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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year

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I just saw the excellent post about Chuuya's loyalty and 1) how he hasn't questioned his philosophy and 2) "In a world where a "path" typically involves challenging the characters' philosophies and forcing them to reevaluate, what the hell is going to have to happen to get Chuuya to do the same?" (quoting you)

Chuuya is always used by others. He's not the only BSD character whose been taken advantage of, but it does seem to be reoccurring with him? First by the government who intended to use him as a super weapon, then by the Sheep who used him for his ability, then by mafia/Mori (getting him to join in exchange for sparing the sheep, keeping his past from him and giving him incentive to become an executive and stay in the organization). He's constantly used for his power.

Please tell me if I'm misinterpreting what you all said, but it seems (to me) that Chuuya ignores the mafia's/Mori's manipulation because they have helped him and given him a home+family, so he's instead loyal to them.

Because even though Mori has not and is using him for his power, he still allows it/goes along with it because they've helped him in the past and earned his loyalty.

So Chuuya tolerates being used.

He's now being used again, obviously, in part, because of his power. We have Fyodor referring to him as just his ability and bragging about how he can "use" him better than Dazai ("doesn't that mean you're unfit to USE a gravity manipulator")

Do you think it's possible that just being vamped and used again will cause him to reflect on his mentality? He's once again being used (but be it in far more blatant way: literal mind control. Also reminds me of Verlaine+his creator). Reflecting on how he's been used in the past and no longer accepting being used by others anymore?

Or do you think it might have the opposite affect and push him deeper into the mafia somehow

Also it's interesting that Fyodor is using him but hasn't earned his loyalty (like the sheep+mafia) and how that'll affect Chuuya

I'll get to the second ask in a bit but I'm combining these because they're related.

About the first ask: I mean, yeah, you're right about this. I don't know that I'd consider it so much "ignoring" though as "the benefits outweigh the costs so whatever", and I do want to state that I'm pretty sure Mori is genuinely at least a little fond of Chuuya (see: their conversation about leadership at the end of Fifteen), and his Mafia colleagues do respect him.

But yeah, you are absolutely right to say that there is a pattern of people who want Chuuya for his ability and his loyalty, and/or reduced him down to these traits. Playing hot potato with the escaped military lab experiment and the Mafia won (<-simplification for the funnies but still).

But here's the thing: if this was the end of it, we might expect to see some resentment mixed in there from Chuuya. He was blackmailed with the Sheep's lives. His past was intentionally locked away from him until he worked his way up to executive. That's... not great.

But instead we find pretty much only gratitude from him. Why?

Well, see, there's a reason I put the return of Chuuya's screwed up self-concept in the tags on that post, because it's kind of at the heart of his impressive loyalty. Chuuya believes that since he is the one with the strongest power, that makes him responsible for protecting everyone else, which means that he rationalizes any concern or protection directed at him as something "above and beyond", and worthy of recognition and repayment. Remember that he genuinely felt like just a vessel for power and nothing else for apparently quite a bit of his childhood, and the Sheep emphasizing that he owed them for taking him in probably did not help.

When it comes to having his back, the Mafia did this for him in a way no one else did. They protect their own, a value that aligns closely with Chuuya's own personal philosophy. The Mafia is also relatively safe from external threat, if we recall Dazai's pitch to Odasaku in Day I Picked Up Dazai - Odasaku is being targeted, but no one in their right mind would challenge the Mafia just to get to him. So, the Mafia has provided Chuuya with protection, comradery, and relative safety, which in my mind all condenses into a central need that takes precedence over everything else to him.

Chuuya's core need is actually stability.

And this makes quite a bit of sense. He started off as a kid with no memories and a whole lot of trauma he couldn't remember the roots of. One's past is a source of stability, but that had been taken from him. His position as leader of the Sheep was shaky. Even his identity as a human being was called into question. Chuuya as a kid and teen was largely untethered, separate from everyone else with no way to ground himself. Under those circumstances, something that originated as a chain could easily become a safety rope.

And once Chuuya found this stability, there was really no need for him to change anything. So he didn't. He settled into his new role and became really, really good at it, and didn't bother to re-evaluate beyond that. Why would he? That minimal core need has been met, despite the rocky beginning.

Which brings me to this second ask because it's actually incredibly relevant. Yes, Chuuya and Sigma are alike. You are not losing it anon.

