severaltuesdays

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the horrors persist, and I do not

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how do you draw wet hair

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your poor little meow meow fucking bit me

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not now kitten. daddys turning into a self fulfilling prophecy of the person who everyone around him always said he would become

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Before you start an unhinged ramble about a fictional character, THINK!

The character

Hthe character

Ithe character

Nthe character

Kthe character

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i will personally never forgive yenpress for botching the translation because now it's impossible to find chuuya / dazai / yosano takes that do not start with "first off, mori sucks and he's a predator"

mori is the don of the port mafia and has committed several war crimes, but not those ones. yell at him and hate him for the severe psychological manipulation of yosano & for dazai joining the mafia n being his witness. you know, the things he did.

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I have amazing ideas, actually (and I am, and will probably continue to be, unable to articulate, write, and / or draw said ideas.)

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blood “loss”? well it’s not lost. i know exactly where it went. right over there.

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consider. the round little cheeks of a mourning dove

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girl are you a kettle because you’re sooooo hot. and yelling atme

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In the same way a dog enjoys poking its nose into dirt, a doglike man won’t be satisfied until he has stained everything. That’s why such a man cannot regard anything as sacred. And because a human being is blessed with many sacred things, he is bestowed with as many weak points. He suffers a great deal. I’m incapable of confronting a doglike man.

Mori Ōgai, Vita Sexualis

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ABSOLUTELY!! I feel like not enough people in the BSD fandom acknowledge that the situation itself is abusive, it would be difficult for Dazai and Akutagawa's relationship to not be abusive unless Akutagawa was the perfect subordinate who never messed up ever and was perfectly content with being told what to do.

This honestly made me consider how Akutagawa treats his subordinates completely differently, like of course it's not right to hit or mistreat people, but his reactions to other people disobeying him have been very tame

Dark Era: Dazai and Akutagawa

The Scene in Dark Era where Dazai shoots Akutagawa was abusive and messed up, but sadly justified on Dazai's end.

Now this may sound harsh but let's take a step back from the emotions the scene causes and look at it purely logical and analytical. (No I am not excusing the abuse Akutagawa went through. Dazai had no right to abuse him but this scene is more than abuse.)

What happens in this scene?

Per Dazai's orders as an Executive within the Port Mafia agents from Mimic were captured to be taken to Kouyou for interrogation, as is her department. Akutagawa then kills the hostages in retaliation for the casualties the Mafia suffered at the hands of Mimic. Dazai proceeds to punch and shoot Akutagawa.

In essence this is what happened: Akutagawa disregarded direct orders of his executive in front of multiple people and said executive. Plain and simple, this is insubordination.

We know, due to Stormbringer, that insubordination of the Boss and his executives (who essentially work as extensions of the Boss within the BSD Mafia) is a death sentence. It's at the same level as betrayal.

So, while messed up and abusive, Dazai's reaction can be classified as a mercy. Had it been another executive or Mori, Akutagawa would be dead. And no, you can not use that Chuuya cares for Akutagawa as an argument against Akutagawa dying here were it Chuuya. Chuuya's loyality is to the Mafia and Mori in a situation like this. We saw this at the end of the Guild Arc when Chuuya asked Mori what punishment Akutagawa should face for disregarding Mafia orders and going on to the Moby Dick. Since the moment in Dark Era is a similar case, it is safe to assume Chuuya would have asked Mori for the punishment and then delivered it.

Now here comes the much more interesting part about this scene I sadly do not see talked about. (If you find posts talking about it please send them my way!)

This scene shows us, in a very subtle way, how the dynamic between Akutagawa and Dazai works.

But how? Let's count it: - Akutagawa is very self assured in his insubordination. - Dazai gives him a chance to speak up about his reasoning, to defend himself and ask for forgiveness for his blatant insubordination. - Akutagawa in turn arrogantly doubles down on his decision. - Dazai punishes him.

While Dazai framed the moment at the end as a teaching moment with his comment about Akutagawas use of Rashomon, it is mostly a punishment. Yes there are 2 moments that can be seen as a teaching moment but what Dazai does is in fact nothing more than a punishment in his eyes.

(Giving Akutagawa the chance to think about his rash action was the first teaching moment btw)

Now the way the scene is handeled with it's framing tells us something interesting about the relationship between Dazai and Akutagawa.

Dazai actively favours Akutagawa with his treatment.

But how? It's a good question because the answer is very much hidden.

Both characters treat the situation as something usual. This in turn tells us that Akutagawa often commits insubordination against Dazai. And only Dazai, since Dazai takes him under his wing as his direct and only student. (This is made clear in the short where he actually recruits a younger Akutagawa) This means that Dazai does favour his student above other subordinates rather openly. We know he would not let this slide with other people under his command. The scene at the beginning of the Dark Era LN with Hirotsu shows this.

