cue outfit change!

how does one explain to a large fandom that two to four years is not a new generation

Yeah but Dazai really wants to retire lol

tbh i think that scene is less about atsushi “learning the truth abt dazai” and much more about him finally being able to acknowledge how much of himself he sees in akutagawa without the mental block of his warped perception of dazai. and even then i don’t see this seriously impacting atsushi’s relationship with dazai like this is about his relationship with aku

I did quickly go through the manga, with the help of the fanwiki, to see how much that "Atsushi's orphanage headmaster visions have been caused by Q" twist holds up (as sometimes, new plans come up as you write, especially if your series is over 10 years old)

In the first chapter, Atsushi has a flashback of the orphanage staff kicking him out, but they do not have individual identities. The first apparition of the headmaster as himself is when Atsushi is under the influence of Dogra Magra, in chapter 25, "Q":

His next apparition is in chapter 28, when Atsushi is being held in the Moby Dick, right before Lucy comes in and chooses to help him (note: that scene also compares Atsushi's abuse is to another person's, Lucy's.)

After that, there's chapter 39, "Portrait of a Father", where Atsushi doesn't hallucinate him, but we learn about who the man was to Atsushi, and witness his funeral.

His next hallucination is in chapter 52, at the very end of the Cannibalism arc. He explains to Akutagawa that the headmaster has been been haunting him less since (the final fight on) the Moby Dick, but has been silent since the funeral.

There are a few more mentions of the headmaster that I haven't mentioned, but a very notable one is that Atsushi saw becoming stronger and his upcoming fight against Akutagawa as a way to free himself from the headmaster's influence, much like Akutagawa saw it as a way to gain Dazai's approval.

I don't think we see Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster after this until chapter 122, but the Dazai hallucinations start showing up in chapter 63, so really not that long after the previous one. The next Dazai ones I could find were in chapters 78, 105 and 121.

The conclusion is therefore that Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster has been a very active and purposeful part of his journey as a character since very early on. It started manifesting after Atsushi's breakdown while under the influence of Q's ability, and it's taken various approaches as Atsushi faced different struggles, but it's always been there.

While wearing Dazai's face, the hallucination was given more credit in Atsushi's eyes, but its words were barely less sharp and hurtful. However, they did tend to push Atsushi into acting, rather than cowering and giving up.

We're seeing Atsushi heal in real time, no matter how messy it is, and I'm so proud of him.

Just imagining after missions skk grabbing food together. Dazai not ordering enough (cuz he doesn’t really like eating) and so Chuuya orders some extra and then shares it under the guise that he’s really annoyed Dazai is taking his food. It’s how he gets Dazai to eat more even when he can’t be bothered to argue about it.

Chuuya usually over-orders a bit anyway. Call it a symptom of still remembering what it felt like to be starving, wholly empty, at the age of 7, or even in the years following, after food had become much more stable for him (which isn’t saying a lot when you started out not knowing what bread was), when he still couldn’t quite eat his fill. 

Now that money wasn’t an issue, food wasn’t either. Except that his shitty partner insisted on eating like a bird rather than a boy. No wonder he was so scrawny. And yet, why was Chuuya the one still not growing? It wasn’t fair. 

There was always that loophole though, without arguing, or with only pretending to argue, if Chuuya let Dazai steal some of his food then acted annoyed, mysteriously Dazai would eat til he was so full he complained. Chuuya tried not to smirk too obviously at that, whenever he attained his goal, covered it with a vindictive laugh instead and a “that’s what you get for stealing my food” as if that wasn’t the intent the whole time. This was one thing he wasn’t sure even Dazai had figured out, after all this wouldn’t be a natural assumption to make based off their relationship. And if Dazai knew, then Chuuya wasn’t sure he’d still play along. So turns out the teenager didn’t know everything. Go fucking figure.

New chapter in a few days, my money is on more atsushi lore, akutagawa crashout of the century, and always a dash of insane sloppy style sskk make out somehow

does anyone know where i can find the translation of kunikida’s daily schedule. you know the one that says the times he checks in on dazai etc. and if you do know where i can find it can you please tell me where (that preferably isn’t twitter.) many thanks

I could only find it on twitter, but I got you a screen shot, and I have a life hack for accessing twitter links without an x account or app, cuz fuck that shitty app. If you add cancel to the URL, it will let you view the link without an account

Like this: xcancel.com/therestoftheurl

It looks scary for a moment as the website checks if you're a bot, but this workaround has saved my sanity

And here's Kunikida's insane schedule below the cut, cuz its long (translation by svd_ney on x)

Dazai is so kind ❤️

It's not entirely fair of me, but I hate the fanon that Kouyou operates brothels for the Port Mafia. She's canonically the Port Mafia's torture czar; that she's oiran-coded more likely references irl!Kyouka Izumi's preferred archetype, Kyouka and Kouyou's relationship, and Kouyou's Edo-era literary aesthetics.

It grates on me that she's so often plucked from her actual role in the Port Mafia, which aligns with her ethos as a flower who blooms in darkness and which reflects that she is beholden to herself and doesn't share Mori's obsession with self sacrifice, so that she can be shoved ill-fittingly into a woman-coded role of archetypal brothel madam. She's a torturer!

That's also why she isn't considered a likely successor to Mori— she's still a leader within the organization, but the nature of her role requires and engenders some degree of distance from the rank and file, and certainly from the public-facing, corporate facet that's bathed in the light she detests.

(Never mind that she's never expressed an interest in succeeding Mori, and that she will always prioritize her favorites over the organization as a whole— why should she be made slave to the organization when that would preclude her from spending substantive amounts of the annual budget to rob the special division's armored vehicles for her best girl? She didn't hesitate to cooperate with Dazai for Kyouka's benefit even though it disadvantaged the organization— she does not want to be, nor is she suited to be, the Port Mafia boss.)

Also, brothels in early Yokohama were state-run. That's the Special Division's purview, which makes sense, given their utility for espionage and information gathering and dissemination.

Anyway; well-wrought female characters are substantive, not descriptive. Kouyou is a fleshy character whose contrasting tenderness and viciousness are contoured by her tendency to act on her whims and her unerring devotion to the individuals she adores.

Thrusting her in roles that would force her to act outside of her motivations and desires when the sum of her arc isn't her victimhood isn't compelling to me; it strips her of her dynamism. Contriving roles that don't exist based entirely on her aesthetic without any consideration of her characterization isn't better.

idk why do women have to be archetypes to be well written, why can't they be messy 26 year old torturers who embezzle organizational funds and brat tame their bosses.

For your consideration:

Dazai: Our last option entirely depends on you, partner.

Chuuya: (through gritted teeth) I hate when it comes down to this.

Chuuya: (solemnly takes off gloves) (gravely takes out contact lenses case) (starts poking around in his eye)

Dazai, who has/had bandages covering one eye for years: ew! ew! stop! gross! nevermind! stop doing that! I'd rather die! ew!

Hmm much to think about. Do we think Chuuya could use his ability to take the contacts out?

i miss his silly ass so much. lord

I love when trauma makes characters messy. I love when characters don't know how to show love. I love when they lash out. I love when they're vile and break down. I love characters who aren't perfect victims. I love when stories don't excuse behaviour but allow you to understand it

new desktop wallpaper

anybody who says kunikida is the normal one is lying

less elise jokes, more jokes about mori doing unhinged/unethical medical practices

Getting called old man TWICE in the same day when he's only 32 abdkflslfkfdjf help him

Destructively disobedient boy also possibly a demon youkai LMAOO

I love that his yapping takes up an entire page <3

It's not that amazing he says while he doesn't move a single paper on the floor