#✮ we run without reason like stray dogs | fandom; bungou stray dogs

[multi-mused-menagerie]

PICTURED: THE KIDS IMITATING THEIR TINY DAD 😌

[multi-mused-misdeeds]

     “YOU CAN PUNCH ME, kick me, pull my hair. I am A-OK being stabbed. Biting and scratching are on the table. You can use fire!” ( x )

[lover-of-midnight]

The very noisy night

Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning

:

Rape/Non-Con

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs

Relationships:

Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Dazai Osamu & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Characters:

Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Additional Tags:

Hurt/Comfort

Angst

Night Terrors

Worried Chuuya

hurt dazai

Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con

Past Rape/Non-con

Whumptober 2022

Day 9

Language:English

Collections: Whumptober 2022

Chuuya forced himself to breathe normally as he tried to sleep. A sigh slipped through his lips as Dazai turned again. Tomorrow was going to be a long day if he didn’t get to rest and soon.

“OI shitty Maceral, what is wrong?” His voice started lightly but the annoyance slipped through by the end.

Dazai was silent for a few seconds, stilling himself as much as possible. “Nothing.” His voice was almost dead as he spoke.

Chuuya forced himself upright turning to face his boyfriend. It wasn’t the first time they were sharing a bed so why on earth was Dazai acting like this?

“Something is bothering you.” A mere fact, nothing to be questioned. In the years they have been together Chuuya managed to learn some of the subtler ways Dazai would show he was at his end. And for some reason tonight seemed like such a night.

Al he caught was a quick sake of head as Dazai turned away from him. A frown formed as he leaned slightly to Dazai, running his fingers through the soft strands.

“I know you, you are trying to hide. To push the pain away until it is eating you alive. You don’t need to do that here Dazai.” Chuuya tried to keep his voice as calm as possible when he spoke. Wondering if it ever would get better.

With careful movements, Chuuya managed to turn Dazai back to him. The frown deepened when he saw the tear tracks staining Dazai’s cheeks and his red puffy eyes.

“What happened love?” Chuuya pulled Dazai to his chest. Sometimes he forgets they are still just teenagers trapped in a situation without a way out. They continue doing what they need to do to survive even when they just want to give in and day.

Dazai shook slightly as he bit his lip. It won’t help to talk about it and if Mori found out, Chuuya would be in the line with the treat. Mori would then just come after him.

A thumb soothed over his lip slightly, whipping away the blood.

“Talk to me Dazai. I can’t help if I don’t know what is going on?” There was a firmness in Chuuya’s voice that made Dazai almost freeze.

“I = I can’t” The words came out between sobs “Ch-Chibi will then be in danger.” The last part slipped out even though Dazai didn’t want to admit to the danger.

Chuuya took a deep breath, realising that this was more than he knows about. “In what sort of danger would I be?”

“H-he will hurt you. If he finds out you know he will hurt you as well.” Dazai tried to pull away from Chuuya, but blind panic set in. He knows too much. Mori will find out he knows.

“Is someone hurting you Dazai?” It took everything in Chuuya not to go on a rampage at the mere thought that someone might be hurting his love.

Dazai froze at the question, knowing that there isn’t a way to avoid the truth. Al he could do was violently shook his head.

Blue eyes closed for a second as the despair kicked in, how many times didn’t people try to hide what was going on?

“Whatever it is Dazai, we can figure something out, but then you need to tell me what is going on.” Chuuya made his voice slightly sterner than he would have liked.

Dazai froze at the tone. His mind almost shut down. “Please I will be good Chu…” His voice broke slightly as fresh tears started up.

Chuuya fell silent unsure of what to say to that. “All right, we will speak about this in the morning.” Chuuya could tell he won’t be able to get anything else out of Dazai even if he tried, so maybe it would be better if they just leave the conversation for now.

Dazai will tell me when he is ready. Chuuya just didn’t know it would only be a few hours later.

Chuuya sat up with a start when he heard whimpers coming from his side. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the darkness. He whipped his head to Dazai who was trying to make himself as small as possible. Limps trembling against whatever horror his mind was dicing up.

“Dazai.” Chuuya placed his hand on his shoulder, wanting to shake him awake.

All that happened was that Dazai curled more into the ball form he was in. Begging someone to stop and that he would be good.

A frown formed as Chuuya gently started to peel the blankets away, running his fingers through Dazai’s hair, whispering that he was safe.

It took a little bit before he managed to get Dazai awake. But his heart broke, even more, when Dazai hid against his chest, crying.

“What happened Luv?” Chuuya made sure to keep his voice as calm as he possibly could. Wishing that he could take all of Dazai’s pain away.

“Mori-san, was angry about the last mission because we failed. Made sure to remind me of what would happen if we fail again.” Dazai’s voice was small as he whispered the last part, he didn’t want it to happen.

He tried, he tried.

“What did Mori do?” Chuuya had a good idea of what Dazai was talking about but he knows Dazai needed to say it on his own.

Dazai violently shook his head. He didn’t even want to think about it, never mind speak about it.

Chuuya sighs slightly. “Dazai did he touch you?” His voice even, even though he could feel everything in him trembling, the screaming in his even worse than normal.

A small nod was all he got. Dazai closed his eyes wishing that the conversation would be over with. That they can just pretend that nothing had happened and be done with it.

“Let’s leave then. We have enough money that we can live comfortably until we are old and dead.” Chuuya tightened his arms slightly keeping Dazai close to him.

“I like that.” Dazai’s voice was heavy as the tiredness dragged him down.

“Go to sleep, I will figure it out.” Chuuya ran his fingers through Dazai’s hair until he was sure the boy was fast asleep. There would be a lot to do and too little time to get everything done.

But he will make sure by the time Dazai’s awake again that he would be safely away from the Mafia, no matter the cost.

[multi-mused-menagerie]

@OFLEGENDS

it’s Pride month and you can pry this scene out of my cold, dead, gay hands.

[25-traveller]

[ANIME]

Some recommendations for you all! But some of these are underrated. Hope you like it!

Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy, you've heard it before. I know that this anime is very popular in Japan but also outside Japan except Indonesia (The anime did a collab with Sanrio & Shiroi Koibito [Cookies I guess], any question?). This story is about Sugimoto,  a veteran of the early twentieth-century Russo-Japanese War, and his quest to find a huge fortune of gold of the Ainu people, helped by a young Ainu girl named Asirpa. 

"Why should I watch this?" Because you'll know everything about Ainu, indigenous people of Hokkaido! I guess Ainu is like ethnic group [We call it "suku" here], it is unfamiliar that I thought it wasn't real. You'll also learn about Russo-Japanese War, foods, Ainu foods, Ainu culture, etc.

About the fandom, I haven't seen some groups in every social media including Tumblr & Twitter. But I hope it has a green flag, cause I've seen that the fans are nice enough (They don't compare GK to other anime and a lot of them are Tsurumi's fans on Twits haha!). There is a blog about Golden Kamuy, where you can know gun types, references of real people, opium, funfact, etc. Just type it!

2. Bungou Stray Dogs

This is also popular outside Japan [and in Japan too ... Probably?]. This story follows Atsushi, a weretiger orphan, who joins others gifted with supernatural powers to accomplish different tasks including running a business, solving mysteries, and carrying out missions assigned by the agency.

Bungou Stray Dogs or BSD is worth it, you won't believe that it's a seinen (18-30/40 y.o for men) anime even if you read the genre. It's seinen, but less blood and full of humor at the first season. Same as GK, but "nicer" for teenagers. You can simp with Dazai, Ranpo, or even other bishounen characters oops- Well they have unique artstyle of course, love the eyes <3 You will also be introduced with real characters if you search them without BSD.

About the fandom, a lot of them are fujoshis (Girls who are fans of BL). I also think that the fandom is safe, but a bit weird because AtsuKyouka. However I ship these teenagers as siblings/best friends.

3. Popee The Performer

You probably know this anime. YES, Popee The Performer is an anime and a kid show, but I mean like what the earth is going on-

If you don't know Popee The Performer or I should say Popee Performer, you might say that I'm lying. Popee Performer is a 2001's anime and a kid show made by Ryuji Masuda, a CG animation. So, it does sounds like a 3D cartoon to you and you'll ask why I recommend this.

Come on, Dear, Popee Performer is alright for you ;) .... If you like bloody and 'weirdcore' animation with a story that no one can understand the reason or the moral from this "slice-of-life-or-not" anime, then this is your world. The story follows Popee, an apprentice clown, and his assistant, Kedamono, attempting various Circus acts and going about their daily lives as performers. 

The fandom? I hope it's a safe area although it's not a children show and the adults watch that, they make awesome fanarts and ... ship for PopKeda. I'm not hoping for PapPopee and you shouldn't, I beg you please. DON'T SEARCH IT ON AO3 EVEN IF YOU WANT TO

4. Gugure! Kokkuri-san

After watching heavy topics, we should start taking a snack and then stare at an enjoyable anime. Gugure! Kokkuri-san is a spectacular comedy and supernatural anime series that came out in 2014. The TV show features countless unexpected humorous and heartfelt moments, so it’s definitely worth watching, especially if you’re in the mood for something sweet and simple. The series revolves around the life of Kohina Ichimatsu, an elementary school girl who lives by herself and leads an unhealthy lifestyle. Once, while playing a game, Kohina accidentally summons Kokkuri-san, a fox spirit who later decides to take care of the little girl. The show then takes Kohina on a thrilling journey where she encounters several other spirits like her guardian.

I love the artstyle, especially Kokkuri-san. A beautiful, goofy fox with a long hair. The fandom is green flag for sure, I don't see lots of fans talking about this anime.

5. Sanrio Boys

Another enjoyable anime, sadly it's just for sponsoring Sanrio T_T WHYYYYYYYY

This is about boys who like dolls, including Kouta Hasegawa who has a problem because the society says it's girly if boys have dolls. However Kouta finds his friends who have the same interest.

This enjoyable, bromance anime ... It feels like Sanrio Danshi/Sanrio Boys is judging the society. I mean, we all hear that boys who play with dolls are girly and my ears are super itchy for listening to these stupid things. They have small fans, not popular but it's better! You will also see beautiful and handsome guys, gotta choose Mizuno before someone catches him.

There are underrated animes that I've watched, but I guess 5 is enough. Give me part 2 if you want. Sincerely, Blue Wolf

[starglow-xx]

owning a bakery and being discovered by the ada and the port mafia (part 2)

platonic! fukuzawa yukichi x f! reader

type of writing: head canons !!

this is part of my head canon series, flour & fluff !! 

tag list is open !! go to this google form and fill it out to sign up!

series synopsis: owning a bakery at 20 is tough; even more so when you have to handle members of two opposing organizations! this is your journey to meeting those fools and creating an unlikely bond with each of them. but only at the cost of your peace and sanity.

fandom: bungou stray dogs

content: fluff & platonic stuff

previous: part 1: meeting the greatest detective

author’s note: ages are a year younger than canon so ranpo is 25, yosano 24, kunikida & dazai 21, fukuzawa 44, you’re 19, and atsushi and the other younger members are not employed yet

and i guess slight spoilers for the untold origins of the armed detective agency but not really. it’s just a reference to it tbh

their beloved president

going to Sakura’s the next morning wasn’t what Fukuzawa had planned during his week

the reason he was dropping by was to give you money for the sweets you had given ranpo

when he had arrived back at the agency the evening before, he had made a big fuss about you and Sakura’s

he had sparked a lot of people’s interest seeing as ranpo was well invested in whoever you were and what your business was

he wouldn’t stop talking about the “cute and annoying bakery girl” who practically saved the agency simply bc she sheltered him during the rain and fed him and almost got hit by a car for him

i mean, how would the agency survive without ranpo? it was founded to make use of his intelligence and ability after all

the other agency employees exchanged looks and that’s when ranpo tiredly sighed and showed them his phone

on the screen was a contact, yours to be exact, labeled “cute bakery girl” with the note underneath reading “best follower, sweets supply & annoying little kid”

around that time, the president had stepped out of his office to see his employees huddling around ranpo and his phone

he walked over to them and asked what was going on, and seeing the president, ranpo explained what had happened with more details

“so you’re saying that a young girl, 19 years old, nearly got herself run over to shelter you from the rain, gave you food, closed her business early so you could keep talking, and when the rain stopped, she gave you a map and even more food, and even though she may have been inconvenienced, she did not ask for anything back? nor did you offer to give her anything back? even though she relies from the money she earns to survive?

