I never know when a new BSD chapter's coming out btw, I just open Tumblr and find my mutuals and the entire Bungou Stray Dogs tag screaming.
There's a lot going on in the new chapter that I don't understand yet, but whats most important is how absolutely little and scrawny teen Dazai looks in those panels.
A strong wind could knock him over. He looks like he'd be cold constantly. Somebody feed him.
Look at him! This coat is drowning him!
That's not a member of the mafia, that's a baby bird in a blanket.
Reblogged
Hi there!
I don't know if you've talked about this in a previous post, so please forgive me if this is a redundant question, but you mentioned - in the post about how Fyodor seems to be mimicking Dazai's mannerisms post-Meursault - that Dazai sees himself in Atsushi.
It wasn't the point of that post, but I was very intrigued by what you said, since they're not typically seen as similar characters. I've thought about Dazai seeing Odasaku's traits in Atsushi's, but himself I've never considered.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, if you are comfortable.
Also, I love reading your BSD character analyses! Have a lovely day!
Of course I don't mind explaining!
CW for mentions of suicide and child abuse
--
When I say Dazai sees himself in Atsushi, I don't mean in a "We act the same and have the same world views" kind of way, but more of a Dazai understands the way Atsushi feels about himself because he feels very similar. It's not exactly the same as how Dazai feels now, but I believe he's asked a lot of the same questions about himself that Atsushi does.
Take the first chapter where they are in the warehouse together.
Atsushi talks about himself as if he's worthless and matters to no one else, therefore he should just disappear. Dazai doesn't respond, but this look he has, to me, is recognition.
We know that as a teenager Dazai attempted to end his life, resulting in him meeting Mori. It's very easily plausible to me that Dazai had these same thoughts as Atsushi, that they eventually morphed into how he idealizes suicide in the current manga.
He doesn't tell Atsushi not to feel these things, or that he's wrong because Dazai understands what it's like to go through such self-loathing and how a stranger telling you not to feel that way doesn't really help. However, I do think this is the moment he decides to help Atsushi. To share the weight of his darkness just like Oda and Ango did for him.
There's also the fact that Dazai is the one to help Atsushi through his emotions when the Director dies. I, again, believe it's because Dazai understands Atsushi's complex emotions around the Director.
Again, we see him telling Atsushi that his feelings aren't wrong. All of them.
The anger, the hatred and yes, even the aching loss he so badly wants to deny. Dazai tells him it's okay to feel all those things at once and it's okay to cry over it. Because he wouldn't be crying over the Director, he's be crying for himself, for the little boy who didn't get the love and protection he should of and was instead stuck with such an abusive man.
I think Dazai understands this because of Mori and his own complex feelings around him. Dazai hates Mori, but he can't escape the influence he had over his teen years, over who he is today and the lessons he imparted on him. There was a time where Mori was the only person who had ever told Dazai it's okay to the way he is. He can only hate Mori as much as he does because at one time, he didn't.
I doubt Dazai actually views Mori as a father, the same way Atsushi never viewed the Director as his father, but it's the word that most easily describes both of complex feelings around them.
Dazai sees the lost and alone boy he was in Atsushi and he wants to help him in a way he was never helped.
If I may add, I think Dazai slapping Atsushi at the train station after he attacked the girls to make him snap out of his self-deprecation spiral is eerily similar to their conversation in the warehouse you mentioned.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself. As long as you do, your life will be an unending nightmare."
For a guy that has been through so much, to still be trying and pushing forward, that's a conclusion he had to come to himself. If you combine them to Oda's final words being about how nothing will come along to fill in the dark lonely hole in Dazai's heart, you could read it as Dazai choosing to move on despite that.
In any case, Dazai reacted to Atsushi with uncharacteristic violence and emotion, and I'm certain it was because Atsushi's emotional breakdown hit a little too close to home.
Yeah! I knew I was forgetting a scene when I was answering this, @starlightshadowsworld also mentioned this scene in their reblog!
Atsushi's breakdown being too close to home, plus Dazai's past literally coming back to bite him AND them being in the middle of a three way conflict had his his usual cool mask slipping.
Reblogged azapofinspiration
I have a silly little headcanon that if Chuuya was a part of the ADA, him Yosano Dazai and Ranpo would be the ultimate gossip girls of the agency. They would round up on the break room tabel spilling the hottest tea of the day.
+ Yosano and Chuuya feed off of each others moods so when Chuuya shows up to work pissed Yosano picks up on his behavior quickly. They end up roasting the living shit out of everyone and Ranpo simply sits back and enjoys the show with a pack of potato chips. Dazai is the biggest victim of it all because Chuuya.
+ Yosano having a secret wine stash at the infirmary. On some fridays they stick around after work, Yosano and Chuuya share a bottle of wine while Ranpo enjoys his hot chocolate because wine tastes like vinegar. Dazai is long gone wandering around a rooftop or a bridge. They are pretty much already drunk when Kunikida arrives at the agency to pick up a document he needs because he works even outside of working hours. His priceless reaction and the scolding that falls onto Chuuya and Yosano's drunk - deaf ears, gets dutifully recorded by Ranpo every time for them to laugh their asses off on monday alongside Dazai.
