyone wants you to, but slap Kunikida in there too. Force the three of them to interact. If you play your cards right you can watch the Kunikida popularity skyrocket by association and then be free to do whatever you want.

[rervraiilsaukl]

|| RANPO EDOGAWA ||

// Altered Page AU \\

Eventually, I'll post an APAU character sheet for him, along with a design analysis/explanation included with it.

More AU info for those interested:

Note : (I saw a couple people on here saying they were interested in my altered page au(and hsr x bsd au—im working on both at the same time), and i have a couple irls who actively get on my ass about working on it haha, so that was enough to give me the motivation to start working on it again and making more drawings for it... expect a lot of au related artwork ^^)

The Altered Page AU(APAU) is my own bsd AU where Fyodor was actually in the helicopter crash, survived, and rewrote The Page to revert, rewind, and change reality to find The Book. This causes several characters to belong to different affililiations(Sigma, Oda, Akutagawa, Shibusawa, Gin, etc), have different backstories(Akutagawa, Atsushi, Sigma, etc), in some cases have minor/major personality changes(Nikolai, Chuuya, etc), and to make different choices than they made from events in canon.

In the APAU, Ranpo is one of the few characters that is mentally the same as their canon counterpart. The other two that are the same as canon are Dazai and Fyodor.

All the other characters do not remember anything from the canon universe.

Out of the three characters that remember canon, Ranpo is the only one that was technically altered by the page rewrite. He is younger via the page writing, but still has the same mentality, knowledge, memories, and mind of his 26 year old self. He is just in a younger(by a couple/few years) body, like almost everyone else in the AU.

Ranpo is on good terms with Kunikida, Dazai, (eventually) Nikolai, and Yosano.

His relations with Sigma, Fukuzawa, and Atsushi are iffy/complicated. For the beginning of the AU, Sigma absolutely hates Ranpo(they may or may not end up dating, haha...) (I am a rarepair shipper. I dont ship mainy mainstream ships, so dont expect skk, fyolai, etc.)

He hates/is enemies with Fyodor and Shibusawa. Possibly Bram, too, in a way.

Ranpo is also one of the characters who suffers the most in this AU. Having several existential breakdowns, getting stabbed on several different occasions, and having to deal with Fyodor and the DOA/Rats actively trying to get rid of him.

[monarchamos]

the headcanon that chuuya and dazai have been living together since they were teenagers and haven't moved out makes like. every skk interaction way funnier. like yeah its probably not true, but imagine they just secretly live with each other and neither of their organizations know

like, the whole dungeon scene thing? when they went home after that they couldnt stop laughing abt it like nothing was said chuuya just opened the door, looked at dazai on the couch, and then the both of them just fucking lost it. all day they had to pretend they were finally meeting again after 4 years and hated each other(which they totally still do haha)

Dazai waiting outside the PM headquarters in chuuya's car, waiting for Chuuya to come out from the mafia clinic. like yeah dazai isnt gonna drag chuuya back to the extraction point like he was asked to, but he still made sure to clean him up and fold his coat+hat, and he sure as hell isnt letting the still-injured-from-corruption Chuuya drive home alone. Chuuya knowing full well Dazai wouldn't

chuuya and dazai complaining to each other about how stressful work is like their organizations arent actively going against each other. mysterious cold cases with barely any evidence dazai is working on that may or may not be traced to port mafia activities but he cant prove it bc theres no evidence beyond gut feeling. chuuya complaining abt how the police/gov are getting up the pm's asses and are getting better at tracing shit back to them so now his work has to get more and more complicated. they know full well they can't help each other (confidentiality, safety, etc) but they sure as hell are going to bitch about it

[tulipe-rose]

Day 2 of me backing up my platonic skk agenda: (long post ahead)

It would be pretty hard to convince people with my point of view on this one, I almost gave up lmao, but I'm relentless when it comes to proving myself as right so I'm putting this out there ✊🏼 I'm not expecting many to agree lol

We all know, and love/hate/have complicated/no feelings for Beast!Dazai, right? I won't be focusing on him either way since he's too unstable/not really focused or have the time for love atm, so any romantic emotions would've been dispelled way too early on due to his unique situation. (Honestly it's less 'dispellled' and more suppressed until supposedly numb)

At least I'm sure we all love Beast!Chūya. What separates between him, and his canon self is how outwardly protective Chūya is of Dazai, but it isn't exactly out of nowhere. A lot of people in the fandom just think of it being the result of Soukoku spending more time together, which isn't far removed from what I believe, but not exactly it either.

I believe that the key reason why Chūya is like this is because of Oda's absence.

Oda was such an important part of Dazai's life, he treated him like the child he was, while upholding the appropriate boundaries due to the drastic difference in their positions, and eventually gave him a purpose to keep going. Oda was arguably the older brother Dazai could've had if it weren't for the circumstances, Oda's untimely death, and the Port Mafia's tight hierarchy system.

In this lifetime, Oda wasn't present, or more precisely, Dazai didn't give him the chance to be present, which ultimately led to Dazai being much more withdrawn, outwardly sadistic, yet inwardly vacant, his self proclaimed apathetic self ever present. Chūya witnessed his steady decline in both health, and mentality since Dazai returned from that mission; the day I picked up Dazai never happened as in canon, and Oda never knew Dazai beyond his facial features until their reunion.

Oda isn't there, so Chūya had to make sure that Dazai's self destructive behaviour didn't destroy him, subconsciously looking out for him more, and paying more attention to him by the day, but disguising it behind threats, and insults; It's rightful with how Dazai acts to be honest.

He was there during the time where Dazai rose to the Boss position, and it must've been paranoia inducing for Chūya, not because Dazai can't protect himself from the assassins, (that man will not die unless he allows you to kill him) but because he could very much allow them to kill him if they were trying a painless approach such as poison; this is what probably made Chūya stand so closely to Dazai, he needed to be close by to deflect any incoming attacks, yet far enough for his ability to not be nullified, and even then I think he only resorted to such close proximity because of an incident that threatened Dazai's life too much. The following panel is what somewhat backs up what I've been blabbering about for the past sentence.

Chūya did it out of care, and worry for his partner, but was it ever romantic? Well, no opinion is ever right in such situations, but I'll humbly say that it feels somewhat familial-ish/closest+only friend-ish from Chūya's side. HEAR ME OUT ON THIS OKAY–

I feel like the way Chūya is reprimanding, and absolutely forbidding Dazai from this despite their positions could be interpreted as a concerned brother/friend yelling at his ignorant younger sibling/best friend. Chūya went on a rampage after Dazai's suicide, and wouldn't a brother or a friend do that too? Yes, a brother or a friend would, the proof being Chūya's course of action after finding out about the flags' death, and Verlaine's talk about them being brothers in inhumanity. (ik how different both situations are, but they both have people that Chūya cared for die, the former being more painful because of how long they knew each other, and because he tried so hard to prevent this from happening, yet it happened either way. This isn't the first time Chūya lost someone important to him, so it's bound to hurt a lot more.)

We didn't see enough of their current dynamic to rule out any familial/platonic relations, so I don't see why this wouldn't be valid. There could be hundreds of interpretations, but all of them sum up to Chūya caring about Dazai; it's up to you, and how you choose to view it.

Exasperated exhale I rest my case, and god the hate I might get for this simple opinion is on sight lmao-

[the-alien-ghost]

BSD CHARACTERS THAT I THINK CAN DEFEAT AND/OR KILL FYODOR!