“...maybe.”

after a, private chat with ranpo, fukuzawa ended up saying that he’d go take a visit to Sakura’s first thing in the morning to pay off the sweets that she’d given him by sliding an envelope of money under the door with a note

he initially told ranpo to go back right away (and to bring someone with him this time) but that ended up not pulling through bc ranpo had told him you went to retire for the evening

so yeah

there he was walking towards your bakery when he saw a small black cat with green eyes near the entrance playing with one of the potted plants outside

even though it was small, fukuzawa could tell that it wasn’t kitten due to his love of cats but the cat was still small compared to other adult cats

when he was just a couple feet away from the entrance to your bakery, the black cat took notice of him and walked his way before rubbing itself against his leg

fukuzawa let out a small smile as he bent down to pet the small creature, and the cat gladly ate up all the attention

suddenly the entrance to Sakura’s bursts open, and there you are looking back and forth frantically 

but you soon spot him and the cat and you visibly calm down

the black cat rushed to you and rubbed itself against your leg

it turns out the cat was yours, and you couldn’t find him so you panicked and rushed out the door

from there, you introduced yourself with fukuzawa doing the same

you still had about a little more than forty five minutes til Sakura’s was scheduled to open but you offered fukuzawa to come in anyways

he declined at first, but he gave in when, just how you did with ranpo the day before, you dragged him into your bakery

“you know, fukuzawa-san, this is giving me some major deja vu!”

“it’s because of ranpo i presume.”

“oh! you know ranpo-san?”

when the two of you entered, you rushed to a table and pulled out a seat for him before you disappeared off into the kitchen

just a few minutes later, you appeared with a tray with two steaming mugs, two hot plates of food, and small basket of bread

you set one mug in front of fukuzawa as well as a plate of food while you set the other mug and plate in front of the seat across from him and the basket of bread near the center by the small vase of flowers that you had for a center piece

he gave you a confused look as you sat in front of him and as your cat leaped into your lap

“ah! it’s pretty early in the morning, and you still have to go to work later, so i thought you should at least have a little something before you go. and i didn’t have breakfast yet so i thought it would be nice to have some tea with some company. and i made extras anyways!”

fukuzawa blinked before letting out a small smile and he quietly thanks you

you beam at him and as the both of you begin to eat, you ask him why he’s here this early and how he knows ranpo

with that, the silver haired man addresses your questions and explains the reason why he’s here and how he knows the brown clad male 

after explaining, fukuzawa pulls out the envelope with some money and slides it over to you

you try to reject it, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re screaming bc you know you need the money for bills and whatnot

fukuzawa wasn’t very helpful either

“so you’re saying you don’t need the money?”

“...no”

you end up accepting the money much to your inner conscience’s chagrin and to fukuzawa’s inner delight

moving on from that, for the rest of the time he was there—the last 40ish minutes or so—you rambled and talked to fukuzawa like how you did with ranpo the day prior, only this time, with a cat switching his resting point for either yours or fukuzawa’s lap

honestly, you’ve gone through so much deja vu and at this point, you’re not sure if you’re still in reality or not

sometime in your conversation, fukuzawa learned that your cat, ironically, was named lucky

apparently you found him in an alley while you were grocery shopping two weeks ago and since you took him in, you noticed that Sakura’s received a lot of new customers and that a lot of them actually ended up becoming regulars

speaking of the cat, you kept having to stop lucky from eating the food on the table

if fukuzawa was amused from your antics along with lucky’s, he was pretty good at hiding it

you: “lucky you naughty cat! i already told youuu” >:(

lucky: >:3

fukuzawa internally: :) & :D

the two of you had also became well engaged in talking about different kinds of tea, with fukuzawa even complimenting you with the tea you had made for him

it became his favorite <33

you were so happy <3

oop there’s that kid-like behavior again🤭

don’t tell ranpo🤫

scratch that he probably already knows somehow </3

speaking of which, the two of you also talked about the childish detective

it was kind of hard to tell whether or not you were admiring him <3 or insulting and complaining </3 about him lol

“so you’re the president ranpo-san was talking about huh. we talked a lot about his job yesterday! it seems quite exciting! but he talks quite a lot honestly.”

“ranpo talked a lot about you as well”

“ah really?! he can be a bit of an ass, but he really is amazing isn’t he?”

“mhmm”

through fukuzawa, you also learned how the two had first met, and this time, it was hard to tell whether you were amazed or angry at him

“awh that’s so cool!! but for someone so smart, he’s an idiot! what if he got hurt?! it was a good thing you got there huh fukuzawa-san?”

if you thought ranpo was like an older brother figure, you definitely saw fukuzawa as some sort of father figure

he noticed that you started to act like ranpo a little bit

you had developed some sort of attachment to him and when he praised you abt your tea, you had the same glow ranpo has when he gives him praise

not that fukuzawa minds

you’re just another child he’s adopting !! <33

not that either of you knew that hehe >:D

time went by pretty fast and before you knew it, there was only 10 minutes until you were scheduled to open

it was a good thing you had just finished all your prep before fukuzawa arrived

after making a promise with fukuzawa for him to come back again for some more tea, he stood up and made his way to the door as you carefully lifted lucky from your lap so you could quickly wash the dishes and to wipe the table and chairs you used

you offered some baked goods and some tea for to go but fukuzawa declined saying that you needed your supplies for your customers

as soon as you placed lucky on the wooden surface, he bolted to fukuzawa and kept on circling his legs and rubbing against him to stop him from leaving

i guess it turns out you weren’t the only one to get attached to fukuzawa

he couldn’t get even one step closer to the door without lucky reacting and running rapid circles around his legs to get him to stop moving

you didn’t know what to do and you were starting to freak out bc it was almost time to open up, but fukuzawa saved the day and offered to take lucky back with him and promised to take him back the next day

at first, like how you did with the money, you declined but ended up giving in when you saw quite a few of your morning regulars walking down the sidewalk towards Sakura’s for its opening

fukuzawa simply picked up the cat and walked out the door giving you one last wave of good bye

when they left, there was only about 5 minutes left and you rushed to finish the last minute clean up

when fukuzawa arrived at the agency (after a quick stop at home) with a cat in his grasp, let’s just say that quite a few more questions were raised

when asked about the cat, he simply answered that he was cat-sitting for a friend and ranpo knowingly smiled

but he then realized that fukuzawa arrived without any of your signature baked goods and he started complain as the rest of the agency members stared in confusion

with ranpo’s visit, they had quite a few questions, but with fukuzawa’s visit to Sakura’s, their confusion only grew a whole lot more and will continue to keep growing

<< previous // next >>

taglist: @hanniejji​ 

tag list is open !! go to this google form and fill it out to sign up!

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Hi! Since you seem to be into a lot of different stuff can you share anime recommendations? If you have any. Have a lovely day!! You seem like such a sweet person

What 🥺🥺🥺 a-awww, thank you so much anon!! That’s so kind of you to say... I’m just a nut crying feels into the void over my obscure faves over here, without a consistent one fandom anymore a;lksfklkfg though I guess now it’s just egg, but thank you! ❤️ I have a lot of anime recommendations I can give, but I don’t know what exactly you’re into, or if you’re looking for anything in particular...? But I can definitely list some!

The big popular ones you probably already know about are My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan, I’ll get those out of the way first. I have my gripes with MHA and it has a lot of flaws that can’t be ignored, but overall it’s a really fun and high-energy and uplifting shounen series that has some really beautiful messages and moments, with a wonderful and touching main duo of main characters, and amazing animation and music; it’s as popular as it is for a reason, it’s just such a feel-good show and I’d always recommend it, even if I do complain about it sometimes haha. Attack on Titan on the other hand, I know hyperbole like this is like ugh really, but I really do mean it when I say it is an absolute masterpiece in the making; the first season feels very run-of-the-mill, typical shounen, which I wasn’t a big fan of like everyone else was at the peak of its initial hype years ago, but the show changes and evolves so much, beyond what you could ever imagine, honestly, and now by this point, when it’s almost at its end (the manga is literally ending a week from today), I can almost definitively say it’s one of the best anime out there. Everything in it is foreshadowed from the very first episode, the puzzle and mysteries unfold so masterfully and it all ties together so well, the story’s themes and the characters are all amazing, the music is GODLY and so is the animation, it’s just perfect, please please everyone watch AoT.

Bungou Stray Dogs is also pretty popular, and is one of my personal favorite animanga of all time; it’s a mystery/supernatural action semi-steampunk series with a huge focus on the characters and some AMAZING found family dynamics, seriously if you want found family for the love of god watch BSD, I love all these characters and their relationships so so much. Season 3 isn’t as good an adaptation of the manga, sadly, but the first two seasons and especially season 2 are absolutely amazing, and I would recommend the manga in a heartbeat as well. Noragami I adore for much of the same reasons, with the besttt found family dynamics and a really great balance between comedy and drama, though with Noragami in particular I would for sure stress to read the manga afterward, because the anime falls short near the end of season 2 and leaves so much unfinished, and the manga is absolutely phenomenal, one that like the rest of these will probably always remain in my top ten manga.

If you like shoujo, Akatsuki no Yona is my favorite shoujo of all time, with - once - again, wonderful found familyyy in a historical setting, really lovely slow progression of character development, and some fantastic action and music. The anime leaves so much unanswered and unfinished so the manga is an absolute must here, but I still just have to mention it because the anime is just so damn good in adapting what it covers, especially combined with the OVAs still waiting for that season 2 *cries*.

Assassination Classroom is a comedy/drama(??) shounen that ended a few years ago; it’s VERY funny and entertaining to watch, with an almost seamless transition into high emotional beats that left me speechless at how invested in and attached I suddenly was, and the ending, I’m not exaggerating, made me cry harder than literally anything else I have ever watched in my life, it is that devastating. Highly highly recommend AssClass yes that’s the nickname, I love it so so much, but be prepared to have your feels hit by a truck.

Free! is a really good sports anime with really great characters, and yes I am saying this completely unironically, I highly recommend Free’s first two seasons; just please for the love of god pretend season 3 does not exist. Run With the Wind is my other favorite sports anime that is CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED, it’s so motivational and uplifting and all the characters are so damn nice and endearing, and it has a fantastic score by the same composer as MHA and Haikyuu’s osts; EVERYONE WATCH RWTW IT IS SO SO GOOD.

Made in Abyss is another anime that is likely to never fully conclude the manga’s story, but the one season and movie that we do have is an absolute animated masterpiece in every imaginable way, so I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend it; it’s haunting and beautiful and very hard to watch at times, but so so worth it. Princess Tutu is, to me, the best magical girl anime of all time, dark beautiful fantasy with a wonderful four main characters and one of my favorite “villain” redemption arcs ever, not to mention one of the best enemies-to-lovers story arc I’ve ever seen. Of course my other favorite magical girl anime is the much-loved Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that is also dark but not without a purpose, twelve tightly-written episodes that wrap up perfectly by the end, with not a single minute wasted.

Poco’s Udon World is my favorite fluffy slice of life show; it’s also criminally underrated and SO sweet, it makes me cry every time I watch it with how goddamn precious it is, and I so wish more people knew about it. No.6 is a great short bl romance/sci-fi anime, and Romeo x Juliet is one of my favorite older romance anime, based on... well, the title is self-explanatory.

Mystery is my favorite genre in any media, so I have a lot of these haha. Gankutsuou is a supernatural mystery/drama/suspense/thriller based off the famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo, and it still remains one of my favorite anime of all time; the tension builds so WELL with each and every episode, the story is so gripping and so so tragic, and it always makes me cry by the last few episodes; a very underrated gem (also it has one of the most unique animation styles I’ve ever seen). Gosick is another mystery anime I adore, though it’s more of a slow-burn romance with some episodic mysteries before diving into an overarching plot; it’s actually what I tell people is my #1 favorite anime, just because the Victorian aesthetic is so me, but it’s so unknown that I never really get a chance to talk about it, haha. Mawaru Penguindrum is a mystery/drama/comedy anime that is extremely bizarre and philosophical, it’s honestly impossible to explain without just seeing it yourself alkfglalksdk, but it has a lot of family feels and is extremely touching and satisfying by the end despite all the weirdness, at least to me, so I always try to recommend it, though it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Erased is another fantastic short mystery/drama/suspense thriller, with some really moving moments and wonderful atmosphere and tension; the ending falls a little flat, but that doesn’t ruin how amazing the rest of it is (and I’d also recommend the live-action Netflix version, which has the proper ending from the manga). And I guess I’ll throw in Moriarty the Patriot too when it comes to mystery/crime thriller anime, which I’m still currently watching and is still ongoing, but I absolutely LOVE it so far, more people should be watching and reading it.