#yes to all of this#Also for your consideration: At the Agency party Yosano got Kunikida drunk#I bet Chuuya would also get in on that action too#They gang up on him with the whole “You need to have fun once in a while” spiel#“Come on! Come drink and complain with us!”#Then Kunikida and Chuuya both pass out drunk and Dazai and Ranpo draw on their faces as Yosano takes pictures
Reblogged
Day 1. The White-Tailed Eagle
Reference photo here
Wasn't satisfied with the face the first time round so I did another focusing on just the face features, much happier with it the second time!
Pssst, if anyone's interested, I made a blog for my bird drawings.
Gonna try drawing a different bird each day
Hi there!
I don't know if you've talked about this in a previous post, so please forgive me if this is a redundant question, but you mentioned - in the post about how Fyodor seems to be mimicking Dazai's mannerisms post-Meursault - that Dazai sees himself in Atsushi.
It wasn't the point of that post, but I was very intrigued by what you said, since they're not typically seen as similar characters. I've thought about Dazai seeing Odasaku's traits in Atsushi's, but himself I've never considered.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, if you are comfortable.
Also, I love reading your BSD character analyses! Have a lovely day!
Of course I don't mind explaining!
CW for mentions of suicide and child abuse
--
When I say Dazai sees himself in Atsushi, I don't mean in a "We act the same and have the same world views" kind of way, but more of a Dazai understands the way Atsushi feels about himself because he feels very similar. It's not exactly the same as how Dazai feels now, but I believe he's asked a lot of the same questions about himself that Atsushi does.
Take the first chapter where they are in the warehouse together.
Atsushi talks about himself as if he's worthless and matters to no one else, therefore he should just disappear. Dazai doesn't respond, but this look he has, to me, is recognition.
We know that as a teenager Dazai attempted to end his life, resulting in him meeting Mori. It's very easily plausible to me that Dazai had these same thoughts as Atsushi, that they eventually morphed into how he idealizes suicide in the current manga.
He doesn't tell Atsushi not to feel these things, or that he's wrong because Dazai understands what it's like to go through such self-loathing and how a stranger telling you not to feel that way doesn't really help. However, I do think this is the moment he decides to help Atsushi. To share the weight of his darkness just like Oda and Ango did for him.
There's also the fact that Dazai is the one to help Atsushi through his emotions when the Director dies. I, again, believe it's because Dazai understands Atsushi's complex emotions around the Director.
Again, we see him telling Atsushi that his feelings aren't wrong. All of them.
The anger, the hatred and yes, even the aching loss he so badly wants to deny. Dazai tells him it's okay to feel all those things at once and it's okay to cry over it. Because he wouldn't be crying over the Director, he's be crying for himself, for the little boy who didn't get the love and protection he should of and was instead stuck with such an abusive man.
I think Dazai understands this because of Mori and his own complex feelings around him. Dazai hates Mori, but he can't escape the influence he had over his teen years, over who he is today and the lessons he imparted on him. There was a time where Mori was the only person who had ever told Dazai it's okay to the way he is. He can only hate Mori as much as he does because at one time, he didn't.
I doubt Dazai actually views Mori as a father, the same way Atsushi never viewed the Director as his father, but it's the word that most easily describes both of complex feelings around them.
Dazai sees the lost and alone boy he was in Atsushi and he wants to help him in a way he was never helped.
Reblogged iwritenarrativesandstuff
akutagawa doodle :3
Chuuya and His Knife Headcanons
--
He actually had a knife in The Sheep. It was pocketknife, nothing fancy, and well, it wasn't actually just his. Nobody knows where Shirase got the knives from, but he came back with a bunch of them one day and the older members of The Sheep started carrying them when they were out of the base.
The pocketknives weren't great, most of them were blunted from being stabbed into random surfaces or thrown at things in the name of "practising" self-defence. But they worked for scaring people off. Less likely to be picked out as an easy target if they see you've got a knife on you.
So occasionally, Chuuya had a knife whilst in The Sheep, though no real skill on how to use it efficiently. Plus, he had his ability to defend himself. More often than not, Chuuya didn't take one with him and when he did, he never remembered using it.
--
Then he joined the mafia and Kouyou was assigned as his mentor. One of the many lessons she tried to drill into his head was to never be unarmed if you could help it. To be disarmed was one thing, but to lose simply because you were unprepared was unacceptable.
Normally, Chuuya would have rolled his eyes at that logic, because he has an ability, he's never unarmed. But now, it was Kouyou telling him this, a person with a formidable ability. Now, he'd met ability users like Dazai, who could nullify his gravity. Now, he'd felt how painful a knife to the back could be. So Chuuya, begrudgingly, admitted Kouyou had a point.