Akutagawa's reaction to being shot also tells us that this is the first time Dazai points a weapon at him. While not expecting, but accepting, the punch he did not expect to face a harsher punishment than this.

He is visibly surprised. But not just him.

In the Anime adaption (which is the best LN adaption in BSD) we see that even the other subordinates around them only become surprised when Dazai draws the gun and shoots Akutagawa.

Did Dazai think Akutagawa would survive being shot at? 100% yes. He even says as much after the fact.

(This is actually what makes teaching moment number 2, since he remarks that Akutagawa "finally" managed to protect himself with Rashomon. This tells us that they were actively training this and Akutagawa was failing at it for some time already.)

In short: - Akutagawa feels very much secure in his position at Dazai's side, despite the regular abuse. - Dazai favours Akutagawa openly enough within the PM that other subordinates are surprised when Akutagawa faces an openly harsh punishment. - Akutagawa, in committing insubordination, regulary disrespects Dazai as his superior and Dazai let's it slide. This is something that mirrors the relationship between Dazai and Mori, as Dazai does disrespect Mori in private and Mori let's this slide. (The biggest difference in this relationship mirror is that Dazai never disrespects Mori in front of other people.)

In my eyes (and I hope we learn more soon) this also shows that Dazai's abuse of Akutagawa has multiple reasons. - Dazai sees himself in Akutagawa. Dazai also hates himself and blames himself for shortcomings so he projects this onto Akutagawa, who he then abuses because of it. - A warped sense of care. In his own, very fucked up, way Dazai does care for Akutagawa. Is he good at showing it? Absolutely not. He wants Akutagawa to be stronger than Dazai himself is, he wants him to be better. So he favors him but also abuses him. - He favors Akutagawa so Akutagawa needs to get strong extremely fast to avoid a conflict within the ranks of the Mafia. - Dazai tries to get Akutagawa as strong as possible as fast as possible since Akutagawa effectively went from joining to third highest rank in 10 seconds and needs to prove himself in front of everyone else, not just Dazai's eyes. In this he ends up abusing Dazai because he himself is a child with a very limited understanding of teaching. What he does know, through Mori as his teacher, is that cruelty and abuse are effective teaching methods that work faster than proving patience and taking things slow.

(am I saying that Mori physically abused Dazai? No. But he, as shown in Beast and Fifteen, honestly answers to the questions his students ask him. It is entirely possible that he simply told Dazai different teaching methods and Dazai decided on the fastest one instead of the best and most effective.)

To summarize: The scene is a punishment for direct insubordination and shows us, the viewer, a deeper look into the relationship between Akutagawa and Dazai.

#:D!!

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ILY HINA OH MY GOD

This is such a good and clear look at this scene as well as Dazai and Akutagawa's dynamic in the Port Mafia, while actually looking at it through the lens of the MAFIA. I feel like some of this could also be applied to Akutagawa's relationship with Higuchi and Kyoka and how what Dazai taught him through situations like this have impacted how he punishes/shows mercy for his own subordinates

Dark Era: Dazai and Akutagawa

The Scene in Dark Era where Dazai shoots Akutagawa was abusive and messed up, but sadly justified on Dazai's end.

Now this may sound harsh but let's take a step back from the emotions the scene causes and look at it purely logical and analytical. (No I am not excusing the abuse Akutagawa went through. Dazai had no right to abuse him but this scene is more than abuse.)

What happens in this scene?

Per Dazai's orders as an Executive within the Port Mafia agents from Mimic were captured to be taken to Kouyou for interrogation, as is her department. Akutagawa then kills the hostages in retaliation for the casualties the Mafia suffered at the hands of Mimic. Dazai proceeds to punch and shoot Akutagawa.

In essence this is what happened: Akutagawa disregarded direct orders of his executive in front of multiple people and said executive. Plain and simple, this is insubordination.

We know, due to Stormbringer, that insubordination of the Boss and his executives (who essentially work as extensions of the Boss within the BSD Mafia) is a death sentence. It's at the same level as betrayal.

So, while messed up and abusive, Dazai's reaction can be classified as a mercy. Had it been another executive or Mori, Akutagawa would be dead. And no, you can not use that Chuuya cares for Akutagawa as an argument against Akutagawa dying here were it Chuuya. Chuuya's loyality is to the Mafia and Mori in a situation like this. We saw this at the end of the Guild Arc when Chuuya asked Mori what punishment Akutagawa should face for disregarding Mafia orders and going on to the Moby Dick. Since the moment in Dark Era is a similar case, it is safe to assume Chuuya would have asked Mori for the punishment and then delivered it.