I have a lot more I could list too, to be honest 😅 I just pulled some of my favorites from the list on my About page ahaha, and a range of popular known ones to more obscure underrated ones. But I hope some of these suit your fancy, anon, sorry I tend to ramble ALKSDFKLFLSKDF I just wanted to be thorough since I didn’t know if you were after a particular genre or not! I hope you have a lovely day too! ❤️

[crow-writes-stuff]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nakahara Chuuya & Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), possible Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) Characters: Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Edogawa Ranpo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Edogawa Ranpo is a Little Shit (Bungou Stray Dogs), Armed Detective Agency Member Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya Is So Done (Bungou Stray Dogs), atsushi has a crush on akutagawa, Chuuya accidentally makes Atsushi realise his feelings, neither of them is happy about this, Nakahara Chuuya Swears (Bungou Stray Dogs), Protective Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fluff Series: Part 4 of Affirmation Summary:

Chuuya and Atsushi are supposed to buy snacks for Ranpo. On this very important mission they run into Akutagawa.

There is a loud, pitiful sigh. Chuuya grits his teeth and forces himself to keep working on the report he's supposed to write. Another sigh. "Ranpo-san, are you alright?" Atsushi is the first one to break. Chuuya can see Dazai hide a triumphant smirk. The bastard shouldn't be so smug about it, even Chuuya could have guessed this outcome.

"No! I'm dying," comes the overdramatic response almost immediately. Chuuya keeps writing.

"What's wrong, Ranpo-san?" Kenji is now also thoroughly distracted by the detective's antics.

"I'm out of snacks!" Chuuya fucking knew it. He's been here for barely two weeks, and he fucking knew it. "Again? Didn't we stock up just a while ago?" "They're all gone," the detective whines. "I'm gonna die." If only it was that easy.

Chuuya can feel the detective's eyes on him. He's not doing him the favour of looking up. "Hey, Mr Fancy Hat."

Chuuya is going to kill him. "What," he says, eyes still focusing on his report.

"Buy me more snacks."

What Chuuya wants to say is: "Can't you do it yourself?" or simply "Fuck off." Instead, he takes a deep breath and says: "Fine." Because they've already been through this song and dance. Twice. In two weeks. Chuuya is going to kill someone.

He can't refuse, because he's supposed to 'follow any order by the Agency members' as Edogawa and Dazai like to remind him. And the detective is completely fucking incapable of being a normal functioning person, so he can't do this shit himself.

At least he can annoy Dazai in the same vein. Chuuya stands up and lightly kicks against Dazai's leg. "Get up." Dazai stares up at him as if he has no clue why he would be dragged into this. "You're supposed to keep an eye on me, remember?" Dazai pouts at him. As if that would help either of them right now.

Suddenly his eyes light up, and Chuuya does not like that.

"Atsushi-kun," Dazai says in a cheerful voice. "No," says Chuuya. "What is it, Dazai-san?" asks Atsushi. Chuuya groans.

"I think it's safe if you go with Chuuya in my stead." At the unsure look Atsushi gives him, Dazai adds: "Don't worry, he's been very well behaved these last weeks. He won't cause any trouble." Speaking about Chuuya as if he's a dog. Once again. Chuuya is going to kill Dazai instead of Edogawa. Maybe both of them.

Atsushi is still not convinced. "Is that really okay? The president said-" Dazai interrupts: "I'm sure the president won't mind. But you see, I'm very busy at the moment, and we would all save valuable time if you would do this for me." Chuuya, who has seen how busy Dazai is, rolls his eyes. But he's tired of arguing. "One of you is going to move your ass, or there will be no snacks for anyone." At the horrified gasp of the detective, Atsushi finally gets up.

"Thank you, Atsushi-kun!" Dazai calls with a self-satisfied grin. "Oh, and Chuuya, if you're already going to the store, could you buy groceries for us?" Chuuya glares at him. "I was already planning to do that. It's not like you can be trusted with it anyway." Dazai pouts, as Chuuya heads out the door, Atsushi behind him.

"Dazai-san can't be trusted to go grocery shopping?" Chuuya shrugs. He's more relaxed now that they're no longer surrounded by people that still regard his every move with suspicion. "He always just buys what he fancies at the moment, usually canned crab or something like it. Not that I expect anything different at this point." Atsushi fidgets with his belt as they head down the street, clearly wanting to say more. "Just ask," Chuuya sighs.

"Uh, well, did you and Dazai-san live together before he... You know, left?" "Not officially," Chuuya says as they cross the street. "I mean when we were on missions obviously, but otherwise we each had our own place. But Dazai mooched off of me so much that I just started cooking for us both." "I see," Atsushi says, and that's the end of the conversation for now as they reach the store.

Chuuya grabs a shopping basket for himself and hands one to Atsushi. "Do you need to get anything besides- Atsushi?" The boy has completely frozen up, staring at something behind Chuuya. Alarmed, Chuuya spins around. It's easy to spot the reason for Atsushi's reaction. Akutagawa Ryuunosuke is standing at the end of the aisle, similarly frozen. At least he looks better than the last time Chuuya saw him. Chuuya relaxes, just before the other two get over their shock, both taking on fighting stances.

Nope. This is not happening. Chuuya takes a step forward, positioning himself between the two. "No," he says. The boys blink at him. "No fighting. I'm not putting up with that right now." "Chuuya-san-" "No arguing either." Chuuya turns towards Akutagawa. "Did Gin ask you to buy some groceries?" The boy nods, dumbfounded. "Do you need help?" After a moment of hesitation, a shrug. That's as much of a yes, as Chuuya's going to get. He nods, making a decision.

"Atsushi, you're going to pick out the snacks Edogawa likes. Ryuu and I are going to get our groceries and join back up with you at the end." He turns to see Atsushi mouth a silent "Ryuu?" before nodding, dazed.

Chuuya heads towards Akutagawa who's still staring daggers at Atsushi but follows without protest. "Do you have a list?" He gets handed one silently, quickly looking it over. "Okay, this shouldn't take too long. Come on."

Chuuya leads them through the aisles, picking out both his and the Akutagawas' groceries on the way. Ryuu stays quiet, except for the occasional answer when asked something. Chuuya doesn't mind. From time to time, he adds something to the other's basket, like Gin's favourite tea, which she doesn't deem a necessity and therefore never buys herself. Or in this case, asks her brother to buy.

Soon enough, everything on the list is in Ryuu's basket, and Chuuya has enough groceries for Dazai and him to last the week. Maybe longer, depending on how much Dazai actually is willing to eat. Chuuya really wonders sometimes how his partner managed to survive the past four years.

They pick up Atsushi who has filled his own basket to the brim with snacks and sweets, and head to the register. Atsushi keeps glancing at Akutagawa and Chuuya can almost physically feel the other's patience thinning. "Stop provoking him," he finally says, shooting Atsushi a look.

The kid looks honestly surprised. "I'm not! I'm not doing anything!" Chuuya sighs. Dazai really wants these two to work together. "Stop staring at him like that." Earning another confused look, he adds: "Actually, just stop looking at him altogether. We only need to pay, and you can go your separate ways again."

They manage to pay without causing an incident. Chuuya is silently glad when they finally leave the store. As expected, Ryuu doesn't linger long. He nods at them, "Chuuya-san, Weretiger," and is off. Chuuya almost laughs. "Does he always call you that?" Atsushi makes a face. "Yes, I can't get him to stop." "Cute." "It's not!" The bright red cheeks do nothing to make Chuuya rescind his statement. He takes the grocery bags, ignoring Atsushi's protests, and heads towards the Agency.

When they're finally back, Chuuya unceremoniously drops the bags filled with snacks on Edogawa's desk, who doesn't even say thank you. He takes the other two bags and puts them down next to Dazai who immediately starts pulling things out to inspect. "Aw, Chuuya even bought crab for me!" Chuuya rolls his eyes.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Kunikida asks, voice already suspicious again. Chuuya turns around to see Atsushi sitting on a couch with his head in his hands. He frowns, not sure what this is about.

Atsushi nods but doesn't look up. Which is only causing more suspicion. Kunikida moves closer, very obviously keeping an eye on Chuuya. "Seriously, if something happened, you need to tell us."

Chuuya crosses his arms. "He was fine just moments ago."

Atsushi finally looks up. His cheeks are red again, and oh no. Chuuya has a horrible suspicion. "Is this because of my comment?" "What comment?" Kunikida asks, but Atsushi already, hesitantly, nods.

Oh no.

Chuuya takes a deep breath before stepping forward. "Atsushi," he starts, voice level, ignoring the people around him. Especially Dazai. "Do you have a crush on Akutagawa?" The room goes dead silent. Everyone is either staring at Chuuya or at Atsushi. Atsushi who flushes even more and avoids his eyes. Atsushi who very clearly would rather be anywhere else right now. "Maybe?"

Fuck. Fucking hell. Chuuya is actually going to kill someone today, and it is neither of the ones he expected.

Familiar arms sneak around his waist, holding him in place. Of course, it's fucking Dazai. Chuuya glares up at him. "This is your fault." Dazai doesn't even act surprised, he just smiles. "I wouldn't know how." "You set this whole thing up in the first fucking place." Dazai shrugs, still holding onto Chuuya. "I don't see the problem. It's kinda cute, isn't it?" And, oh, Chuuya knows that smile. Dazai is going to take full advantage of this situation. Something Atsushi seems to realises as well, judging by his suddenly horrified expression.

Chuuya turns back towards the boy. "Don't hurt him." Atsushi nods, face pale. Chuuya doesn't have to threaten him to get the message across. The implications are enough.

Finally, Chuuya sighs. This day took a turn he doesn't exactly appreciate. He taps on Dazai's arm. "You can let go of me. I'm not going to kill him." Dazai smirks. "What if I don't want to let go?" Chuuya rolls his eyes. "Then, no work gets done, and Kunikida will yell at us." Dazai pouts but does finally let go of him.

They return to their desks, with Dazai definitely sitting closer than necessary. Perhaps he wants to make sure Chuuya doesn't change his mind and goes after Atsushi. Perhaps he's just being annoying.

Chuuya glares at him. "Don't you fucking dare." With innocent eyes, Dazai pulls back the paperwork he just tried to sneak onto Chuuya's pile.

Chuuya suppresses a sigh. This day is already too much, and it's not even noon yet. He's not sure he's looking forward to the rest of it. He feels a tap on his arm and looks up to see Dazai smiling at him. Alright. Perhaps it's not all bad. And he's reasonably sure Atsushi isn't going to hurt Akutagawa on purpose. He's still going to keep an eye on the situation, but he can live with it. It's all going to be fine. Probably. Chuuya returns to his report, Dazai next to him. Yeah, it'll be okay.

[linklethehistorian]

Randou and the Sins of Season 3's Fifteen Adaption (Part 3/???)

DISCLAIMER AND NOTES: (3/6)

— Lastly, if you’re seeking complete positivity and praise towards the animated adaption, you will most certainly not find it here; if you cannot handle criticism towards the animated series in any way, I highly recommend you stop reading now and go elsewhere. Likewise, although perhaps to a somewhat lesser extent, the same can be said if you came here looking to find complete and utter negativity and condemnation of it, as while it may be true that this article is more often than not critical towards the Fifteen anime adaption for reasons stated within, that does not mean that I despise its existence on mere principle alone, nor do I intend to refrain from mentioning some of the things that I did enjoy or could at least partially defend in spite of their differences from the novel.

(All elaboration on this final point and the rest of the article has been placed under the cut — due to both how long it is, and the presence of spoilers; I apologize if this is any inconvenience. Once more, if you are going to turn back for any reason, now is the time to do so; if not, feel free to continue onward, and I hope you enjoy!)

While I’m still on the subject of this piece’s fairly critical nature, I would also like to save any of my potential commenters on this point a ton of valuable time, effort, and trouble by taking a moment to make it extremely clear from the start that I am, in fact, already very well aware that there is currently a lot of disdain in the BSD community towards those who choose to speak critically of Season 3, as well as exactly what the overall argument is that is being made against us; I have already heard and read several times over the declaration that it’s somehow inconsiderate and disrespectful to “complain” about this season’s flaws when most anime do not ever make it past their second season and Bungou Stray Dogs could just as well have been the same, and, with all due respect to the people making these claims as individuals, commenting one more time on how extremely lucky we are to even have this season at all and/or telling me how I should be ashamed for writing an article like this because of that is not going to change my opinion on the matter, nor will it ever convince me that such an argument is anything but, in the long run, far more harmful to both the community and the series as a whole than the majority of the criticism it tries to speak against.