Still, it was a hard habit to pick up. He kept showing up to his training unarmed. It wasn't just the knife, some days he forgot his glasses, others his new hat. Yet, it was only the knife Kouyou punished him for forgetting. (Said punishment being no fun martial arts training, since he's 'clearly not interested in it', now he has to study mafia politics again)
--
It wasn't until he'd been dragged on another outing with Albatross that Chuuya really took an interest in knives. Whilst they were waiting for their target in his friend's car- actually Chuuya couldn't even remember if Albatross had told him that's what they were doing- Albatross started playing with one of his knives.
Albatross never had just any old knife, his collection was special. No busted up and blunt pocketknives ever touched his hands. His knives were in pristine condition always, sharp and shiny, in shapes Chuuya had never saw until Albatross manifested them from his various hidden pockets.
And then he'd do tricks with them. Spinning them around his hand as if he could control gravity too. It fascinated Chuuya and more importantly, it looked fucking cool. He wanted to do that! He didn't ask Albatross to teach him, but he wasn't subtle either when he found something cool, so Albatross was the one that offered.
He gifted Chuuya one of his knives to practice with and after that, Chuuya rarely forgot his knife again.
--
It still disappeared regularly though, because someone else had noticed the cool knife tricks too. Noticed Chuuya had something new and shiny, that he liked to play with.
Dazai had always had a habit for picking pockets, but he was especially bad with Chuuya. It's not his fault Chuuya always had stuff in his pockets because he was constantly picking stuff up, forgetting he was holding something and then just shoving it straight in his pockets.
Most of the things Dazai pick-pocketed he returned, part of the fun was showing Chuuya he'd stolen something and watching him get mad. Though he did have a small collection of items Chuuya simply never noticed Dazai took. And there was the occasional snack Dazai would find, eat and then return the packet. (Something Chuuya definitely didn't catch on to him doing and definitely didn't bring snacks, on purpose, to trick him into actually eating something)
The knife was just another thing that kept getting stolen from him. Sure, it was annoying, because that was his knife and if Dazai lost it, he'd throw him off a building. But there was also the fact Dazai showed up to their missions without a weapon half the time.
Dazai's ability couldn't shield him like Chuuya's could and Dazai wasn't being forgetful either. He'd show up unarmed on purpose. That annoyed Chuuya far more than having his knife stolen. At least, if Dazai had taken a weapon from Chuuya, he wasn't unarmed when it came to a fight. Because of that thought, Chuuya also took to carrying other weapons, knowing Dazai would take them.
Whether Dazai caught on to what Chuuya was doing or not, he never said.
--
In those first few months after Dazai had defected, there were these moments, where it was quiet and dull, where Chuuya had no one to bicker with and fill the silence with anymore. In these moments, Chuuya would absentmindedly reach for his knife and he'd be shocked to find it still there.
Reblogged
1. The Tactical Ceiling Advantage
Chuuya doesn’t just stand on the ceiling—he weaponises it. Mid-fight, he’ll dodge an attack by casually flipping upwards, forcing his opponent to scramble just to track him. It’s almost unfair. No one ever looks up when fighting indoors, and he uses that to his full advantage. Dazai, of course, makes it a point to always look up. It’s saved his life more than once.
2. The Mafia Has Given Up
At this point, Mori doesn’t even question it. Kouyou doesn’t even look when she scolds him to get down. The Black Lizard has stopped reacting entirely. Higuchi still flinches. Tachihara once made the mistake of standing under him—Chuuya dropped down and nearly gave him a heart attack.
3. It’s Not Just for Battle
Chuuya claims he only does it for practicality, but the truth? It’s a habit. When he’s thinking, he sometimes finds himself pacing along the ceiling like it’s the floor. When he’s drinking, he’ll kick back upside down like it’s the most normal thing in the world. One time, he fell asleep up there and woke up to find Dazai had stacked chairs trying to reach him.
Reblogged azapofinspiration
1) Emotional Ceiling Time
When Chuuya is overwhelmed, sometimes he just removes himself from the situation. Not physically leaving—just… relocating. To the ceiling. Out of reach. It’s his version of taking a deep breath. Dazai: “I take it things aren’t going well.” Chuuya, sprawled upside down, whiskey glass dangling from one hand: “…What gave it away?
2) The Existential Ceiling Crisis
Sometimes, Chuuya just ends up on the ceiling and doesn’t know how or why. One second, he’s pacing. The next? He’s upside down, staring at the floor like it personally wronged him. The worst part? It’s contagious. One time, he was ranting mid-argument, gesturing wildly, when Dazai pointed up at him and said, “You realise you’re on the ceiling, right?” Chuuya paused. Looked down. Looked back at Dazai. “God fucking dammit.”
3) The Passive Aggressive Ceiling Move
Chuuya doesn’t storm out of arguments. He just removes himself from them. Mid-fight with Dazai? He’ll cross his arms and float straight up, glaring down like a disappointed parent.