Now here comes the much more interesting part about this scene I sadly do not see talked about. (If you find posts talking about it please send them my way!)

This scene shows us, in a very subtle way, how the dynamic between Akutagawa and Dazai works.

But how? Let's count it: - Akutagawa is very self assured in his insubordination. - Dazai gives him a chance to speak up about his reasoning, to defend himself and ask for forgiveness for his blatant insubordination. - Akutagawa in turn arrogantly doubles down on his decision. - Dazai punishes him.

While Dazai framed the moment at the end as a teaching moment with his comment about Akutagawas use of Rashomon, it is mostly a punishment. Yes there are 2 moments that can be seen as a teaching moment but what Dazai does is in fact nothing more than a punishment in his eyes.

(Giving Akutagawa the chance to think about his rash action was the first teaching moment btw)

Now the way the scene is handeled with it's framing tells us something interesting about the relationship between Dazai and Akutagawa.

Dazai actively favours Akutagawa with his treatment.

But how? It's a good question because the answer is very much hidden.

Both characters treat the situation as something usual. This in turn tells us that Akutagawa often commits insubordination against Dazai. And only Dazai, since Dazai takes him under his wing as his direct and only student. (This is made clear in the short where he actually recruits a younger Akutagawa) This means that Dazai does favour his student above other subordinates rather openly. We know he would not let this slide with other people under his command. The scene at the beginning of the Dark Era LN with Hirotsu shows this.

Akutagawa's reaction to being shot also tells us that this is the first time Dazai points a weapon at him. While not expecting, but accepting, the punch he did not expect to face a harsher punishment than this.

He is visibly surprised. But not just him.

In the Anime adaption (which is the best LN adaption in BSD) we see that even the other subordinates around them only become surprised when Dazai draws the gun and shoots Akutagawa.

Did Dazai think Akutagawa would survive being shot at? 100% yes. He even says as much after the fact.

(This is actually what makes teaching moment number 2, since he remarks that Akutagawa "finally" managed to protect himself with Rashomon. This tells us that they were actively training this and Akutagawa was failing at it for some time already.)

In short: - Akutagawa feels very much secure in his position at Dazai's side, despite the regular abuse. - Dazai favours Akutagawa openly enough within the PM that other subordinates are surprised when Akutagawa faces an openly harsh punishment. - Akutagawa, in committing insubordination, regulary disrespects Dazai as his superior and Dazai let's it slide. This is something that mirrors the relationship between Dazai and Mori, as Dazai does disrespect Mori in private and Mori let's this slide. (The biggest difference in this relationship mirror is that Dazai never disrespects Mori in front of other people.)

In my eyes (and I hope we learn more soon) this also shows that Dazai's abuse of Akutagawa has multiple reasons. - Dazai sees himself in Akutagawa. Dazai also hates himself and blames himself for shortcomings so he projects this onto Akutagawa, who he then abuses because of it. - A warped sense of care. In his own, very fucked up, way Dazai does care for Akutagawa. Is he good at showing it? Absolutely not. He wants Akutagawa to be stronger than Dazai himself is, he wants him to be better. So he favors him but also abuses him. - He favors Akutagawa so Akutagawa needs to get strong extremely fast to avoid a conflict within the ranks of the Mafia. - Dazai tries to get Akutagawa as strong as possible as fast as possible since Akutagawa effectively went from joining to third highest rank in 10 seconds and needs to prove himself in front of everyone else, not just Dazai's eyes. In this he ends up abusing Dazai because he himself is a child with a very limited understanding of teaching. What he does know, through Mori as his teacher, is that cruelty and abuse are effective teaching methods that work faster than proving patience and taking things slow.

(am I saying that Mori physically abused Dazai? No. But he, as shown in Beast and Fifteen, honestly answers to the questions his students ask him. It is entirely possible that he simply told Dazai different teaching methods and Dazai decided on the fastest one instead of the best and most effective.)

To summarize: The scene is a punishment for direct insubordination and shows us, the viewer, a deeper look into the relationship between Akutagawa and Dazai.

[severaltuesdays]

Ah classic Chuugly, always under the delusion that she is omnipotent and commands all laws of the universe. And of course you, as an owner of the Chuuya Fan Page, are afraid to admit that you like Chuuya. On the Chuuya Fan Page.

Though I don't think anything romantic happened between SKK whilst Dazai was still in the mafia, I do think their partnership was still real confusing from the outside.

Like, in the Fifteen manga these boys are repeatedly grabbing each other and holding on to each other. Dazai is constantly in Chuuya's space and it's fine, but as soon as they say something that alludes to, or makes it blatantly obvious they care about each other, they freak out. That's grooooooss to them. Because feelings are icky, but holding someone's face an inch away from your own is normal.