Despite what seems to be believed by many of the people asking for us to tone down the negativity, I do not personally feel that the vast majority of people expressing their grievances with some of the animated series’ recent choices in regards to their handling of adaptions actually lack any appreciation or awareness that we are lucky to have Season 3 at all, nor do I think most of them even truly believe it to be “bad” as a whole. On the contrary, at least insofar as my personal observations are concerned, as impossible as it may seem to some of you, the simple fact of the matter is that most of us actually still do love and are thankful for the new season as much as the rest of you; the only difference between us is that we do not let those feelings stop us from saying what we feel needs to said about it and providing feedback — regardless of whether those things happen to be positive or negative.

Indeed, I think that one of the biggest issues with this fandom at present, when it comes to this issue, is not the complaints of people like myself, but rather the unwillingness of those on the other end of the spectrum to recognize that loving something does not mean you have to close your eyes to all of its flaws and sweep them under the rug as if they didn’t exist. While it is absolutely everyone’s right to choose to only look at the positive side of things if that is what they so desire, it is also incredibly essential to at least concede that without those in the fandom who are willing to acknowledge both the television series’ positive and negative traits in tandem and call it out on its biggest flaws when necessary, things would be far, far worse than they already are at present and there would be absolutely no hope of them ever improving, either; after all, without the incentive to do better in order to keep their work popular and profitable, there would simply be no reason for any studio to try to meet any standard of quality at all, since they would know that no matter what they did or how poor their content was, their fans would still be there and consume it at the same rate as before out of “gratitude” for it even being made in any capacity.

[Next]

[Previous]

[Beginning]

[view the masterlist]

[theartisticace]

Title: metanoia Fandoms: Bungou Stray Dogs & Bleach Summary: After the weretiger saved her, Kyouka didn’t bother to stick around. She ran, and ran, and ran all the way to Karakura. Enter: the Urahara Shoten. Notes: I dunno what this is supposed to be. It’s definitely self-indulgent. It was 3am when inspiration struck and created this. I just finished it. It’s only the first chapter though. I just... Urahara clearly has a thing for taking in small murder children, or at least children with special abilities. He definitely has a soft spot for kids. Probably. Either way, here’s the first chapter of metanoia. Whether I continue it is questionable.

I of ? <><><>

My name is Kyouka.

She ran. Heart pounding, breath coming out in short pants. She ran, and ran, and didn’t look back. At this point, there was no way she could. If she did, she was as good as dead. But how long could she last?

My name is Kyouka.

The pounding of feet and annoyed shouts came from behind her. She sped up, but by now her muscles were aching, lungs burning and vision blurring. Nonetheless… she couldn’t stop. If she did, then she was once more going to be engulfed in the darkness, never to see the light again. Whether be it due to her execution or by Kouyou-ane-san’s hand.

I’ve killed 35 people.

Her vision started to swim. How long had it been since her last meal? A day, two? Or perhaps three. It’d been at least a week since the train bombing. She had had enough money for the first few days, but after the third time the Port Mafia caught her in a restaurant, she couldn’t exactly risk it again. She was regretting it now.

After being taken in by the Port Mafia, I killed 35 people in six months.

If they caught up to her, she’d be taken before the executives and deemed a traitor. She would be killed. Perhaps Kouyou-ane-san would speak up on her behalf, protest her sentence, but she couldn’t count on her false kindness. While the woman may have loved her in her own way, that love did not stop her from being placed under Akutagawa’s command.

So… wouldn’t everyone be better off if I was dead?

She didn’t want to die. In spite of the horrible crimes she’d committed, she didn’t want to die. Her mere existence was a sin, and yet… She couldn’t build up the nerve to hand herself in to the police, or give up and return to the Port Mafia. Even if she chose the first option, there were many officers and officials in the Port Mafia’s pockets. They would hand her over without hesitation. Or execute her. She didn’t know which option was worse.

I don’t want to kill anyone else!

She turned left and immediately realised she had made a mistake. It was a dead end, the only thing there was a small building with a truck next to it.

Quickly calculating the strength and speed she’d need to use to jump onto the roof of the neighbouring building, she realised she couldn’t. Not with her current sleep deprivation, dehydration, hunger, and all-round exhaustion.

She broke out into a cold sweat.

“Ha! We finally got you!” One of the Port Mafia grunts called out.

Reluctantly, she turned around and took in her soon to be opponents. There were less than ten from what she could see, all wearing the usual black suit, and all were at least twice her size. It would be a tough fight, one she doubted she could win. At least not without Demon Snow…

No! I’m never using Demon Snow again!

Squaring her shoulder, she nodded to herself. She’d defeat them without the use of her murderous Ability – not that she could use it without another phone – and keep running. Her hand inched towards her obi, where her kaiken was hidden.

The grunts pulled out guns and pointed them at her.

Ah, she thought dully. This is going to be a problem.

She wouldn’t be able to dodge all the bullets. Not to mention the noise would wake the civilians up and draw attention, since it was a residential area. Who knew how many causalities that would cause…

She didn’t want anyone else to die because of her.

“Put your hands up and don’t resist, Izumi Kyouka! If you do, we’ll have no choice but to kill you!” The grunt shouted at her, waving the gun around to prove a point. “For some reason the executives want you alive even though you’re a traitor. So, for their sake, especially Ozaki-sama’s, don’t try to resist.”

“I’m not going back,” she said quietly, firmly. The mention of Kouyou-ane-san made her hesitate, but she couldn’t trust the woman. Not after Akutagawa, not after the small family of three Demon Snow so ruthlessly slaughtered, not after the weretiger’s kindness.

The man’s eyes hardened. He clicked the safety off the gun, the other grunts following his lead. “Then you will die.”

In the moonlight, her expression was unreadable. But they’d have to be blind to not see the glow of her eyes, so blue and bright and inhuman it sent a chill down their spines.  

The tension between the two groups – one consisting of half a dozen armed men and the other but a sole girl – steadily grew until it was stifling.

Neither wanted to be the first to move.

A sharp sound interrupted their staring contest, piercing the silence with deadly import.

Her head swivelled around to focus a little to the left. Her vision blurred but she blinked away the tears and the rising nausea as a man swam into focus. He was tall and wore traditional clothes much like her, but she couldn’t tell much else. The light from the open doors of the shop cast shadows across his features. Her eyes zeroed in on the fan in one hand – that must’ve been what had made the sound – and the cane in the other.

“Maa, maa, what’s all this ruckus? Some of us have to wake up early for work, you know,” he said pleasantly. His head turned towards the group of men. The hand gripping the cane tightened. It was so small a reaction she wouldn’t have notice if she weren’t a trained assassin.

His head tilted. He turned towards her and took her in. Then he hummed thoughtfully. “My, my. Are these big, bad, scary yakuza trying to hurt you, little girl?” He asked her lightly, but there was a certain edge in his voice that unsettles her.

She remained silent, her hand on her kaiken tightening its grip.

“Look, old man, this had nothing to do with you. I suggest you get back into your shop and forget you ever saw us,” the grunt cocked his gun in warning.

“I can’t do that,” the oddly dressed shopkeeper replied. “Not if you’re threatening a cute little girl in front of my shop. What kind of shopkeeper would I be if I didn’t interfere?”

The grunt scoffed. “Your funeral. If we don’t end up killing you, she will.” He jerked his head in her direction.

She tensed.

“Oh?” The shopkeeper tilted his head. “Well then, if that’s the case then I have no choice.”

What does he mean by—

One second, there was nothing next to her. The next, he was there. Her eyes widened. He spoke to her quietly. “Sorry about this, little girl. But things are about to get messy and I’d rather you not see it.”

The girl who wielded Demon Snow didn’t even have time to feel afraid. He gathered her in his arms and then her body went limp.

My name is Kyouka.

[haikyuu-trash-can]

1k follower special - the person behind this blog

Hi everyone! I’ve been on tumblr for not even 6 weeks now? And I am absolutely blown away by all the support I received for my memes. Thank you so much! Thanks to all of you, I am now bigger Haikyuu trash than ever after getting into some of the more obscure parts of the fandom.

So, since I’m in this for the long run, I want to get to know the people who look at the stupid memes I make and for you to know who makes them (aaand I want to make a really self-indulgent post for once).

This is me:

And since we’re on tumblr, I’ll do my intro the classical tumblr style

Marie | 20 | she/her | Czech | bi | bi? | les-leaning irl but totally obsessed with hot anime boys | Gemini | INTJ | 5w6-9w1-3w4 sp/sx | Gryffindor-Ravenclaw | True Neutral

I was obsessed with MBTI for about 5 years until it took over my thinking so hard I had to stop last year (if you wanna come to yell at me about MBTI I’d love that).

Bunch of random things about me:

I’m a Cognitive Systems major and Computer Science minor at University of British Columbia. I don’t know who tf came up with the major name. I study cogs. I love cogs. I loooove big *censored*. My dream is to be a professional volleyball player corporate whore after I graduate.

Thanks to everyone who sent asks! I’ll reply to them here.

Character I’m most like

Tendo

I used to be like Akaashi as a kid but then out of the blue I stopped being awkward, antisocial and unconfident and now I’m the “crazy friend”. I’m still Akaashi on the inside tho. Somehow it all works out but it’s probably the reason why I have like 7 different personalities.

How I got into Haikyuu

Took me a while because I usually don’t give things a chance randomly unless I have a reason to. I didn’t want to watch Haikyuu that much because I’m actually not that much into sport anime (I prefer fantasy and modern shounen) and I thought the character design and drawing styles looked kind of generic.

Like, when you look at this with eyes unused to the design they kind of look like aliens (the skewed eyes and head shape). That is to say, I love the design and now I don’t even see it but before I started watching it caught me off guard. What finally made me watch Haikyuu was that I saw a random pic of some Haikyuu thighs and I was like, yeah, why not.

How I got into volleyball

I watched Haikyuu. That simple. Only started playing last winter, but I’m super obsessed with training and I’m actually pretty decent, well-rounded player now. Never played truly competitive volleyball, I just go to drop in hours (sometimes I would play a game without counting points for like 6 hours straight without resting much). I play at my uni’s intramurals, this year on two different teams.

Which positions I play

I mostly play wing spiker on either side (by elimination process. To unskilled to set, too short to block, and we don’t play with liberos). But this year my Women’s team wants me to play their middle blocker and my CoEd team wants me to be libero. I am not particularly thrilled about either but I am looking forward to learning a bunch of new skills.

Other anime I love

I never fell in love so hard with anything other than Haikyuu, but here are a few of my noteable past obsessions:

Assassination Classroom

Attack on Titan

Bungou Stray Dogs

Hunter x Hunter

My Hero Academia

Owari no Seraph

Fun Facts

So far I did: gymnastics, aerobic, judo, athletics, disco dance, capoeira, krav maga, ballet and now volleyball, so that’s a pretty diverse combination. I was doing krav maga, ballet and volleyball all at the same time.

I used to have a hypermobile spine. Like make my head touch my butt from behind kind of flexible. I stopped training and it slowly receded but I am still very flexible.

I have a very high cold tolerance. I can wear dresses when the temperature is above 5 degrees Celsius. I once went to a volleyball match in my shorts and only realized afterwards that it was kinda cold outside because it started snowing.

I have monster stamina. It’s nice but it kind of sucks because it’s mega hard to lose weight because of the way my metabolism is programmed.

My family had 13 cats at one point. I love cats.

Okie that’s it, thanks for tolerating my shameless narcissistic rambling.

I LOVE YOU ONE THOUSAND!

[afinepricklypear]

Compare and Contrast: K Project vs. Bungou Stray Dogs - Part 3

**Disclaimer: I love both K Project and Bungou Stray Dogs. I highly recommend watching both of them. This series of Compare and Contrast posts I’m doing is merely for my own sake, to get these thoughts out of my head. If you are a fan of one show and not the other, please don’t read, or if you do, save your bashing comments for like-minded antis elsewhere. If you have not seen both, there are a lot of Spoilers ahead, please don’t read. I am heavily critical of both shows, so if you are someone who cannot handle negative things being said (I try not to outright bash and just provide reasonable evidence from the material to back my stances) about your favorite fandom or characters please don’t read. Thank you! ***

Read Part 1, Part 2

Characters

Both Bungo Stray Dogs and K feature ensemble casts, with large numbers of characters. That being said, the shows have vastly different approaches for how they handle those characters and those approaches impact the way they come across for the viewer.