1- Lucy M.

well basically they don't necessarily need to kill fyodor to defeat him.

all they need to do is get lucy close enough to fyodor so she can activate her ability.

if anne's able to catch and trap fyodor, he'll be stuck. i don't think there's anyway he can get out of there, and since lucy won't kill him she'll be safe.

honestly i think her ability's the best way to defeat fyodor (and asagiri might agree since there's no killing💀)

2- Adam

he's a robot. he could blow fyodor up and he'd be fine. adam manga appearance when. i miss him.

no but seriously i doubt that fyodor's ability would work on him. WHY should it? worst case scenario if he kills fyodor mary shelley gets turned into him on the other side of the world.

3- Poe

kinda similar to lucy.

if poe can write a novel that's complicated enough, he can trap him in it forever/ kill him.

(BUT the thing is that poe hasn't been able to defeat ranpo with that, and fyodor has outsmarted ranpo before. so i doubt he can manage to write a story that complicated—at least not in a short time)

4- Dazai

people have probably said him a lot before! and i mean yeah it's simple.

dazai's an ability nullifier. fyodor's immortality is an ability, so if dazai kills him fyodor shouldn't be able to come back. (but i think he might need to make contact while he kills him for it to work?)

it kinda feels like absolutely DESTROYING his promise to oda but oh well dazai said he's to kill him in prison arc.

5- Lovecraft

based on his fight with skk, chuuya going full force on him and blowing him up + dazai saying that his "ability" isn't an ability and couldn't nullify it, i doubt that he's a human.

so if he kills fyodor he his ability can't work (like i said about adam i think his ability only works on human beings?)

too bad the guy has disappeared years ago :/

but like i personally dare fyodor to go ahead and possess THAT. if he can do that i think we should just let him win.

7- Atsushi

he's the MC ffs since atsushi's ability's claws can "slash through skills and space" (according to akutagawa), maybe his ability won't activate if he gets killed by the tiger.

like if he kills him as the tiger, it'll somehow (??) get past his ability?

yeah that's it! ALSO please do tell me if i missed anyone who can potentially defeat fyodor!!! (or if I'm wrong about anything)

[chuuya-fan-page]

Why do people call SKK toxic? I have never understood it because they never meet any of the criteria. Are they at times rough with each other? Of course because they are literal criminals. Adjust your lens according to their surroundings and you will see that it is one of the least toxic ships. They have their own individuality and friend circles, they aren't codependent on each other and their main way of fighting/settling arguments is to play videogames/ have bets. They trust each other and know that the other person will be fine and when required are ready to jump in to help.

People also often point out the scene in Dead Apple where Chuuya punched Dazai and I saw it more of a "get back into your senses and start acting as the human I believe you to be" then the "you are not a human" punch.

Like why are they toxic please???

I don't think people actually know what toxic means. I made a whole rant about this on my analysis blog, but toxic doesn't just mean that there's conflict, and BSD relationships are so complicated that an all-encompassing label like "toxic" getting slapped on is so counterproductive.

In the wise words (/s) of me; you cannot apply real world standards onto a fictional relationship, especially when their universe is very different to ours. The BSD equivalent of WW1 took place 15 years ago for them, violence and death are norms within their society. If, for example, Atsushi and Akutagawa were regular people in our universe acting like that, it would be a problem, but they aren’t, so we can’t be viewing their relationship through our lenses.

The world of BSD is not black and white and neither are it's characters, and, consequentially; their relationships. Of course there are relationships within the series that are toxic and/or abusive, such as Akutagawa and Dazai's, there's no question about that, but it's still not so simple. There's many layers to each character and relationship within BSD, and if you only ever look at the surface, you just won't understand.

But in terms of Soukoku, they've only improved each other? Theirs is a relationship built on mutual trust and the constant presence of another, they push each other to be better and make positive changes for the other, they trust each other with their lives. There is no way Soukoku can be toxic in my eyes and it infuriates me to see people say that they are.

You are absolutely right about the Dead Apple scene in my opinion, and if I ever do some scene breakdowns that'll be one of the first that I do.

-T

[bsd-fan]

Soukoku and the mafia

After a million years, I’m finally back with an analysis. I’ve already kind of analyzed Dazai and Chuuya as individual characters but I purposefully left behind something that was fundamental for both of their characterizations and that played a big role in molding their actual personalities. Yes, I’m talking about the environment they grew up in: The mafia.

Because the length and the complexity of the topic, I decided to make an entire post just about this. Obviously there will be spoilers of the anime, manga and light novels so be aware of that.

*Also a friendly reminder that english is not my native language, so I apologize if there’s any grammar or ortographic mistake or if something is worded in a weird way, I just hope is not bad enough that you can’t make sense of it at all. This is also extremely self indulgent and extremely long.

I’m gonna start by establishing the main premise of this analysis and the idea I will be defending in the next parragraphs:

The mafia is literally the worst place for skk to be in (and yes, I’m talking about BOTH of them)

Now this is a bold sentence because the immediate response would probably be something among the lines of “well duh, the mafia is a horrible place for everyone” and yes but also no. The mafia affects soukoku in a special way that is vastly different to how it affects the other characters in the mafia.

I’ve found that the mafia is one of the most misunderstood points in the series (Cycle of abuse, I’m looking at you) so I’m gonna talk about it. Back in chuuya’ analysis, I talked about how he shouldn’t be in the mafia. I wasn’t talking about this in terms of “Chuuya is majorly speaking a good person” and “The mafia is a morally bad place”, that’s pure bullshit and certainly not what I was referring to.

When the fandom talks about the mafia there are two major points of view. Either they saw it as hell incarnate or they see it as the “bad” protectors of the city, kind of a twisted family. And while both of this opinions are not /completely/ wrong, they’re also NOT right. Once again, the problem is that the fandom /still/ insists on assigning a moral category to something that is far more complicated than that. Yes, it’s the mafia, it’s literally a place of crime, it’s /obvious/ they’re gonna do morally bad things but they are also an important part in the tripartite framework and a major reason of why the city is still standing, this are not mutually exclusive. And that’s because the mafia is not a morally oriented organization.

The next biggest mistake when it comes to this topic is thinking of Mori and the Mafia as synonyms. People loves to blame Mori for every single thing that happens, there is always an entire section of comments that always claim “Normalize blaming Mori for everything” and that’s just /plainly/ wrong. I need you to understand that the mafia existed before Mori and will exist after Mori and it still will require of a leader that have certain type of characteristics. The reason Mori is the perfect leader for this organization is because he perfectly represents the mafia ideology NOT the opposite. Is Mori who adapts himself to the mafia, not the mafia adapting to him. Obviously he is in charge and he gets to influence and dictate the actions of the organization, the same way the old boss did (and he made a shit hole out of it) but the mafia as it core exists as a concept that can not be altered not matter who is in charge of it. And that’s what we have to understand.

Let’s start by defining it:

“An economic body that uses violence as it’s currency” -Mori

And that’s it, that’s the first and most important thing you gotta understand about the mafia. It’s not about bad people doing bad things for the sake of it. It’s not about morally grey people saving the city because of the good in their hearts. The mafia as it core is about money, is about benefits, is about gaining the most. It’s an economic body.

They will kill, kidnap and torture? Yes but they won’t do it because they’re bad, they will do it only if there’s something to gain out of it. They save the city and stop the other criminal groups? Yes, but it’s not because they are secretly good people. It’s to maintain the monopoly of the crime in the city and protect their territory where they have all the money and where they do their negotiations. There /are/ people in the mafia who genuinely care about the city like Mori, Chuuya, Tachihara or Hirotsu, I don’t doubt there are other people as well who cares about it but those are personal motivations that have absolutely nothing to do with the mafia as an institution. Because the mafia as it’s own entity only cares about the gains and losses.