Given that neither have them had a real concept of what is socially acceptable, I think they formed their own boundaries around physical contact that wasn't influenced by societal opinions and was very casual.

Someone would say to Chuuya, "Hey are you and Dazai dating?" and when he acts disgusted by that idea they add "But you were sitting his lap yesterday???"

Then Chuuya responds, "No, he was ignoring me to play his stupid game, so I sat on him to punish him for not answering me. Then we took turns trying to beat this level in the game. I wasn't in his lap, I was on him, there's a difference, Moron."

Similarly someone will insinuate to Dazai that him and Chuuya are dating because they saw them holding hands and Dazai will correct them like, "Ew, he wasn't holding my hand. Chuuya gets cranky when he has to sit still, so he plays with my hand sometimes in meetings. It keeps him quiet, don't make it weird."

Maybe the older they got and the more people who would interpret this casual platonic intimacy as romantic they started to feel weirder displaying it in front of people. They put distance between themselves as people's opinions began to affect them.

And then, after Dazai leaves the mafia, they go several years not talking and develop complicated feelings around interacting with each other again now they're on opposing sides. Their boundaries get much harsher as they try to navigate getting to know each other again, but eventually they slip into old habits and comforts again.

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Oh well ain’t that nasty

Though I don't think anything romantic happened between SKK whilst Dazai was still in the mafia, I do think their partnership was still real confusing from the outside.

Like, in the Fifteen manga these boys are repeatedly grabbing each other and holding on to each other. Dazai is constantly in Chuuya's space and it's fine, but as soon as they say something that alludes to, or makes it blatantly obvious they care about each other, they freak out. That's grooooooss to them. Because feelings are icky, but holding someone's face an inch away from your own is normal.

Given that neither have them had a real concept of what is socially acceptable, I think they formed their own boundaries around physical contact that wasn't influenced by societal opinions and was very casual.

Someone would say to Chuuya, "Hey are you and Dazai dating?" and when he acts disgusted by that idea they add "But you were sitting his lap yesterday???"

Then Chuuya responds, "No, he was ignoring me to play his stupid game, so I sat on him to punish him for not answering me. Then we took turns trying to beat this level in the game. I wasn't in his lap, I was on him, there's a difference, Moron."

Similarly someone will insinuate to Dazai that him and Chuuya are dating because they saw them holding hands and Dazai will correct them like, "Ew, he wasn't holding my hand. Chuuya gets cranky when he has to sit still, so he plays with my hand sometimes in meetings. It keeps him quiet, don't make it weird."

Maybe the older they got and the more people who would interpret this casual platonic intimacy as romantic they started to feel weirder displaying it in front of people. They put distance between themselves as people's opinions began to affect them.

And then, after Dazai leaves the mafia, they go several years not talking and develop complicated feelings around interacting with each other again now they're on opposing sides. Their boundaries get much harsher as they try to navigate getting to know each other again, but eventually they slip into old habits and comforts again.

[severaltuesdays]

I found Chuugly

Though I don't think anything romantic happened between SKK whilst Dazai was still in the mafia, I do think their partnership was still real confusing from the outside.

Like, in the Fifteen manga these boys are repeatedly grabbing each other and holding on to each other. Dazai is constantly in Chuuya's space and it's fine, but as soon as they say something that alludes to, or makes it blatantly obvious they care about each other, they freak out. That's grooooooss to them. Because feelings are icky, but holding someone's face an inch away from your own is normal.

Given that neither have them had a real concept of what is socially acceptable, I think they formed their own boundaries around physical contact that wasn't influenced by societal opinions and was very casual.

Someone would say to Chuuya, "Hey are you and Dazai dating?" and when he acts disgusted by that idea they add "But you were sitting his lap yesterday???"

Then Chuuya responds, "No, he was ignoring me to play his stupid game, so I sat on him to punish him for not answering me. Then we took turns trying to beat this level in the game. I wasn't in his lap, I was on him, there's a difference, Moron."

Similarly someone will insinuate to Dazai that him and Chuuya are dating because they saw them holding hands and Dazai will correct them like, "Ew, he wasn't holding my hand. Chuuya gets cranky when he has to sit still, so he plays with my hand sometimes in meetings. It keeps him quiet, don't make it weird."

Maybe the older they got and the more people who would interpret this casual platonic intimacy as romantic they started to feel weirder displaying it in front of people. They put distance between themselves as people's opinions began to affect them.

And then, after Dazai leaves the mafia, they go several years not talking and develop complicated feelings around interacting with each other again now they're on opposing sides. Their boundaries get much harsher as they try to navigate getting to know each other again, but eventually they slip into old habits and comforts again.