One of the things that K does a hell of a lot better than BSD, is fleshing out and managing of its characters. This may in part be due to the fact, K doesn’t attempt to give all of its characters a starring space in the story. It’s comfortable letting some characters fall into the background, allocating them to the role of side characters. There are only a few members of each of our main clans (Silver, Red, Blue, and later, Green) that are given attention and the rest of the clansmen (Red and Blue are the only clans shown to have notable clans members who regularly show up and are given names and little else outside of our mains) fall to the background. For some people, this may be frustrating, as we don’t learn a whole lot about the rest of Scepter 4 or HOMRA in the anime, but narratively, I’m comfortable with it because I’m not asked by the show to care about those characters, and the characters that I’m meant to care about are given adequate screen time to develop them into someone who’s story I am invested in. That being said, K does have moments that utterly flop. Scepter 4, for me, beyond Fushimi, is an absolute failure in presenting itself as a likeable or, even, relatable organization of individuals (Full disclosure, I hate Munakata, and while Awashima has potential, she’s treated by the series as little more than a miniskirt and bad boob job obsessed with Munakata). They seem to be there only to be obnoxious. I get the sense they were originally intended to be viewed as villains, but they became so popular following the first season, that the creators tried to treat them more as heroes in the movie and second season. However, it was painfully obvious in the final episode of K: Seven Stories – Nameless Circle, as the surviving members of the Green, Red, Silver, and good Colorless clan members (Yukari and Kuroh) enjoyed their final farewells with their fallen clansmen (I dare you not to cry when Mikoto and Totsuka pour Kusanagi a glass and Yata takes Anna’s hand in the background), that Scepter 4 staring up at Munakata’s lost Sword of Damocles was the least humanized of the Clans. They lost nothing, they felt nothing, their presence in Nameless Circle was nearly pointless beyond fan service. Likewise, K heavily drops the ball in Season 1 with its primary antagonist, the Evil Colorless King, who’s back history, motivations, and even his (her?) name remain a mystery to date.

BSD starts out with an already large cast, and while Atsushi and Dazai might arguably be the “main” characters of the show, starring roles in various arcs and episodes are given to the other characters, as well. Most of those episodes, however, can easily be relegated to the “filler” pile. On top of this, BSD continually introduces increasing numbers of characters, it also likes to bump characters up from side character to more main character type roles, which only serves to take limited screen time from the initial cast of characters and ultimately fails to give itself enough space to flesh out the cast. Time constraints, of course, doesn’t always mean a character can’t be adequately developed (see the first ten minutes of Pixar’s Up for how it’s done right), but possibly, because of this limitation, BSD has a tendency to fall back on telling instead of showing. It also feels like many of its characters were not fully developed in the creator’s minds (this appears to have been confirmed in several interviews with the creators) when they started their story, so that when those backgrounds are revealed, especially in those far too often instances where characters that have interacted in past episodes and given no indication of a history between them are newly revealed to have a connections to one another. It feels tacked on and last minute, and consistency of characterizations is lost. As previously discussed in a past post for this Review Series, this may also be due to the fact that K was envisioned as a self-contained story, and BSD seems to have been developed as an ongoing serial without a predetermined ending.

For these next several posts, I want to do more individualized character analyses, but to keep things simple, I will only focus on the characters of K that are given focus in the story and I’ll try to reference only its anime (just to be fair, because I’ve read all of K’s extra materials, and have not for BSD because I lack access in my country). Likewise, I’m only going to talk about BSD’s characters from the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia, as well as, a few key villains like Shibusawa, Fitzgerald, and Fyodor. Once again, I will attempt to keep to only what’s been revealed in the anime.

A reasonable starting point on character analysis for these two shows would be our sort-of main protagonists. Although, BSD and K are both ensemble anime, they do each feature a character that may ostensibly be considered the “main” character, in the sense that they kick off our main events and are positioned as integral to all subsequent storylines. For BSD, that character is Nakajima Atsushi, and for K, that character is Yashiro “Shiro” Isana. Interestingly (maybe), these characters share a similar aesthetic. Both are young males, with white hair and light-colored eyes, they are also both small, waif-like, bishounen that might be better suited to a shojo or even yaoi anime, rather than leads on a seinen series.

At the start of both series, Atsushi and Shiro, respectively, find themselves thrust into a world of supernatural powered people in which they are targeted for reasons to be revealed throughout the story. The greatest similarity between these two, however, is that they are both weak characters. Neither one proves interesting enough to shoulder the responsibilities as main character of the show. You would be hard pressed in either fandom to find someone who would name Atsushi or Shiro as their favorite character. I’m not saying these fans don’t exist, because they do, they are just few and far between.

Shiro spends the first half of the first season trying to avoid being killed by the Red Clan, who believes he killed their Clansman, Tatara Totsuka, at the same time, he is trying to convince his reluctant ally and potential executioner, Kuroh, that he isn’t the Evil Colorless King responsible for Totsuka’s death. Atsushi’s story, on the other hand, begins with him finding out he’s an ability user that shapeshifts into a white tiger, and, subsequently, being rescued and recruited into the Armed Detective Agency by Dazai. Then the Port Mafia begins hunting him because a bounty has been placed on his head, conveniently only after he’s learned that he is the white tiger that he believed had been hunting him his entire life, he’s joined the ADA, and Dazai has the chance to warn him with a picture of Akutagawa “beware of this bad boy” mere hours before Akutagawa attacks him.

The initial drawback with both of these characters is that they are merely victims of the plot and not helping to drive the plot forward in anyway. Shiro only becomes invested in determining why there’s video footage of him murdering Totsuka because Kuroh demands he provide evidence that he’s not the Evil Colorless King or he’ll face justice at the end of Kuroh’s blade. When Atsushi learns about the bounty on his head that Port Mafia is pursuing, rather than show interest in why anyone would want to capture him (alive, to boot), he “nobly” decides to run away, in his naivete believing that it would spare the ADA war with Port Mafia.

Throughout the K story, we do see real change in Shiro’s investment in his own mystery when it’s revealed that his memories, and the memories his classmates have of him, are not real, but fabricated and imposed upon him and those in close proximity by the cat girl that’s obsessed with him, Neko, AKA Official Provider of Fanservice #1.  This provides a further explanation for why he’s so lackluster about pursuing the truth, she’s been bending his reality and his perception of it from the start. It isn’t until her ability and how she’s been using it is revealed, and she runs off in humiliation and panic, that Shiro begins to actively pursue the truth. Even before this, however, Shiro is shown to be a wily and clever character who is quite self-sufficient. In his first meeting with Kuroh, he’s able to escape Kuroh’s justice by lying and manipulating the swordsman. He later throws off the Red Clansmen pursuing him by appearing just as Kuroh is facing off against a very annoyed Yata and calling out to Kuroh as though they are allies. This falls in line nicely with the big reveal of Shiro’s true identity as the Silver King, Adolf K. Weissman. In flashbacks to an unnamed great war (FYI, people speculate this was WWII, which, fun fact, would make Adolf a Nazi, but because this story takes place in an alternate history of the world, it’s equally possible Nazis never existed), we see that Adolf was originally researching the Dresden Slate, a mysterious artifact capable of granting people mysterious powers.

As Adolf, Shiro is shown to be a light-hearted, goofy man with no place in war or battle (consistent with what we’ve already seen in the show). Nothing of his character feels last minute retconned, and no previously unheard of connections are revealed to other existing characters in the show that haven’t been heavily hinted at or already explained. He believes that his research will be helpful in granting people their wishes throughout the world, yet when his sister is killed during an air raid, he runs away, leaving his research and the Slate with his friend, a Japanese military officer who becomes the Gold King and curator of the artifact. This turn of events does grant Shiro greater weight as a main character, and an importance in the plot that doesn’t feel contrived or heavy handed. Hints exist early on that Shiro is not who he thinks he is, starting with his high school classmate, Kukuri noting in introductory scene that she feels like he’ll disappear if she takes her eyes off of him. After all, one of the things that K is often praised for is its mastery of foreshadowing, this comes from having a very clear idea of the entire story its creators hoped to tell and a firm grasp of the connections between all of its characters.

That said, Shiro still remains throughout the story as relatively uninteresting, serving more as a plot device rather than a character. After the Blue Clan, the Silver Clan is the second least relatable and their scenes in Nameless Circle also remain a bit ‘meh’ as the “losses” the Silver Clan experienced throughout the anime were far removed from the actual plot. They didn’t resonate. We see, in Nameless Circle, Adolf’s sister and the younger version of his lost friend, the Gold King, enjoying breakfast with the Silver Clan every morning on repeat. Yet, Adolf’s sister was never developed beyond “here’s a tragic thing that happened in Adolf’s past”, so it’s hard to really feel her loss. She isn’t a person but a plot device, used to reveal more of Adolf/Shiro’s character rather than having anything of her own. As for the Gold King, he suffers the same fate as Adolf’s sister, but also, he lived a long life, and died of old age, so his death isn’t any kind of tragedy in the same sense as Mikoto, Totsuka, or Nagare’s deaths. There’s certainly a melancholy to these scenes, Adolf misses his friends, but it doesn’t pull at the heart strings, quite the way the Red and Green Clans losses do.

The real reason that Atsushi is being pursued at the start of the manga is yet to be resolved. We’re given a loose explanation, a foreign organization known as the Guild put the bounty on his head because allegedly his ability is the key to finding some powerful book that can manipulate reality. When the main antagonist of the Guild, Fitzerald, is defeated, this explanation and Atsushi’s importance becomes all but forgotten in subsequent arcs featuring new villain, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Atsushi himself can best be described as whiny and severely underdeveloped. He continues to be a victim of the plot just dragging him along, but worse, he quickly becomes one note with the constant flashback to his Orphanage’s director telling him he’s useless and doesn’t belong anywhere. There are entire scenes dedicated to this refrain causing him to full-scale breakdown into bouts of self-doubt. All I can say is he was eighteen when he was “kicked out” of the orphanage, he had zero work experience, and when we find him at the start of the story, he’s only been on his own a couple weeks and is already considering turning to assault and thievery to survive. Considering that Dazai and Chuuya were sixteen when they became Executives in the Port Mafia, Kunikida is only twenty-two and has already had a successful career as a teacher before becoming a detective with the ADA, Kenji is fourteen when we find him at the ADA and a former hard-working farmhand, Kyouka is a capable fourteen year old assassin before joining the ADA, Lucy is eighteen and comes from a similar abusive background and is already busting her ass to work for the Guild and then the ADA’s favorite Coffee Shop (jobs she got herself, thank you very much, for spending anytime looking for her like you promised, Atsushi, you jerk), and so on…I’m inclined to side with the orphanage director: Atsushi is useless. It’s a good thing they kicked him out, or he’d probably still be a bum surviving off social welfare the rest of his life.

I also can’t help but agree with Akutagawa, Atsushi has practically had everything handed to him and yet still manages to pull a pity party routine on the regular. It isn’t long after getting kicked out of the orphanage that he’s taken under Dazai’s wing and handed a job with the ADA. This wouldn’t be so terrible if he didn’t constantly squander it, and consistently prove that he doesn’t earn it. It’s hard to like him, especially when the author seems to be bending the story over backwards to give him some semblance of importance in the plot to the point it hurts the narrative. This is best exemplified in Dead Apple. Throughout the entire movie, we see every other character acting to bring the plot forward, meanwhile, Atsushi spends the entire time whining that they need to find Dazai, because Dazai will know what to do. Bitch, Dazai is busy trying to outsmart two super smart bad guys; he doesn’t have time to also prop you up on your own damn feet. It gets so bad that even Kyouka becomes fed up and leaves him. It really says something that the majority of comments for the movie on CrunchyRoll are complaining about how whiny Atsushi is throughout the movie.

While some people are quick to defend Atsushi by pointing to his abusive childhood to excuse his behavior, it is worth noting, he is not the only character that has an abusive past and he is far from being the character who has suffered the most abuse, and that’s including the odd growth on the side of Dead Apple’s plot that is the inexplicable, unnecessary, and might I add, ridiculous connection that was made between him and Shibusawa at the last minute that only raised more questions than answers and created huge plot holes. Atsushi’s travel companions in Dead Apple, Kyouka and Akutagawa, both have their own history of being abused. Just to underline Akutagawa’s complaint that Atsushi has everything and manages to forsake it all, Akutagawa was abused by Dazai, whereas, Atsushi is saved, fawned over, and praised by Dazai seemingly only for the sake of further tormenting Akutagawa. This continues to contribute to making Atsushi a weak character that I find difficult to really like all that much or see as having anything more than a forced relevance to the plot.