So when we talk about the main difference between the Mafia and the ADA is not about morality. Both organizations are full of morally grey people, both of this organizations are ready to do criminal activities if required. The main difference is the objectives behind them. The ADA is a organization of people for people.

“There is no agency more valuable than human life”- fukuzawa about the ADA, first light novel

The ADA is about doing their best to help people, is about prioritizing human life above everything else. And when they do criminal acts? It’s because it was the only way to preserve as many lives as possible.

The mafia on the other hand is about gaining money and resources and it’s about securing the survival of it as as Institution doing whatever is necessary to achieve it.

“These magical stones always led to violence and bloodshed, and the only thing that could stop this violence and maintain a stable system was even more violence”— Chuuya, stormbringer.

In the last chapters we realize that even though the ADA as an organization technically doesn’t exist anymore (because they were seen as a terrorist group) they still can perfectly exist as long as the members are alive. They can make another organization but they can’t just replace one of their members, that would be a critical hit for them. That’s abysmally different to how the mafia conduces itself. It doesn’t matter how many people die, they can be easily replaced but if the mafia as an institution falls? Then they lose everything. So this means, that the ADA will sacrifice the organization as many times as necessary if by doing it, they can protect it’s members meanwhile the mafia will sacrifice as many people as necessary if by doing it they assure the survival of the mafia as an institution. And this has been shown again and again and again. It’s because of this main objective that the mafia by definition and independently of Mori, needs to be: Extremely Rational, utilitarian and deeply Machiavellian because if not, then it wouldn’t be able to survive. The mafia as an institution requires someone who will put the needs of the organization over personal feelings and even over the members of the institution if that’s the best option..

And that’s why Mori is the perfect leader of the organization, because he is the textbook ideal of what a Mafia boss should be. Mori is not known for being the cruelest or the evilest. He is known for being the most logical, not matter what. For always being cold and rational.

“Dazai, Do you know why I’m the boss? (…) I don’t posess an incredible skill like you or chuuya. Instead, however, I am a little better at something than the two of you. I can always predict exactly how many men I need to send into battle”- Mori, stormbringer.

To illustrate this better let’s talk about the death of the old boss and Odasaku.

First thing to understand is that people is not stupid, they always /knew/ that Mori killed the old boss. For fuck’s sake even the sheep who were a group of literal /kids/ that weren’t even part of the mafia knew that there was no way that the old boss died of naturally causes and casually left the mafia to Mori who coincidentally happened to be his doctor. They all knew but they are collectively playing pretend. Why? Because they recognize that Mori is the best option, because they know that Mori won’t sacrifice them without reason, he won’t ask them to do useless things. Every single action that Mori takes is for the benefit of the organization, is logical and can be defended using rational arguments and when he decides to sacrifice someone there’s also a reason behind it. And that’s the best option possible for a place like the Mafia. The mafiosos chose him because of it, but make no mistakes, if the time comes where Mori is more a liability than an asset then someone will most likely kill him and take his place exactly the way he did. That’s the way of the mafia. Just like Mori says, even in the top, everyone’s is a slave of the organization including himself.

Odasaku’s death was carefully planned and I’m not denying that there were personal reasons there, I’m not denying that part of it was to specifically aim to Dazai, being as part of training him to become the next boss of out of fear of Dazai killing him, Mori did this move knowing that Dazai was gonna be affected by it. But as much as all of you would hate to listen to it, it was also the most logical course of action. Just stop to think about it. You have this incredibly powerful asset, someone who is extremely competent, someone who is insanely strong but you can’t use him because he refuses to do any important task, he refuses to kill. He is basically wasted talent. But then there’s an opportunity to gain something extremely valuable (the ability’s permission) and you just have to eliminate one powerful group of people and hey, your liability happens to be the /perfect/ person for the job, so what do you do? What Mori did may be horrible but also was a genius move. He destroyed an entire organization while sacrificing one single person who was useless to him anyway. He gained something that was vital for the organization with basically no losses. Yes, he sacrificed the children and that’s fucking sick and horrible but they weren’t his responsibility, the organization was. The kids weren’t part of the organization, sacrificing them doesn’t translate to any significant losses to the mafia. That’s why Dazai is so frustrated by the end, because he lost his best friend, he is suffering but he can’t deny that Mori was logical about it, he can’t deny that that was rational. Even in beast there’s this whole part explaining how difficult it was to defeat mimic without oda, do you know what does that mean? Dazai probably sacrificed a large number of people to do it and even if he didn’t why would you as the Leander of the organization would take the most difficult path when there’s other that is far easier and cheaper? And just like that, every single one of Mori’s actions can be explained with a logical process behind it.

I feel like the biggest argument to understand that even though Mori represents the Mafia ideals, the mafia is still an independent organization of Mori is Beast. He is not the mafia boss in beast but the mafia basically remains exactly the same organization, akutagawa is not suffering but Atsushi is. People are suffering exactly the same, the only different thing is /who/are the ones suffering. Sure, someone can argument that Dazai was not trying to be the best leader, just to save Odasaku but the whole point is that generally speaking he had to make enough of a decent job to maintain the order in the city. Under Dazai’s command the mafia was more powerful than they were with Mori in charge. And it’s horrible, but that’s the only way to rule it. Otherwise the whole organization would fall apart. So to summarize the horrible environment of the mafia is NOT because of mori. We already saw the mafia in charge of the old boss, of Mori and of Dazai and the environment is kind of the same with slightly worse or better differences and that’s because again there are parts of the mafia that can’t be altered independently of who is in charge.

“A leader is simultaneously at the top of the organization and still a slave to it as a whole. You need to be willing to get your hands dirty to keep the organization afloat and thriving. A leader develops their subordinates and places them wherever they best fit and disposed of them if necessary. I will gladly perform the most heinous acts for the sake of this organization. That’s what it means to be a leader”- Mori, fifteen

Mori is far from perfect, he is horrible and sick and also have lots of personal interests, he also uses the organization to a certain degree to achieve them. But this is not fake. He will put the organization over everything else. That’s what it means to be the boss of the mafia.

So now that we got that out of the way and we learn to differentiate Mori from the mafia and we now understand that the mafia is not a moral organization but an economic body, we can start explaining why the mafia is such a terrible place for Dazai and Chuuya especifically. Let’s start with Dazai. We already discussed it but for the mafia to accomplish it’s main objective it needs to have certain characteristics.

Rational

Utilitarian

Machiavellian

Do this words remind you of someone?

“Your blood is mafia black”

Have you ever wondered why even though chuuya is the one with the greatest body count, Dazai is the one that always seems to be like the worse of them? Why Dazai is the first one to come to mind when they talk about the next mafia boss?

It’s because just like Mori he perfectly embodies the ideals of the mafia as an institution. He is brilliant, kind of apathetic, cold, rational, manipulative and he is naturally an utilitarian (philosophy that believes that the best action is the one that produces happiness to the most people) and Machiavellian (ideology that puts one’s goals over everything else, discarding the moral consequences and the ethics qualifications) this can be summarized to one simply sentence: Dazai is the type of person who is result oriented, it doesn’t matter the means, just the final result and that’s exactly the kind of ideology that the mafia needs to exist. And that’s just part of his natural personality.

So why the mafia is such a bad place for him if it seems like it’s the most natural place for him to be?

If this is the first thing that came to your mind:

Then you’re wrong and I’m here to spit in this idea of cycle of abuse.

Okay so first of all, people refer to “cycle of abuse” to the wrong thing. You’re actually referring to intergenerational abuse and even more than that you are all thinking about the /individualized/ abuse of one person to other than then replicates the same thing in someone else. Thing is, if we make this cycle we will arrive to Mori and I just wrote half a bible of why this is factually incorrect, so don’t make me say it again. Then, there’s the second biggest issue here, this is /incredibly/ reductionist. There /are/ parallelisms in this relationships, yes. But I need you to understand that even though they were indeed abused to a certain degree, they are all part of the mafia which is an abusive place to begin with and by definition. There was no way for them to not suffer this and they weren’t the only ones, everyone in the mafia was abused one way or another and it came from different places not just one specific person . Now let me start with the thing that bugs me the most of this cycle.

It obligates me to defend Mori

See, I can perfectly understand Dazai and Akutagawa being here because even though Aku was manipulated and used for more people in the mafia than just Dazai is a fact that he was the main abuser. It’s true that is was a target abuse and that was repetitive and degrading every single time. Akutagawa is now basically a glorified Pavlovian experiment thanks to Dazai. Yes, Dazai cares for him, yes Dazai actually was trying to teach him and to make him stronger. The intention here is secondary, akutagawa still ended up deeply traumatized and with a pathological need of recognition to survive.

Now akutagawa and kyouka? This one is more questionable because we know that Kouyou and Akutagawa had kind of a twisted version of shared custody when it came to her. So kyouka was abused for more than one person and not necessarily in an intergenerational abuse so the cycle is no longer a cycle right? But okay let’s go with it. We have actual canon proof that akutagawa abused her replicating Dazai’s methods with him so it can still qualify.

But Dazai and Mori? WHERE?

In all the story there’s no proof that Dazai was abused in this way by Mori.

It simply doesn’t exist, it’s just a headcanon that became so popular that everyone started to believe it. Yes, Mori exposed Dazai to a murder when he was fourteen and that’s a form of abuse, true. But have you noticed that most of the mafiosos got into the mafia when they were teenagers or even literal kids (Q was six, gin was also younger than Dazai) they were ALL exposed to this form of abuse. This doesn’t make it okay, of course but it’s not the kind of individualized abuse that you all love to talk about. “He manipulated him” true, he also manipulated oda, Ango, Chuuya, Q, etc. Again it certainly wasn’t personal or out of place for a mafia boss. And again IT’S NOT A CYCLE. We also have absolutely no evidence of Mori being physically or sexually abusive towards Dazai. He psychologically abused of him? Yes but once again there’s no evidence of it being worse than it was with other people. It’s plausible of course, because Dazai worked directly under him but for the most part it doesn’t seem like he was specifically horrible towards Dazai. You want to talk about Mori being horrible with someone? At least choose the right person because yosano is right there. Dazai had most of this personality traits before meeting Mori, so it’s not like Dazai was a perfectly sane and happy kid that would’ve been normal of he was picked up by a good person, he was not ranpo or yosano. Let’s also add that Dazai seemed to be incredibly desensitized to violence even at fourteen. We can’t blame Mori for his character traits but we can certainly blame him because he made them worse.

So if not for this, then why Dazai shouldn’t be in the mafia? Is not for the abuse, is not for the moral implications, then why?

Easy, the real reason it’s because of Dazai’s core as character. Dazai doesn’t care for the mafia, he doesn’t care for power and even though he naturally seeks the benefits out of every situation that also is not his core as a character. His core is and always be: Humanity. That’s what Dazai is looking for, that’s his nucleus as a character and that’s the reason the mafia is the worst place Dazai can be in, regardless of his abilities.

Dazai gets into the mafia trying to find a reason to live, trying to understand humanity so that would make him close to his own and it really seemed like the perfect plan, it was logical. The mafia certainly is a place where death is part of life, emotions are raw and most often than not genuine. Then why It didn’t work? Why his mental stake kept deteriorating more and more? Because it took him farther away from his humanity. I’ve said it before but the reason Dazai felt inhuman is because of a permanent sense of alienation and isolation. Dazai already has certain characteristics that make it harder for him to establish emotional bonds with people. His brain also moves faster than everyone’s else’s, so for him is so /easy/ to stop looking people as individuals and look at them as pieces to use and discard. The mafia is the worst place for him to be because it enhance this characteristics, the mafia impulses him to use them because that makes him the best asset but that also makes him incredibly miserable because it worsens the alienation thus increasing the deshumanization. Also the mafia makes him intellectualize as a coping mechanism which worsens his self awareness that to begin with is pretty poor. That’s not all, because of the nature of the mafia Dazai who already has trust issues ends up even worse so it isolates him even more. The only moments he seems to be closer to his humanity is with people like chuuya or Oda, and the hilarious thing about it is that they both are basically the opposite of what the mafia represents. More than that, Chuuya actually obligates him to go back to earth and start acting less as a god and more as a human being.

Which also explains why the ADA is better for Dazai than the mafia. Is not because of morality, is because is an organization that revolves around people so it obligates him to interact and create relationships with people, and even if they’re not 100% honest. It still decrease his alienation and isolation and being him closer to his humanity. That’s the reason the ADA is the best place for him.

Similarly but in a completely different way there’s chuuya, except that he is a thousand times more tragic than Dazai and every time I stop to think about him I want to sob, scream, throw up.

Dazai has the characteristics to be the perfect mafioso but his nucleus make it impossible for him to be one. Chuuya doesn’t have the characteristics to be a mafioso and also has the same nucleus as Dazai.

So the premise is: The mafia and chuuya are irreconciliable ideas and it’s a miracle that it’s still working.

We already went through everything that the mafia represents, we already know that by /definition/ the mafia is a place where you have to deshumanize other people and yourself in order to survive. It’s not a surprise that is the WORSE place in the world for the two people whose whole characterizations revolves around humanity.

But in chuuya’s case, his whole personality and ideological system directly clash with the mafia. Is fucking tragic. Let me remind you that chuuya gain his whole sense of humanity and identity out of the relationships he makes with people. Chuuya /cares/ for people, that’s just the kind of person he is. You CAN’T ask him to start viewing this people that are /everything/ to him just like chess pieces that can be sacrificed at any moment. That would be the equivalent of spitting in his sense of humanity, to take away his reason to live and his identity. That would completely break him. So chuuya keeps making bonds with people and suffering Every. Single. Loss. Because the mafia is a place of sacrifice and he can’t stop it not matter how hard he tries. And that it’s also devastating in a whole new way.

“His eyes were tainted with Darkness just like everyone in the mafia. It was a murky darkness-one that viewed human lives as mere numbers”- about Arthur, fifteen

This is the mafia, this is the mindset needed to be there. This is also precisely the opposite of everything that chuuya is. Chuuya survives because he can’t view human as numbers. People are the most precious thing in the world for him.

This is chuuya Nakahara:

You value your friendships and make decisions accordingly. I suppose you could call this human nature- Adam, stormbringer

Chuuya is in a place where people die and no one cares, because they were simply numbers, because they don’t exist as individuals not really.

“Countless people died, but the incident hardly remained in anyone’s memory”- stormbringer

The flags died and no one aside from him cared, after that he made new friends that were also killed in the same fucking year and once again nobody stopped, just him. The mafia just replaced them and acted like it was nothing. And meanwhile:

“-Chuuya you smell like incense. Did you go visiting those graves again?- shirase about chuuya, stormbringer

Chuuya keeps visiting those graves because even when no one remembers them, he does, because they were his friends, they were individuals. Hell, leave alone his friends, Chuuya fucking goes to talk to Arthur’s grave. That’s the type of person he is

Chuuya is emotional, he is straightforward, he is honest, he /cares/. Chuuya’s so opposite to the mafia ideals that it would be funny if it didn’t make me want to eat glass. In order to be in this organization he has to go against his personality, against his values and against his moral code. Do you have an idea of how tiring that is? Of how much that affects him? Even if he refuses to notice? So chuuya solved his conflict, he found his humanity but he did it in a place that constantly tries to take it away from him.