Atsushi does have redeemable moments in his interactions with Kyouka and Lucy. With the aforementioned Dead Apple aside, Atsushi is often at his best when he is with Kyouka. She sees him as her savior, and it reflects in the way that he treats her, being seen that way helps to boost him from pitiful status to someone that may actually have potential as a hero. As for Lucy, because she has a similar life history as Atsushi (abused orphan with matching burn marks), he can’t get away with the same woe is me lines that he throws at every one else. She’s got the same kind of past and manages to stand on her own two feet, forcing him to also rise up to meet her. Both of these girls have tragic histories, but seek to lift themselves up from those histories and stand their own ground, which serves to lift Atsushi as well, unlike with other characters that only patronize, validate, or outright feed into his insecurities leaving me playing on my phone hoping his scenes end quickly. More interactions between Atsushi and Kyouka, Atsushi and Lucy, or all three together would be a welcome addition in Season 4. These babies build each other up, and it’s beautiful to see.

At the end of the day, Shiro and Atsushi are prime examples of the “perfectly innocent protagonist whose only flaw is their own self-doubt” and exemplify why this type of a character is always, ultimately a failure.  They’re bright eyed, they’re kind, without internal debate they always make the right choice, everyone is drawn to them because they are light and goodness, I guess, and even when they are clearly the weakest in a fight, they always come out on top without working towards bettering themselves in anyway beyond putting in some old-fashioned good guy gumption. This is so painstakingly evident in Atsushi, who receives zero training upon joining the ADA, and is expected to battle (and is successful) against exceedingly powerful bad guys on the regular. Contrast this against Akutagawa, who we see underwent harsh training from the Port Mafia, yet still manages to always lose in his battles against the untrained Atsushi. Proving yet again, that you don’t need hard work to become the best, when you got the power of good on your side. Self-doubt exhibited by these types of characters never rings true, because we see them always get their way, everything turns out fine for them in the end, they never encounter lasting consequences for their choices (at one point in BSD, Akutagawa mocks Atsushi that everyone around him dies, but we have yet to see anyone he cares about die – the only person’s death that we see him have to deal with is his Orphanage Director that was coming to visit him with flowers and probably apologize for being a jerk, and his struggle there is with whether he’s allowed to still hate the guy or not, I mean, come on), and everyone around them that matters respects and dotes on them even before them being shown to truly do anything that should earn that respect and affection. I still don’t fully understand what compelled Kuroh to swear loyalty to Shiro, if I’m being perfectly honest, when Shiro is a lay-about, coward and liar, that ditches his clan in the end to soul search in his airship. Though, I will note, Shiro does demonstrate this character type a mite less than Atsushi. He’s not often shown to come out on top in battles, he doesn’t actually engage in any physical battle himself (his fight with Nagare at the end of Missing Kings, not withstanding, because he’s really just blocking that whole time waiting for Kuroh to show up and do the heavy lifting), he typically needs to rely on the strength and intelligence of others, and is more often than not shown running away. Also, Shiro is never really put into a position where he needs to make any hard, moral choices which has its own drawbacks for a main character in a show where a lot of hard, gray moral choices are being made around him.

I have seen it commented in defense of these characters’ weaknesses that the main character of a shonen/seinen story are always weak. This is not true, and I will point to one of my all-time favorite characters from any anime, as example: Edward Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions of the anime). Ed is badass, he earns his name as Fullmetal, and he earns his title as the youngest State Alchemist. We see him earn it as we watch him and his brother, Alphonse’s journey to become stronger, yet he also makes mistakes. It is his own arrogance that kicks off the entire anime when, in the Elric brother’s attempt to bring their mother back to life using forbidden Alchemy, Ed loses his arm and then his leg to save his brother who has lost his entire body. Their journey to find the philosopher stone for Ed is entirely about restoring his brother, he doesn’t care about his own body and, in fact, views his missing limbs as his own deserved punishment for challenging God, and throughout we see how their moral failing in the past effects all of their choices going forward. We know why Ed makes the choices he does; it isn’t merely because he is the “perfectly innocent protagonist that exudes light and good”; it is because he has learned from his mistakes. His naivete is not shown as a benefit, but as something to overcome. Ed is always acting on his own motives, while the plot is being driven forward by other characters around him, he is not merely a victim of the plot or being dragged along by it, his own actions and goals also help to forward the story and eventually brings him in direct conflict with the big bad. He struggles under the weight of the choices he’s made, he bears the burden of those he couldn’t save, he doesn’t leave the heavy lifting of gray moral decisions to the other characters, he’s seen to struggle and even lose in the anime, and in those instances, we watch him work to better himself so that he can come back stronger. We know where his power comes from – he trained and studied for it; it was never handed to him. Throughout the anime he is shown to literally and figuratively grow and develop into a powerful hero that we can believe is capable of overcoming our main antagonist, Father, in the end, but not without losses and struggle. This is a protagonist done right. Compared against Ed, the failings of both Shiro and Atsushi is glaring.

That is all I have to say about those two. Next up will be the Black Dog of the Silver Clan versus the Black Dog of Port Mafia.

[multi-mused-menagerie]

     NOT TO BE THAT GUY BUT...

AKU: Mentions Dazai in a semi-positive/positive way CLOWNS: Wow Aku really said Dazai rights Dazai haters dni

     Again, I’m not trying to be rude or mean, but the fact that some people are almost... shoving away Aku’s abuse just because he talks highly of Dazai doesn’t sit right with me. Like... just because an abuse victim praises their abuser or doesn’t explicitly say their abuser has abused them doesn’t mean that the abuse didn’t happen or that the person who was abused is ok.

     It’s just mind-boggling to me how people are willing to ignore Dazai’s treatment of Aku just because Aku mentions how no one could replace Dazai. Of course Aku would say that; he’s been conditioned to view Dazai as #1.

     TL;DR: Just because Aku says “Dazai rights” doesn’t mean Dazai’s actions are forgiven or that he has rights.

[rwbyconversations]

Why Oscar’s writing has been disappointing

Stories rely on their characters. You can tell a grand, sweeping narrative that spans continents and timelines but if you don’t give a rats ass about the people at the center of these events, viewers won’t care. Stories with high kill-counts like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Attack on Titan rely on audiences forming an attachment with characters very quickly, so that the possibility of their sudden death is all the more painful for the viewer. Long story short, if you can’t make an audience care about your character, it can be hard to keep them interested. 

RWBY has overall done a fantastic job at getting people to fall for its cast; I’m a case in point with how hard I’ll go to bat for Emerald and Mercury. But be it the obvious choices in the main cast, the wide array of villains to obsess over. The fandom even has a few eccentric folk who stan for people not seen in years! (shoutout to CFVY fans, who knew you’d get rewarded over the whole Coco in Chibi thing by getting a book?) But rather unfortunately, while one character has managed to earn a fanbase happy to see them get content, the writing has consistently failed one particular character, through constant refusals to allow them the screentime they deserve and often putting it in the wrong places when they do get morsels of time to shine each year.

Oh no, not you. I’ll get back to you before this hiatus is out. 

... actually why are his gloves orange of all colors? And what’s with the banages, is he planning on cosplaying Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs at an Atlas convention during the off-season?

Yeah, no, I’m talking about Oscar Pine. First introduced in Volume 4, Oscar has now been a part of the main cast for half of the show’s runtime. In that time Oscar has developed psychosis, met a ticket-punching man, got stuck in a house for a month, fought a teleporting staircase man, was involved in a train crash, bought new clothes, and stole military property. 

Notice something? Nothing in there mentioned Oscar getting character development. Or rather he does... but it’s always offscreen. Oscar is infuriating in the sense that he has a lot of wasted character potential to be one of the best characters in the show- a simple but efficient design, great voice work from Aaron Dismuke and a charming personality that makes him a likable hero. But in spite of that all, Oscar constantly get the shaft when it comes to his screentime showing him developing from his problems, and each volume so far has had Oscar be faced with a trial that would make for a truly fascinating character arc, only for him to get over it while the camera’s focused elsewhere. And that’s what I’m going to focus on in this essay- I’m going to go over why I think Oscar’s writing has been consistently mishandled, and my hopes for the character in Volume 7. 

God damn I don’t like doing this, I want to like the farm boi most of the time 

1) Volume 4: All these voices running through my head, I’m on fire, face burning red

Oscar is introduced very early in Volume 4- as in, he’s in the first episode and is the eighth character we see onscreen after the villains. Oscar is in fact, if you don’t count Ruby’s character short, present in Volume 4 before the title characters. His first episode is... a lot of nothing, mostly just Oscar doing some farming. Oscar’s introduction does a good job telling us a bit about his character without him saying much- he’s prone to daydreaming while working on the farm, clearly not enjoying himself and his work. It matches up with what we learn later, that Oscar dreams of becoming a hero. It’s a stock motivation, and a stock background, but a simple and effective way of setting up a hero who desires the chance to prove himself in the wider world. His intro scene is a nice, quiet beat between the dark opening of Evernight and Salem, and the more frantic action of RNJR fighting the Geist. But overall the time the fandom was wondering what was up with Oscar- he wasn’t in the OP and nothing had set him up before now and yet here he was, getting focus before the main girls.

It takes until Oscar’s second appearance, three episodes later in Family, that we get the real reason for his importance- Ozpin’s in his head, but it would take another three episodes, in Punished, for this to be elaborated on in an unintentional Christmas gift from Rooster Teeth; Ozpin’s in his head due to their Auras and souls merging thanks to Ozma’s pact with the Archangel Asshole a few centuries back, and now Oscar is starting to act like an Assassin’s Creed character with all the memories that are in his head that he didn’t create. It’s a cruel irony for Oscar- Ozpin plays on how Oscar wants to be more than just a farmhand to try and get him to go to Mistral, but Oscar’s body language and face make it clear that this wasn’t how he saw himself getting some new life choices. Rather tragically, Oscar finally gets the chance to be part of something bigger but the manner in which it’s offered to him is anathema, as it’s coming from a literal voice in his head who claims to be a dead headmaster, and more importantly, he was never offered a choice- this was thrust upon him, a young 14 year old child who never asked for this burden of responsibility. And the last shot of Oscar in this episode already has him cracking under that burden, stuck on his knees and unsure what to do. 

(also btw Oscar’s Aunt tells him to clean his hands but Oscar’s model has gloves on all the time, so... how would he clean his hands? Or does he read books with dirty gloves? Eww)

It’s an interesting place to leave Oscar, at the metaphorical and and spiritual crossroads, and means the viewer wants to see Oscar’s next actions and the deliberation between the easy, boring life he knows or risking everything on a voice in his head telling him to try his chances in the big city. Sounds pretty interesting, right?

Not to the writers, unfortunately. Because when we next check in with Oscar three episodes later during Kuroyuri, Oscar’s already on the road to Mistral with his backpack all ready to go. That deliberation, the consideration, Oscar eventually choosing to trust Ozpin and go along with his plan? All done offscreen. Similarly, Oscar goes from treating Ozpin’s voice as an irritating thing to be annoyed has been chucked out a window- now out on the open road, it doesn’t “feel crazy” anymore. It just feels like such a cheap way to handle Oscar’s writing- rather than show his development naturally, it just fast-forwards until it reaches a point where it skips all that. And unfortunately, this isn’t the first or last time Oscar is victim to the writers fast-forwarding through his development moments. Given how much of Oscar’s arc hinges on this crucial first step, it just seems inane to me that of all of the potential Oscar scenes to cut... him coming around on Ozpin and making the call to leave was what got the cutting room floor. Especially since nothing in his Kuroyuri scene was all that essential for Oscar in contrast, barring setting up the the mystery Hazel and Ozpin’s past.

Oscar doesn’t appear again after his encounter with Hazel until the finale, when during the montage of Ruby’s letter (that consists of half her dialogue this season) we see Oscar on the train to Mistral, which really only caused a problem thanks to all the people who used it to ask why RNJR didn’t take a train. He also appears in the post-credits scene, meeting Qrow at a bar and asking for his cane back, the volume ending on Oscar extending the cane experimentally. 

Being blunt, I feel like Oscar should have been cut from Volume 4 and just introduced in Volume 5 with the bar scene. Volume 4 already had to juggle far too much in RWBY and Cinder’s plots, and adding Oscar to the mix unfortunately meant the screentime for some characters had to suffer- especially Yang. His time this season ultimately goes nowhere and only gives him a basic background that most fans would have already guessed from his character design, and the already wobbly Jenga Tower that was Volume 4′s screentime didn’t need more blocks thrown on top. I like a fair few things in Oscar’s arc, but it’s content that ultimately I’d have been fine having left on the cutting room floor. Hell, if nothing else, Oscar’s first scene should have ended with Ozpin’s reappearance, that these are two separate scenes is mind-boggling and left the fans wondering what the hell was Oscar’s purpose for weeks. 