Now, how has he survived this long then? Because he has developed coping mechanisms but this only slow his downfall. It won’t stop it.

His first coping mechanism is one that I find /incredibly/ interesting. And I’ve never seen anyone talking about it: Selective deshumanization

This existed before the mafia but Chuuya made it stronger after becoming a mafioso. I’ve said it before, even though chuuya has so many hero like characteristics the reason he is a morally grey character is that he chooses. He decides that certain people are more important than others, he knows that he can’t protect everyone, he knows that in order to protect his people, he will have to sacrifice other people. So chuuya deshumanize that group of people as a defense mechanism, he needs to stop himself from looking at them as individuals. If you want examples of it, there’s Dazai, Randou, Addam and Verlaine. At first I really thought that it was a coincidence but it happens enough to be an identificable pattern. When skk met, Dazai got obsessed really fast, chuuya didn’t. Chuuya tried to keep his distance as much as possible because he knew that Dazai was an enemy. He didn’t make personal questions even though it was obvious that he found Dazai’s behavior weird, he refused as much as possible to give him personal information and more subtle but more important, Chuuya absolutely refused to call him by his name. He used lots of insults but never his name even when it was clear that he knew it, that was him trying to keep as much emotional distance as possible. And the moment he used it? It was over for him, because from there it doesn’t matter how much he tried he could never stop himself from looking at Dazai as a human being, worse than that, he ended up understanding him even against his wishes. Same happened with Arthur, he was just another crazy man obsessed with Arahabaki but the moment he talked about Verlaine? About how he was doing everything for his friend? He became a real person, he could identify with. Addam? Was just a bothersome machine, he also refused to call him by his name but by the end of it chuuya was using corruption because he considered Addam a friend that he loved regardless of his origin. Verlaine fucking ruined his life and killed the most important people in his life but once chuuya understood his reasons and his past, he empathized with him and defended that he indeed was a human being at the end of the day. What I’m trying to say is that chuuya tries to keep his emotional distance by deshumanizing people but he kinda fails. A LOT.

The second one is the anger. Chuuya can’t express his emotions easily, a lot of it came from the fact that he always had to be the strongest so it was impossible for him to express vulnerability and then he went into the mafia and if there’s a bad place to be vulnerable, this is it. Chuuya deals with every strong emotion transforming it into anger because that’s an emotional he can control. The devastating thing is that It doesn’t only apply for bad emotions, even when he is happy or grateful he feels like he can’t express it and that makes me want to jump from a very tall something.

The third one is evasion. I find this particularly funny because in almost every fanfic Dazai is the one that evades his feelings and just decides to stop thinking about certain stuff when in canon the one that does that is chuuya. Dazai intellectualize as a way of dealing with feelings because he doesn’t know how to process them, and he overthinks a lot because he can’t stop himself from doing it. That is why his brain is his worse enemy. Chuuya, on the other hand, just evades. He supress all the emotions that he can’t exteriorize as anger, he supress his worst fears and his biggest insecurities, he put all of it into a mental box and throws away the key. But they are still pretty much there, lurking in the dark. Most of his “instinctual” actions are in reality guided by all of this things that he is trying so hard to hide.

And the last one? Is probably the worse one. We already establish that Chuuya can’t deshumanize the people in his group so he tries so absurdly /hard/ to protect them. He is always ready to sacrifice himself if by doing it he can save the people he loves, he carries too much, so the rest won’t have to do it, he takes the worse jobs, he is in the front lines, he is always ALWAYS the one to be hurt first. It may seem different but he is basically in the same situation as he was with the sheep. Except that now is not his people that are asking for his sacrifice, now he is doing it himself. Because he knows that the people he loves can be stolen from him in any moment, so he over compensates by doing everything he can to avoid it.

“The moment you get your hands on something worth going after, you lose it”- Dazai, Dark era.

Not in the same way, never in the same way because that would be sacrificing his humanity but chuuya’s thought process is not that different from Dazai. He doesn’t avoid relationships, though, he does everything in his power to avoid losing them JUST LIKE DAZAI DOES. Dazai knows that he can’t control everything, he knows that the world is absurd and full of irregularities but it’s terrifying to live in this kind of world, so he tries to predict everything, he tries to be three steps ahead of everyone else even if that make him feel less of a human being, because maybe then he can make a difference, maybe then he can protect what he has. Chuuya does basically the same thing, in order to protect his people, he will be the strongest, he won’t fall, he won’t ask for help, he will be the one carrying everything. Do you have an idea of how lonesome that is? To know that you can’t depend on anyone? Chuuya is a people’s person but he is so incredibly /lonely/. He can never be their equal because he is too busy trying to protect them. And this happens because the mafia is just like this, a place of sacrifices. A place of losses. It’s not a place for long lasting relationships.

At least two of this coping mechanisms lead him to deshumanization even when he tries his best to avoid precisely that. So chuuya basically lives in the worst dilemma in earth and this much contradiction will kill him one day.

The only reason he is still able to be there is because in his position as executive he had never been in a position in which he had to choose between his friends and the major benefit of the organization.

Chuuya as the next mafia boss? is laughable

The whole organization would crumble in DAYS. And that’s because chuuya goes against the single most important principle of the organization.

He is loyal to the people in the mafia, not to the organization

Chuuya will sacrifice the whole organization in a minute for its members, that’s literally the OPPOSITE of what the mafia stands by. He can’t sacrifice in cold blood a friend, he just can’t do it, that goes against everything that he is. He refused to sacrifice Adam even though at that moment that seemed like the only option to save the city and the mafia and he still REFUSED. Because he simply can’t sacrifice a friend. It’s impossible to him. Q is another good example of how much of a terrible leader chuuya would be. Believe it or not killing Yumeno was the opposite of what a proper mafioso should’ve done. There’s a reason Mori ordered to bring Q alive and that’s because rationally speaking yumeno is a weapon, killing him won’t bring back the people that already died and honestly speaking Q’s life is far more valuable than most of the mafiosos but for chuuya? It wasn’t the case, he couldn’t be rational because /his/ people died because of Q because for him was more important to prevent this from ever happening again than to use Q.

So to summarize chuuya is stuck, he can’t leave the mafia because that could be to go against his identity and sense of humanity but staying there is slowly killing him because it obligates him to go against everything he is and to be completely lonely in a place that is dead on deshumanization. So he basically lives in a state of pressure and constant stress while feeling trapped and saying to himself that he is where he should be. The ideal place for chuuya, funnily enough would be the ADA. And I’m not saying this for Dazai but because of the objectives of the ADA. A place that is oriented to people, a place that values relationships, a place that revolves around protection. It drives me mad everytime I think about how ridiculous ADA coded chuuya is only to be in the mafia.

Okay so basically that is the end of the rant, if you read all the way to here, congratulations and thank you for your time.

[whisperiin]

helloo! may i request relationship hcs for watanabe and skk reader? tysm!! 💖

hello!! of course you may!! my watanabes arent v high afffection so i just had to scour the grayravens site for extra info, but i hope i still managed to keep him in character ^_^ i hope you enjoy!!

watanabe relationship hcs with the commandant

content warnings: none

➸ Suffice it to say, it wasn't easy to initially gain WATANABE's trust — with your rank and his...at best, complicated feelings about Babylonia — but he's come to a point where he would choose to fight for you as fiercely as he does for the Forsaken. You're not just his lover, after all; you're one of his closest confidants, his most trusted companion, his only guide... Isn't that right?

➸ Watanabe takes a simple joy in just spending time with you, too. It isn't often that he gets time to himself, and one of his favourite things is to spend it with you. He'll make some mint tea for you and let you talk about your day, or just sit in silence if you prefer, an arm wrapped snugly around your waist.

➸ Your relationship may start out as a bit of a secret at first. It's not that he's ashamed about it, no, but he's somewhat of a private man — and if none of his Forsaken and none of your Ravens ask about it, then he sees no point in broadcasting it needlessly. That being said, sometimes his gaze will fall more lightly on you, or he'll stand closer to you than normal, and the gears might start to turn in their heads...

➸ This does open the door to some clandestine meetings, though, and if he's being honest, even he thinks it's just a little romantic: late-night kisses illuminated by the moon with the desert wind tousling your hair, or holding you in secret under the cover of one of Babylonia's stairwells.

➸ He also seems like the type to enjoy simple, domestic tasks with you, too! He doesn't need to eat, but he definitely enjoys cooking meals with you, swiping stray flour off your cheek, watching the way you look in the flourescent lighting of your dining room, tap-tap-tapping a finger against the table... And while he knows you're more than safe at Babylonia or at Forsaken HQ, he likes being there to watch over you as you sleep, just to spend a bit longer in your company.

➸ Though he'll never say it aloud, it makes him think of having some sort of life with you, outside of all of the unending conflict. Sometimes, when he cups your face in his hand, he thinks about when he can stop being your blade and simply be yours — but for the time being, he will fight for you for as long as you need him.

[bunglegaydogs]

Episode 61 BSD spoilers ofc xoxo

I know a lot of people are upset at Fyodor's death this episode, but can we all just remember that this was probably one of the better options that could have happened of all the options?

I always knew that Fyodor would die - it was just a definite thing I had in my head. He couldn't stay alive like Fitzgerald, that's not the way his character is. He's too much of a danger to everyone else when he's alive. I thought this was a pretty great ending to his life, it's not perfect but it is? I don't know. Something about burning in the flames and succumbing to them in the vehicle you were supposed to escape in after being fooled by a cheap party trick.

For all the people saying "But Fyodor's the smartest character in BSD! How could he be fooled by Chuuya just pretending to be a vampire?"

May I remind you of the fact that Fukuchi fooled Ranpo? You know, the one who's known for never being wrong and solving things like this constantly? Because even when Mushitarou used his ability, the same ability that has hidden thousands and thousands of esteemed criminals with deplorable crimes to their name, and not one person has been able to find them, Ranpo was still able to solve it with only a few clues.

Yet due to his unwavering trust and faith in Fukuzawa, that led to him being completely oblivious to Fukuchi being Kamui. He didn't think that he'd need to look beneath the surface level, because Fukuzawa trusts him so much. He never thought that he'd need to look any further.

The same goes for Fyodor and Chuuya.

Fyodor isn't the smartest character in the series, nor is he meant to be! He's simply just one of the smartest. He can still be outwitted by the rest. Not everyone can win everything every single time. Eventually, no matter how good you are at chess, someone else will beat you.

Anyways lol.

We don't even know how Fyodor got Chuuya to Meursault, or how he had proof that he'd turned him into a vampire. Of course, it will all be revealed soon, but disregarding that for a second.

Chuuya has broken into Meursault after Fyodor tells him to, mowing down all the guards and killing them all and saving Fyodor's ass from getting shot or being thrown back into jail. It all adds up in Fyodor's head so far. Chuuya says nothing, only growls, hisses, and screams. Typical vampire. (Other than his weird yowl LMAOOO)

Nothing is fishy to Fyodor yet. Chuuya is helping him and doing as he says. Then, they both get almost drowned by Dazai. Again, this is all pointing to the fact that he is not on Dazai's side if Dazai is actively putting him in his plans to kill Fyodor too.

Fyodor assumes that their bond is shallow and fragile, easily breakable if he presses down hard enough and severs the knot, which is what hes trying to do. He teases Dazai because, in his head, it's a one-sided relationship in SKK.

Fyodor doesn't understand human emotions well. He sees people as pawns and is not afraid to use them to get what he wants. But he is different from Dazai in the way he thinks about them. He dislikes humans; he thinks they're sinful and boring and a waste of his time, whereas Dazai thinks humans are fascinating and complicated and wonderful. Fyodor does not see the appeal. Which is what separates him from Dazai. Fyodor uses the people around him until he has no use for them anymore, tossing them aside. He has no regard for their feelings, and anyone he associates with he automatically tries to see what he can get from them and what he can do with them. Dazai does not. Dazai uses people as a means to help the Agency, or to save someone else, or to get information on how to not let the fucking world end, and the character development is wild.

Dazai used to be much more like Fyodor than he is now. He was cold, ruthless, and heartless back then. Whilst Dazai still sees no point in living and wishes to die, and he sees no point in anything, he has still grown more compassionate and a lot more self-aware and he has become capable of more emotion and wanting to save people thanks to Oda. Yes, he still doesn't really care about much, but he genuinely does care about those closest to him and saving and protecting them.

That is why Fyodor couldn't understand - he didn't know just how much trust Soukoku had between each other. He underestimated the bond between them. How much they rely on each other, and always have, for seven years. He thought he had Chuuya under his thumb this entire time, but Chuuya had bested him and tricked him.

This also just goes to show Chuuya's intelligence that a lot of people seem to forget. This type of shit will come easy to Chuuya - he's a Mafia executive for a reason, God damn it. He can lie, he can manipulate, he can be sly and cunning and discreet and careful. He's not a fool, he knows how dire this situation is. And so of course he's going to put his all into a completely fool-proof performance. He literally fooled us, and we're the ones shouting at Dostoevsky for underestimating Soukoku's bond.

But see? This is precisely why this was a suitable "death" for him. (I'm only saying "death" in quotes because you never fucking know with this series.)

Burned in the flames of hellfire as he perishes with the thought that he was completely beaten.

I made a post a while ago about how Fyodor's downfall was going to be how he thought he was too untouchable, how everything is simply but a trial for him and how he is the messenger of God, forcing his will onto other people and just spreading what is God's plan to wipe the world of sinners. How cocky he gets in his own way about his intelligence. How he underestimates, undermines and belittles the people around him because he genuinely thinks that they're worth nothing more than a pebble on the ground to him. He has no empathy or compassion that we've seen so far. He tricked Sigma and stabbed him with absolutely no remorse despite them being in the DOA together. Nikolai was happy to see him out of prison, and he pretty much just blanked him and went straight to the topic at hand, despite apparently having all the time in the world to kill (not really he needed the antidote not to die tbf lol). His downfall was the very thing that sets him apart from the others and typically gives him the upper hand - lack of regret, compassion or empathy or remorse. He was prepared to (and did!) kill children. He lobotomized two people. He manipulates everyone.

I really don't think that Fyodor's story is over at all, but I do think he's actually dead. Maybe not though. As I said, you never fucking know with this series.