Oscar’s debut arc has its ups and downs, much like the volume itself. His intro scene and argument with Ozpin are both well-executed and show the viewer the vocal dynamite of Dismuke’s performance or just set up his base character, but for every good thing to come of Oscar’s arc, it’s fraught with issues- most notably, his scene of choosing to leave his home being omitted and beginning the unfortunate tendency for Oscar to get the short end of the stick when it came to development and agency, which undermine his choice to leave. But overall, Oscar built himself a small but dedicated fanbase with his debut volume, even immediately shooting up to become a potential target for Ruby’s affections in the fandom shipping wars. It was a rocky start, but surely now that Oscar was going to have his plot merged with RNJR, he’d be able to handle his screen-time more effectively, right? 

Right? 

Volume 5- Two for one on meatsacks

Volume 5 is Oscar’s worst volume so far, being blunt. It’s a lot of people’s worst volumes though (Cinder, Ruby, Weiss, Mercury, Adam, mine) that at least he can share the load. It doesn’t help that he’s not in half the damn thing because his body is being used by Ozpin to regale the audience with expositon that makes them actively yearn for the sweet embrace of death... or just the return of the World of Remnant shorts. Oscar’s first scene in Volume 5 is just a recycling of the Volume 4 post-credits scene, which raises the question of why the scene was used in Volume 4. I don’t think it’s even touched up, they literally just copy-pasted it. Much like his first scene in Volume 4, his intro scene this volume is intercepted by comedy relief- last time it was Jaune’s miserable attempts at being a strategist, this time it’s Drunkle Qrow.

... You know, this scene ages poorly in hindsight given how just one volume later Qrow’s alcoholism is treated with ice-cold severity. 

Episode 3 follows up on this and gives us Ozcar’s first major scene of the volume, and unfortunately also sets up their dynamic this volume. Oscar gets some awkwardly charming moments with Ruby but overall the scene is dominated by Ozpin taking over for the first time and explaining his reincarnation powers alongside setitng up RNJR’s plot for the season- “training.” An episode later sees the entirety of this training, with Oscar and Ruby engaging in hand-to-hand combat and Oscar getting a lore dump from Ren (in hindsight this is novel not just because they’re outside during it but Ren’s the one delivering the infodump and not Ozpin). Ozpin barely even factors into the episode barring some fisticuffs and a generic speech at the end. But the scene is overall just pointless to the narrative beyond loosely setting up Jaune’s own Semblance unlocking, and this is the last we hear of RNJR “training” for the upcoming trials at Haven. Hell, even though the story makes a point of noting Oscar still hasn’t unlocked his Semblance, that still hasn’t come up two years later. This scene really only pays off in one immediate way:

This is Ruby’s sole contribution to the Battle of Haven after getting KO’d by Emerald outside of just yelling orders for offscreen fights, and all this helped do was begin to convince people that “MERC’S A BAD FIGHTER WITHOUT EMERALD.” 

Lighting the Fire’s training scene is one of Oscar’s only major scenes where he interacts with RNJR to boot for the entirety of Volume 5, and it’s quite sad that nothing really comes of it. It just serves to highlight how little Oscar interacts with the other kids, as most of his dialogue this season is just as Ozcar.

Necessary Sacrifice then, should be great on paper. It’s an entirely Oscar and Ruby scene with Ozpin only chiming in at the end. It has Oscar confronting Ruby and himself on his fears and how Ruby can put up a brace face, and Ruby finally gets to open up a little about losing Penny and Pyrrha at Beacon. But the scene just falls flat on its face and botches the execution. Putting aside Ruby’s own problems in this scene (her speech feels incredibly pre-rehearsed, as if she spent hours practicing it in the mirror to ward off anyone actually prying into her life). Oscar’s anger and fear come out of left field with nothing setting this up in his prior scenes this volume. Ruby needed a scene where she talked about losing Penny and Pyrrha, but it should have been during Volume 4, with Jaune. Having it now with Oscar feels like the writers apologizing for having Ruby get shafted for screenitme during Volume 4... during the volume where she gets shafted by literally everyone else. The scene is frustrating to me, it could and should have been a lot better (musically at least I love the reprises of When It Falls and Lets Just Live), but it just feels like a hasty patch note. Oscar doesn’t really develop from the situation and his fears are just forgotten for the rest of the volume. 

Oscar then proceeds to basically sit out Volume 5 barring Chapters 11 and 12. I still don’t get why he wasn’t part of the dinner scene with RWBJNR, since it would have been so very easy for him to be part of the dinner and get the chance to interact with the rest of the kids. Oscar wants to be a hero, so let him... actually interact with heroes his age. Have him brought up to speed on the crazy adventures the team have, let them get to interact with Oscar without having to deal with his backseat driver. You could even make something tragic of the scene where Oscar is forced to go away so Ozpin can take over, and the team’s faces fall flat when Ozpin gets right to talking shop which leads to the YOU TURNED THEM INTO BIRDS exchange. But otherwise, the rest of the House scenes revolve around Ozpin talking. The kids talk past Oscar, and again, you can very easily make something tragic of that as Oscar could grow to resent Ozpin because none of the others see him as himself, just a puppet on strings. But again... Oscar’s just not allowed to develop onscreen in this show.

And perhaps the worst thing about all this is that whenever Ozpin actually is called out on his tactics, one of the most pressings ones in his possession of Oscar,a  14 year old boy, is never used as fuel. Granted, yes, Ozpin has no control over who’s his next host but surely someone, somewhere is going to opine how morally bankrupt it is that Ozpin essentially conscripted a child not even old enough to get a learner’s permit into his eternal shadow war. It’s times like this that my theory that Jaune was going to be Ozpin’s original replacement before the backlash to Jaundice made them backtrack looks more and more possible. 

The Haven Battle episodes quickly have Ozpin force control away from Oscar, but it’s not like Oscar did much before then anyway other than serve as the conduit for another lore dump on Hazel’s backstory. He doesn’t try and learn why Leo defected and manages to trounce the headmaster so well one wonders how the hell Leo got put in charge of a combat school. After that, Ozpin takes over (and we admittedly get some of the coolest fighting in the actual Battle of Haven in Ozcar vs Hazel) and Oscar only briefly returns in the last seconds of the finale to drop the sequel hook that they need to get the lamp to Atlas.

Volume 5 is just a bad season for Oscar- this is the one time we don’t get his eternal phantom of offscreen character development because it’s not fair to say Oscar has any development in Volume 5. He’s immediately forced to the back to serve as a projector through which Ozpin can put the audience to sleep, most of his actual scenes are irrelevant or just feel like a waste of time and he basically sits out the entire finale. It’s just infuriatingly incompetent writing- we’ve gone from Oscar being a waste of time in Volume 4 to just being a waste of a character in Volume 5 who barely gets to express himself. Little is done with Oscar that could not be achieved by putting a tape recorder beside a lampshade and calling that Ozpin’s new host. Volume 5′s bad for a lot of characters, but at least most of the rest of the cast had good seasons beforehand to show how well they could be handled or written. Oscar didn’t have that, and while ultimately the blame was placed more on Ozpin for hogging the time, Oscar’s critics began to grow and he was derisively seen as just a plot device to let the writers bring Ozpin back and serve as a mission marker for the heroes. One more bad season for Oscar could spell the end to his character ever having a warm reception among the fans and critics. Drastic action would need to be undertaken in order to regain trust in Oscar. 

3) Volume 6- Tossing out the baby with the water

So the big plan to give Oscar some screentime... was basically cut Ozpin out of the story entirely. Oscar is almost entirely himself after the fourth episode, it’s the longest run of episodes with Oscar as himself that we’ve gotten in the show to date and Ozpin doesn’t even surface until the finale. There’s a lovely line of Oscar’s in episode 4 that finally lets him address some of the fears and concerns he should be rightfully worried about- “I’m just going to be another one of his lives, aren’t I?” Oscar’s tone is just so bleak there, it works super well and it was nice to finally see Oscar expressing human emotions. It even my cynical heart hope that Volume 6 would finally see Oscar get the limelight he had been denied for two years running.

But then the ball is just dropped hard. Oscar’s left in a background role for the Brunswick episodes, stuck working on a tire while RWBY encounter the Apathy. What’s already a somewhat rushed resolution to the whole plot of “RWBY express concerns about going onward to Atlas in light of Jinn’s revelations” now leaves Oscar, the guy carrying Ozma’s soul in him, out of the moment. He just gets to be tired and tell Blake to make food if she’s hungry. 

Argus at least alludes to putting Oscar in the driver’s seat for his own solo arc where he explores the city alone after Jaune physically assults him (why didn’t anyone stop Jaune from hurting Oscar two people saying Jaune’s name with all the concern of someone stubbing their toe just feels cheap). Even though I was cold on the episode as a whole, Dead End did set up the wonderful idea of an Oscar episode, one where he maybe forces Ozpin to come out so they can talk frankly for the first time in two volumes. Maybe they could even rip off Avatar (some more) and have Oscar meet Ozma himself, using his conversation with the two as his own chance to rally onwards and decide to bring the fight to Salem.  It could have been a really sweet moment of him backing Ruby up in her desire to keep going, the two forming a mutual bond of bolstering each other’s hopes as they carry the burden for their team. 

But no. Because I can’t have nice things, in an otherwise near-perfect episode where I actually got Mercury and Emerald screentime and the lovely Pyrrha statue scene (which I low-key feel like Oscar should have been a part of but that’s a subject for another day), Oscar just gets over his issues, buys a new outfit and dodges past his problems, getting to develop past them, off-screen, for the third time in a row. 

As far as I care, Oscar stole the money for this costume from either Qrow or Jaune and I don’t care if Miles says to my face he earned the money legit, I’m keeping that headcanon. Also, why are his gloves still orange? They don’t fit the rest of his costume.

If there was anything that got cut from Volume 6′s final half, I’d bet money on it being Oscar’s solo arc. Kerry himself has admitted during the RWBY Rewind for the finale that stuff got cut, and it’s very likely (going off comments from Miles that The Lost Fable was a huge resource drain) that this content was going to be part of the entire episode that was cut (Volume 6 initially had 14 episodes but around Christmastime this was remedied down to 13). It’s actually downright insulting and infuriating that Oscar got the shaft again, especially when Volume 6 finally seemed to be addressing the issue of Oscar never getting growth or focus. He was free of Ozpin, and with Ozma’s history revealed it was the perfect time for him to embrace the past forced upon him and resolve to become a hero. But no, the episode count went down so we had to wave goodbye to Oscar’s agency again. 

Just think of how beneficial it would be for Oscar to actually confront his sorta-not-really ancestor, who may have had to watch as soul after soul gets consumed for him. Has Ozma ever had someone tell him none of this was his fault? I feel he needs it. 

If I was a more suspicious person I’d say it almost feels deliberate, that someone on the writing team doesn’t like Oscar and is purposefully keeping his growth offscreen out of childish spite. But three volumes in a row now, Oscar’s growth has felt artificial and fake, and leaves him feeling like an afterthought. I know it’s not a problem of RWBY not being able to write new characters well, just look at how fleshed out and beloved Maria was after just her debut season. But Oscar just can’t catch a break and it’s frustrating to watch. In a volume that otherwise made huge strides in solving many of the pre-existing issues in Volumes 4 and 5, that 6 still refuses to treat Oscar with anything other than mild apathy is just mind-boggling. 

Like, what was even the point of having Jaune say Ozpin was just pretending to be Oscar? To make Jaune look irrational? To plant the red herring in the viewer’s minds?  The rest of the volume itself shoots the idea down hard, and it feels like it was going to be used during Oscar’s potential cut scene, but again... it was cut. I can only go off what’s in the volume and unfortunately, Oscar in Volume 6 is only marginally better than he was in past Volumes. Bless his heart, Aaron is trying to save this character but the writing itself is dragging Oscar down every chance it can get. 

4) Volume 7- The potential breaking point

Oscar’s character is currently in a make or break spot, and Volume 7 will either finally solve his growth issues or this will be it and his fandom will reach a boiling point. The worst thing is, it’s a very easy solution to fix Oscar.

Just put his character development onscreen. 

That’s it, the golden answer to all of Oscar’s problems is to just stop cutting his development and agency short. Oscar has potential to be the most tragic character in RWBY- someone who wanted to be a hero, only for the responsibilities to be forced on him without his consent. He’s someone who the rest of his companions oftentimes don’t see as a person, just a walking telephone to their boss. Imagine how dehumanizing it would be, especially after Qrow’s “Don’t lie to him, we’re better than that” line? Imagine being someone effectively living on borrowed time because sooner or later, your consciousness will be absorbed what makes you you will be but a distant memory? Oscar could easily be a shining example of character growth, he could easily have a great arc of learning to deal with the burdens of Ozma’s struggle, of being the target of Hazel and Salem’s ire when he did nothing to earn it. But it needs to be soon, or all the potential in the world won’t be able to save Oscar. 