Anyways. My point in this post was the fact that whilst we're all upset about his death (well, not all?), it was suitable. You can't complain about BSD not having the balls to kill off any characters, and then when it does, complain that a character has died. Or that "Well, it should have been somebody in the Agency." And what logic would that bring to the table? What would an Agency member dying accomplish? Atsushi is the protagonist, so he's off the table. Things would be very fucked up if Yosano died because then none of them could survive the shit they get themselves into. We don't know enough of Kunikida's history for him to go, plus he's the next leader of the ADA, plus his story is not finished, plus it wouldn't give us anything but grief if he was to die. If Ranpo died, that would also be a big no no, because it would only possibly send Fukuzawa into some sort of corruption arc, and it would crumble the foundations of the Agency, considering he and Fukuzawa are the two founders and he was the first member, and the Agency was made for him. Kenji, I don't see any point in killing our guy off. Leave him alone <3 Kyouka, maybe. She seems, I guess, slightly reasonable. Give Atsushi something more to fight for. Give him reasons to go feral, give him something to be absolutely fucking distraught about. But after that... then what? What would her death bring but grievances to Atsushi? Tanizaki, also no point in killing him off. They'd lose a valuable ability that could get them out of so much shit, Asagiri wouldn't kill him off like that, especially when we hardly know anything about him.

And for people saying "Dazai should have died instead."

That would be really fucking unreasonable - we still have far too many unanswered questions and loose ends. Atsushi would lose his mentor and obviously not handle it well. What about Akutagawa? Kunikida? Chuuya?

Dazai is such an integral part of BSD and an integral part of Atsushi's life - my one hope whilst waiting for the newest episode was that Asagiri wouldn't kill Dazai because there was no logical reasoning behind it. Yes, it would cause some great angst, but if he died, it would have actually just been the turning point for this conflict to get worse. Fyodor would have escaped, and then what? The world would have been wiped, because I guarantee you even if that wasn't Fukuchi's plan, it sure as hell was Fyodor's and he gets what he wants. If Dazai had actually genuinely died, what happens to Chuuya who has to look at his partner's lifeless body in front of him and is like "I did that." If he was a vampire through this and came back when Aya pulled the sword out, imagine what the fuck would have happened when he saw what he'd done. We all remember him going absolutely fucking feral and off the rails in Beast, and he hadn't even killed him there. Chuuya comes to, looks at the gun in his hand, looks at the dead partner of 7 years in front of him bleeding out. My safest bet is that he'd use corruption. But, Dazai is dead. He can't nullify it. Fyodor is escaping on the helicopter. Sigma is still in that room unconscious. Nikolai is doing God knows what he can teleport and shit. Chuuya unleashes corruption, destroys himself and the building, and Fyodor is far away and so is Nikolai, and Sigma is caught in this wreck. That's three important characters all killed in one swoop, whilst the "bad guy" escapes and is free to enact his plan without them hindering it.

?!

I'd rather not see that ending of BSD I can't lie to you <3 (However, I do want an angsty SKK scene of Chuuya going batshit insane at realising what he's done whilst he's been controlled and used as a puppet which is fucking awful for him... maybe I would like to see a little snippet of what this world would be like. Anyways.)

Sorry this got SO off-topic.

MY POINT BEING FYODOR'S DEATH WAS ALWAYS GOING TO HAPPEN.

TL;DR: Fyodor's death was always going to happen. It was inevitable.

He's been likened to Jesus so much throughout this series. He's a messenger of God and God puts him through so much suffering, and so many trials, and he sees it all as a simple test that he'll be sure to overcome. He's so blinded by his faith and his Jesus Complex that he can't see where he goes wrong or where he has failed because he's so sure that he can win and doesn't understand human emotions and underestimates everyone around him therefore leading to his demise and being fooled by Soukoku, who he doesn't understand the bond between because he doesn't look beneath the surface of anything intwined with complex emotions.

An angsty outlook would be that Fyodor may be scared of emotions because he doesn't feel them, and therefore takes the approach of "what you don't know can hurt you" and he's afraid of what he doesn't know, much like Dazai. But hey that's just my brain wanting to be scratched and itched the right way and making all my favourite characters tragic.

ANYWAYS goddamn this was so long-winded to just say that.

I hope everyone has a lovely day/night <3

[welivetodream]

Do people really think that skk hate eachother?

After the fight with Lovecraft, we have a scene where Dazai smiles at Chuuya; this is one of the only genuine smiles we ever get from Dazai. Most of the time he is playing up a facade and he is very hard to read but he always seems to smile more genuinely when he is around Chuuya, especially when Chuuya isn't looking at him.

What I think those two have are very complicated feelings that haven't changed since they were 15-18.

Skk never got to be friends, they were always partners, "Double Black", Port Mafia's prodigies. They didn't get the chance to just be kids and see the better sides of eachother, their relationship didn't grow organically over the years but became stunted at a time when both of them were only teenagers. Thrust in an environment where there's not much positivity, Skk were always at odds because of their clashing personalities and mutual dislike (and their similarities)

I don't think that dislike ever became hate. I think they did become closer as the years passed, but then of course Dazai left.

While saying Chuuya was sad when Dazai left is a way to show their care for eachother. I would say, Chuuya was REALLY angry when Dazai left (that's why he drank that expensive wine, it was out of spite). How can he leave? Does he have no loyalty to the PM? Does he have no loyalty to Chuuya? They were partners, he can't just leave without a word.

Dazai left without a word because he knew how mad Chuuya would be at him when he finds out, he knew if he thought about Chuuya there would be a part of him that wouldn't want to leave this partnership that they have had since three years. It was something that gave him excitement in this "worthless thing they call living" it was his will to live. He also didn't want the PM to think Chuuya was involved with him and helped him in leaving.

I do think Dazai leaving PM made Chuuya dislike him even more. Dazai was not only annoying, he was also disloyal.

But when it comes to Dazai, I don't think he hated Chuuya at all. His fondness for Chuuya is what makes him not want to like him. It's the same way Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor for being the only one who understands him. Dazai doesn't want to kill Chuuya, when he says "I have been thinking about ways to kill Chuuya since 7 years" it's a lie, a joke for him, a facade. He could have done that any time in 7 years but he chose not to. He knows when it comes to it, he can't kill Chuuya.

Chuuya would say he hates Dazai but goes out of his way to save him everytime. In Dead Apple, he risked his own life to save Dazai who could have been dead for all he knew. But he still took the chance, believing that Dazai would have a plan and that he would know that Chuuya is going to risk it. (Also I wholeheartedly believe Dazai has some fantasies about being rescued by Chuuya, that Mf totally does)

Their trust in eachother is so strong, that even when they are on the enemy side, they are able to work together, putting their differences apart. They have never had a "real" fight like Atsushi and Akutagawa, it's more of snide remarks and calling nicknames, like their teenage selves.

I don't think Chuuya is aware of these complicated feelings, he has manifested his dislike of Dazai's antics and personality to a point he had hidden his care for him. On the other hand, Dazai is very aware of these feelings, he knows he cares. So he fakes it, acting out as usual the idea that he hates Chuuya, because he knows loving and caring for someone does not end well for him (look at Oda). He doesn't want to lose another person he cares for.

In retrospect as memeable and funny those two "confession" scenes are in S5; it's the first time Dazai is not lying, he is acknowledging his care for Chuuya in a way it feels authentic and real to Fyodor, so they could trick him. It's their plan, yes, but the reason it feels real is because IT IS. No wonder Chuuya shot him so many times ("Dazai's being stupid again, making me feel things, embarrassing me in front of the enemy").

This isn't a shipping post, I do ship Skk, but their bond is so deep that you can look at it in a platonic way and very little would change.

[originalaccountname]

It’s so funny how often Sasaki is made the other woman in SKK fics when she was actually Kunikida’s love person of interest.

because the anime was still figuring out the pacing and adaptation format, Entrance Exam got the short end of the stick and is the poorest adaptation so far.