Perhaps Volume 7 will have a flashback to Oscar in Argus having that confrontation with Ozpin and getting his new outfit. Perhaps Ironwood will be mistrusting of Oscar claiming to be Oz, and Oscar will have to step up and prove he is who he says he is. Qrow never apologized to Oscar for punching him, so an apology would serve both Qrow and Oscar’s arcs as Qrow reignites his spark to fight. A potential confrontation with Salem where Oscar may try something the previous Oz lives didn’t could work wonders for Oscar. Volume 7 could still easily have Oscar get spotlight, but with how many plates the season is already planning to spin (Tyrian and Wattts going to Atlas, Cinder and Neo going after Ruby, Weiss dealing with her family, Ruby learning about the Silver Eyes with Maria, a likely return of Faunus racism for Blake and Yang, Atlas class warfare, the token reminder that Pyrrha died so Jaune, Ren and Nora can be sad, etc.) I’m already accepting that Oscar is the most likely candidate to get the boot again. It’s happened before, and I try to avoid being a sucker who falls for the same thing over and over. Definition of insanity and all that. 

5) Conclusion

Oscar is... I hate to say this again, but infuriating to me writing wise. He has so much potential as a character in terms of his growth but despite having had main character status for half the show’s runtime now, it’s hard to really care. Oscar keeps getting the short end of the stick, and if it turns out that the whole reason he got shafted for years was because of M&K’s mystery fetish, I might actually throw a chair out a window.  

What makes it worse is that Oscar is not a character with no hopes of being salvaged! There is a very easy way to remedy the problem and it’s just to let him have his time to shine and develop offscreen. Flashbacks covering the lost events such as his leaving his farm or gaining confidence in Argus (or even giving Oscar a character short specifically to address these issues) might be belated and feel like damage control- let’s be fair, after Adam’s short this wouldn’t be the first time they resorted to doing damage control in their shorts- but it would be a step in the right direction and show the team are committed to working to salvage Oscar. But they want to do it, it has to be now. If Oscar leaves Volume 7 suffering from the same problems, he might as well get killed off in Volume 8 because that will be it for his character, no one will defend him and Oscar will fully become the heroic Cinder in that no matter what, you can rest assured they won’t get onscreen development from anything that happens. In the meantime, all I can do is hope that this time, things will work out for the farm boi. There’s a goldmine of a character here guys, someone’s just gotta put the work into finding the first nugget. 

In short, Oscar can be a great character, if the writing lets him become it onscreen. But until then, it’s going to be a frankly depressing journey to get there.

Thank you for reading. 

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Tagged!

@to-kei tagged me, and honestly, I’m thankful because I never thought they would. (They tagged my alternative blog which usually doesn’t parttake in those ask games since they’re usually transferred here).

RULE: Name your top 10 favourite characters from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people.

* Bold of you do assume I have more than 2 friends who actually want to talk to me. HA-

I took too long with this one. I realized that I’m in a few fandoms deeply, but I’m also anime-exclusive for a lot of them so this is just going to be a world of pain for me as I avoid manga spoilers. I tried to keep the entries newer too (meaning anime that I’ve watched recently). That’s probably why some are left out. I’ll try to add a tidbit as to why I grew to like each one of them. In no particular order, here we go!

_______________

Satowa Houzuki - Kono Oto Tomare!

Her character was actually a little annoying at first. Then you get to know her and go, “Ah, she isn’t a prick like I thought she was.” I enjoyed this anime lots and only watched it a few months ago (summer) despite it airing in winter.

I would actually recommend this anime despite me not knowing that it was a romance going in and didn’t realize it was a romance until I read some manga spoilers despite the obvious signs and me going, “But they’re just friends!” I have no romance compass in my body.

Reigen - Mob Psycho 100

I actually didn’t like his character until I watched season two. I only liked him in season one because of the humour and redraws, but I didn’t respect him as a character until this latest season which made me respect this show even more for the genius that it is.

Maki Oze - Fire Force

*cough* bias Okay, in all seriousness, I feel this show sliding downhill quite a bit, but that second episode is enough to convince me that I like her. Actually, she had me since she appeared. Finally, a reasonably muscular female character. Plus, she can fight? I’m on-board.

Tohru Honda - Fruits Basket

I like a lot of the Fruits Basket cast. I don’t think there’s really a character that I dislike in the whole series... besides maybe Hiro? Even Akito has my respect.

Nezuko Kamado - Kimetsu no Yaiba

Okay, this one is a really obvious pick. It took me a little while to like Zenitsu and a little less time for Inosuke, but now I wouldn’t want it any other way, but I liked and saw Nezuko’s potential as a character from the start. It’s a slow burn but I know it will turn out well.

Kyouka Izumi - Bungou Stray Dogs

I had to. The third season aired during the spring season. This counts.

Emma - Yakusoku no Neverland

Ironically, her and Kyouka have the same voice actor despite being polar opposites, but I love them both. This technically counts because I watched it when it aired earlier this year.

Hachiman Hikigaya - SNAFU (Oregairu)

You know when you don’t like a character because you can see yourself in them and you just go, “You’re like me so I don’t like you.” If I met a clone of me, I would run. Seriously, not good. It took me a full season of this anime to like Hikigaya as a character not just because he was relatable enough for me to relate but out of sort enough to not be me.

Katsura - Gintama

“ZURA JANAI, KATSURA DA!” Sora is the person who got me into Gintama but it’s such a long journey.

Claude - Fire Emblem Three Houses

We’re ending with this game because I probably have 200+ hours on it without any signs of really stopping? I’m a sad creature.

This isn’t even gameplay footage. I just like this gif because it’s groovy.

Dan chose the Golden Deer. 

“You, me, the golden deer? We can be great together”

[hnnnfdfds]

Higanbana (1227 words) by Sternstunde Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs) Characters: Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Death - Character Additional Tags: talks about suicide, like no one tries it or sth, but it gets mentioned a lot bc dazai, and death but like, ye Summary:

It’s a bit strange to him and Atsushi really can’t explain it in words or even in gestures but, well—Death’s haunting him.

Maybe that’s too vague but it fits, he thinks as he looks at the figure hovering in the corner of his dorm room. It casts no shadow and makes no noises and Atsushi wonders and ponders about the way it just watches him.

It’s a bit strange to him and Atsushi really can’t explain it in words or even in gestures but, well—Death’s haunting him.

Maybe that’s too vague but it fits, he thinks as he looks at the figure hovering in the corner of his dorm room. It casts no shadow and makes no noises and Atsushi wonders and ponders about the way it just watches him.

It could be anything, everything, someone would surely tell him.

But he sees the signs for what they are.

Butterflies hovering around the figure, children crying and dogs barking. The black marks appearing on other’s or his own skin—only visible to him—when the figure hovers too close and accidentally brushes against them.

Flowers wilt wherever the figure appears.

And the figure is always there, over them, holding a hand out.

Atsushi doesn’t know how to ignore the signs when they scream so badly at him, telling him anything, everything, he needs to know.

Death’s cold presence warps around him and he thinks about it, the way it’s there. Maybe he would have screamed before, feared it’s glaring existence but then he remembers that he does not pray for any gods and his mentor’s warm eyes and smile seek the very existence of the being that stays with him.

It’s weird though, he must admit upon observing Dazai spinning tales about the best suicide methods to exit, it’s weird how Death pays him no attention.

But then again, Atsushi has also seen the unloaded guns and the frayed ropes. He knows by heart now, thoughts and words he’s never said to his mentor, the man would prevail even in the midst of his suffering.

Death just stares at him, humming softly and Atsushi wonders once again as Dazai dances around him.

Then Death lifts his head and stares at him as if he’s asking for something.

“Dazai-san,” he eventually speaks up, not bothering to look away from Death.

His mentor stops jumping around and grins at him. “What is it, Atsushi-kun? Interested in my suicide methods?”

And as Death doesn’t glance away, Atsushi knows the cold air will never stop surrounding him so he nods slightly. “Yes, I actually am.”

The grin drops as fast as it appeared and he can feel his mentor’s whole existence screaming in alarm.

Atsushi loves life above all.

“... Atsushi-kun?”

And then he finally lets his gaze wander from his quiet companion to his superior and smiles.

“Maybe Death’s going to visit me,” he tells him.

They are already here, observing my every move.

“Don’t…,” Dazai speaks, something in his voice screaming in agony, “don’t let them in.”

It’s too late, is what he doesn’t matter.

—

He understands very quickly that Death has not come for his life.

It lets Atsushi roam around without any concerns and it does not ask for anything of him. He cherishes that because he isn’t sure if he could help them at all.

Dazai’s more careful nowadays, always sending quick glances at him and talking less about suicide in front of him to almost never. The other members still complain about his whining though.

One day, whilst on break, he sits on the couch in the agency and sees beyond the cloak Death’s wearing.

Swirling eyes and nothing else capture him in their webs of dreams and suffering and he can hear the screams, the agony, and the pleas.

It makes him scream himself and before he knows it, Dazai’s rushing to him, Kyouka behind.

Hands are clutching his shoulders, shaking him as Dazai keeps talking and talking, trying to get him out of it but he only stares past Dazai, past Kyouka, past anyone else at those swirling eyes.

It’s just like that, a voice as cold as the winter whispers to him, that’s how it is.

Life’s unforgiving he realizes belatedly when he snaps out of it with red eyes and dried tears. Dazai’s hugging him, his form shaking a bit.

Atsushi can’t be bothered to acknowledge anything anymore, his mind wandering back to lost souls and a train that has left them behind.

Life’s cruel but we fear Death instead.

Then he carefully lifts a hand and puts clutches his mentor’s hand.

“You don’t really want to die, do you?”

Dazai looks up, chocolate brown eyes staring into his soul.

“... You just fear Life.”

The eyes widen and he looks back at the figure past everyone else.

That’s just how it is.

Maybe.

—

Dazai keeps a close hold onto him after that but still refuses to confirm Atsushi’s suspicions. Atsushi doesn’t really mind it, too busy with the continued hovering of Death.

One day though, they are on a mission and they run into Nakahara Chuuya. Death looks at him and floats closer.

And Dazai’s Dazai so he spins a new tale about his future lover, the beautiful woman, that would leave for the afterworld with him.

“It must be a gorgeous lady,” he insists, continuing to ramble about her stunning looks, her sunshine smile, and her gentle hands. The mafia member scoffs at him but Atsushi knows better now, glances at Death and indulges in the nod he gets.  

A beautiful lady, with the best of all qualities, who is willing to get along with a suicidal maniac who purposely acts like the most annoying person on earth, and who would happily commit suicide with Dazai.

There’s no woman like that—it’s as clear as the current day and Atsushi knows that Chuuya understands that as well.

Dazai’s not seeking for someone to commit suicide with, he’s seeking for an excuse to fail his own attempts. This man hates Life and loves Death but he’s got things he wants to do, to find, and Atsushi can feel it every time he stares into his mentor’s eyes.

“If I’d commit suicide,” he speaks up, catching both his mentor’s and the mafioso’s attention, “I would want to be alone and everything to be quiet.”

Death hums a melody and Dazai adverts his glance. Atsushi says exactly for that reason.

He wants the truth from Dazai.

—

One day he’s walking side by side with Dazai as Death lurks around, always near Atsushi. Out of nowhere though, his mentor stops and stares at him.

“I want to feel the barrel against my head and press the trigger,” he says.

Atsushi doesn’t respond.

“I want to drown in the cold water and let it feel my lungs as I fall asleep to the sound of silence.”

Still no response from him.

“I want to feel the cut from the blade against my wrists, coloring everything in the darkest red.”

Atsushi doesn’t talk.

“I want to put a rope around my neck and to choke on it as I lose steadiness.”

Those are all truths, Atsushi knows that. So he sighs and responds.

“I want to look Life in the eyes and tell them I made it.”

Dazai stares at him.

He stares at Dazai.

“I want to be able to hold your hand in the future and see you smile genuinely.”

His mentor’s eyes widen and Death hums his song.

It’s just like that, isn’t it?

Death curls around him later when they lay on his futon, Atsushi being held by Dazai who buries his face into his neck. Neither one speaks.

Death sings.

Atsushi hums back.

The melody’s gorgeous.