In the light novel, Dazai is actively being framed by Sasaki for her crimes. Dazai knows he's being framed and suspects Sasaki of being involved, so he keeps her close and plays along. It's also Dazai in the presence of a woman, so of course he puts on the charm. It annoys Kunikida, so it's really two birds with one stone.

On the other hand, Kunikida is desperately trying to ignore that he's interested in Sasaki. He keeps falling back on his ideal woman and marriage scenario. He dismisses every passing thought about her being pretty and available. He can't stand Dazai's flirting. Their conversation in the cemetery makes him realize they do have a lot in common.

Sasaki is playing coy with Dazai because she needs someone to take the fall, and he's the convenient new guy. She can see in Kunikida the qualities of the man she loved and who haunts her to this day. She knows she might have been able to love him. It's not enough for her to stop her plot, not enough for her to leave her deceased lover's ideals behind, but it's enough for her to warn Kunikida of the dangers of his path.

In short, Dazai and Sasaki are playing 4D chess against each other while trying to manipulate Kunikida into only seeing what they want. Kunikida is in deep denial about his interest in Sasaki and Sasaki has complicated feelings towards Kunikida.

Also Nobuko Sasaki was Kunikida Doppo's first wife.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

hi fellow bsd enthusiast ? in the most respectful way possible because i don't know how to start this normally

would you like to help an artist out of an art block? just a small personal project.

if so, what flowers do you consider most suitable for your favorite bsd characters?

based on your own preferences. for example: flower symbolism, colors, scenarios you've been thinking about , or from said character's backstory ( or general development ).

though i'd like you to explain if it's a little complicated so i can capture it accurately.

if i manage to finish it, i'll be sure to give credit.

if you're ok with it, thank you. if you aren't, feel free to ignore this ask.

Hello hello! I'd love to help if I can!

Ahaha you know anon I regularly check out flower meanings and stuff like that so this was really fun. I did a selection of characters for you to pick and choose from if you'd like (ones who are on the brain right now) but if this list doesn't include a character you really love and want to draw, then please leave a comment here or send another ask and I'll pick a flower for that character too!

I'm using a mix of hanakotoba and western meanings here.

Yosano - Red Spider Lily (death, abandonment, never to meet again, but can also be a sign that celebration will soon occur - Yosano is drawn with these flowers on the cover of the volume containing her backstory... the number has escaped me sorry. You could also give her the Red Poppy for the wartime connotation if you want extra pain.)

Aya - Black Eyed Susan (the flower of justice! also it's bright and cheery and I thought they suited her)

Wells - Begonia (they are a sign to take caution or warning, much like Wells is a similar sign - they are also associated with deep thought, something that suits her intellectual nature)

Atsushi - Hibiscus (there's a lot I could do for Atsushi but I like this one - these flowers represent a person who is gentle, welcoming and friendly, which reminded me of the way he is usually the one to reach out to people who remind him of his younger self and "welcome" them into a new chapter of their lives)

Kyouka - Violet (I am unsure what the flowers are in her hair exactly, and while Kyouka loves hydrangeas the meaning doesn't apply to her - I picked violets as they mean honesty, watchfulness and loyalty, things that apply to her quite well, but also because the Japanese word for violet is "sumire"... which is the same name as her seiyuu :D)

Akutagawa - Hydrangea (oof this was a hard one. These flowers have wildly contrasting meanings, ranging from pride, to gratitude for being understood, to a cold person. All of which I feel represents him fairly well. Their flowers can also change colour depending on the pH of the soil in which they were planted - something that calls to mind Akutagawa's differing paths in canon vs beast depending on where he was "planted".)

Higuchi - Yellow Tulip (one-sided love. rip girl. can also mean sunshine-smile and a trustworthy person though so it's still sweet and suits her character.)

Mushitarou - Aloe (Associated with grief and affection, but outwardly it looks spiky and rather unfriendly (well I suppose. I think aloe plants are cute personally). Has a nice green colour and is cultivated and used for all sorts of practical purposes, much like Mushitarou is constantly being captured and sought after for the use of his ability. Sorry lol)

Jouno - Dahlia (another tricky one... dahlias can have negative meanings such as dishonesty and instability, but largely the positive ones overtake that - being symbols of positive change, dignity, and inner strength. They can also symbolize having good taste, something I'm sure he believes he has, at least over Tecchou lol)

Chuuya - Peach Blossom (I could've gone the official skk route and said red camellia... but I like the meaning of momohana much better for Chuuya, and it's also the flower people send to the real poet's museum - I believe he liked them. They represent the transience of life and the importance of every moment. They begin to grow in winter and bloom in the spring - symbolizing the transition from hardship to growth. They are also apparently considered somewhat protective against evil spirits, which fits well into his role as protector)

Teruko - Larkspur (symbolizes commitment to responsibility and duty, as well as pride and the capacity to face challenges directly. They can also be used to symbolize youth as well as remembrance - which I think captures that age ability she has. Once we learn more about her I might be able to find a better flower, but I wanted this to go by what we know so far, not my own headcanons about her for which I have several).

Nikolai - Strelitzia (Meaning joy, freedom and immortality, also known as the Bird of Paradise flower. It's a very striking and unusual looking flower that I'm sure Nikolai would enjoy. I had wanted to give him a flower that's important symbolically in Ukraine, but I didn't feel the meanings of the ones I found made a lot of sense... unless you'd like to get ironic with it and give him the Mallow, which symbolizes love and attachment for family, homeland and potentially a lover - like the way he has yet to fully break free from these tethers, hard as he tries)

I have images for reference here and here. I hope this helps!

[tuesday-is-a-good-day]

I saw this post and I'm being salty about it, so I'm gonna break it down.

To be clear, this isn't supposed to be hating on any ships or shippers, the hypocrisy of this post just annoyed me and I love ranting about dynamics within BSD.

Firstly, this is an opinion, you cannot present opinion as fact. That's just not how things work.

This is fundamentally incorrect. Just because a relationship is less complicated doesn't mean it's more healthy, Sigma currently thinks Dazai is only using him and is going along with it because Dazai is being less of a dick about it than Fyodor. There is trust there but to argue that there's more than in Soukoku's relationship is baffling. What's more, Dazai has "left it" to Chuuya on several occasions, during Dead Apple, the Dragons head conflict, Stormbringer, Fifteen, on many occasions Dazai has placed his life and the safety of the world in Chuuya's hands

By fanservice do you mean them having a partnership?? Because that is not fanservice, nor a reason that one ship should be regarded as better than another. I also fail to see how Sigzai being considered a rarepair makes it better than Skk. The fixing of scenes is something I agree with however, it can be taken as a joke but Asagiri made those scenes for a reason.

This point is definitely arguable, Sigzai shippers have not shown to have any more maturity, and very often misrepresent Sigzai's relationship, often disregarding Sigma's wariness towards Dazai and the fact that Dazai is only trying to assist Sigma and they as of now have little to no feelings of each other as they have known each other for less than 30 minutes. Blind trust does not make a good relationship, it just means Sigma is being a little bit silly for trusting Dazai (he always has a plan, Chuuya having suspicions just means he knows Dazai better).

Unhealthy tropes imposed by the audience does not impact the base relationship. Just because some people view their relationship that way doesn't mean that's what their relationship is, this point is null and void. Sigzai could easily have the same tropes if depicted as such, but that doesn't impact how their relationship really is in canon. And again, complex does not equal unhealthy, BORING POINT MOVE ON.

Overall, this is a poor argument, neither Sigzai nor Soukoku is "better" than the other. I hate Sigzai, but that's my own personal opinion and does not impact the quality of the ship, it's not a bad ship in any regard and certainly has potential. I'm just tired of this hypocrisy and superiority complex some shippers have.