Let's run a list, shall we? They both awoke with no memories and a missing history, and had their humanity called into question. They were used and blackmailed repeatedly, which they were, fortunately and unfortunately, consciously aware of. When they find something that matters to them, they become violently defensive of it. They both operate on principles of reciprocity and transaction because that is what they believe to be normal in relationships (Sigma's ability even is quite literally a transaction!). They both have pretty low standards for their assistance (Sigma hearing one (1) single person (Atsushi) be kind to him in what he thought were his last moments, Chuuya "You have helped Chuuya! Chuuya will now kill and die for you!" Nakahara).

Above all else, they are looking for stability. They are looking for a home.

As of yet, Sigma hasn't found a true home, but it seems we may be building up to him joining the ADA. The key part is Sigma's realization that the Agency doesn't rely solely on transaction. Dazai is not using the Agency, the Agency is not using Dazai. The Agency members are all helping each other. They care about each other.

Meanwhile, Chuuya has already found a place that provides his core need, but there's one caveat about the Mafia that should be clarified here - as Odasaku says in Dark Era, people within its ranks don't talk about personal matters and feelings with each other, and everyone instead keeps to themselves. If you don't talk about your issues or air them out, relations tend to stay personally shallow and dictated almost entirely by the demands and positions of the organization. This is not a conducive environment for reappraisal or self-exploration.

Unfortunately, this is ideal for Mr. Chuuya "I'll keep all my emotions right here and then one day I'll die" Nakahara.

Chuuya has found some measure of stability - solace in his own self-defined identity in spite of the initial ambiguity as to his humanity. "This is who I am", "Till those flames die down, I can't just do whatever I want", "I'm gonna do what I need to do", etc. But importantly, this identity is entangled in whichever group he happens to be a part of, which in this case is the Mafia. This kind of self-identity cannot exist without the structure of an organization. It relies on the reciprocity of a group.

Moreover, it relies on Chuuya showing very little vulnerability. Compartmentalize, and move on. He expects that of himself.

So, we've established that Chuuya has his core need for stability met by the Mafia - a relatively secure place that runs on transaction, which is familiar to him - yet it also doesn't push him out of his comfort zone with respect to emotional vulnerability and openness. What this means is that, in the Mafia, Chuuya is practically invincible, both physically (his ability, his martial arts prowess) and emotionally (personal life kept hidden and guarded as a Mafia expectation).

Unfortunately, this means Chuuya also remains stagnant as a character, which finally, finally brings me back to your original question anon.

No, I don't think the vampirism is enough to trigger change in Chuuya's character. Chuuya has some standards, and treating him like a tool (and Dazai's tool, no less) is going to seriously piss him off, but that's anger at Fyodor, and it doesn't impact his stability with the Mafia any which way. If Chuuya had've been forced to activate Corruption to escape the drowning then maybe he would've been angry with Dazai enough for something to shift (activation being his own choice is a huge theme with them), but since he didn't, I expect Chuuya will unfortunately just shrug it off and roll with it. Probably yell at him for a bit, but nothing that would have far-reaching consequences for his character unless there is something about his current situation we don't yet know.

I think for Chuuya to grow and change as a character, he needs something major to shift in his life - the threat has to come from within his place of security. He needs to be destabilized. Something needs to happen that specifically targets his tethers and his self-concept.

Personally, my money's on the destabilization of his bond with Mori, who he has the most respect for, because that might trigger development related to leadership and goals, but I guess we'll see. I think it'll probably be incredibly heart wrenching and hurt us all severely, whatever it is.

Huh. I wrote a lot. Congrats for making it to the end! I'm going to sleep now. :D

—

Edited by removing the entire middle section because it was absolute garbage and probably should’ve been its own post. I hope the rest of this holds up. That’s what I get for writing things at 2 in the morning I guess.

#i hope this answered everything ok! i wanted to be thorough #your ask is so neatly organized omg.#thanks for the ask!#bsd #bsd chuuya #bsd analysis #bsd meta #bsd sigma #i hope what i'm trying to say came across properly #storyrambles #every time i think i've said all i can about chuuya i go on another deranged ramble about him. incredible.#chuuya's screwed up self-concept my beloved #(except not actually beloved it's kind of sad honestly)#also i think the flags' influence on chuuya's loyalty cannot be understated #by killing them verlaine i think actually assured chuuya would stay - he has to make their sacrifice worth it. he holds onto their memories #the entire rest of the story. and well after it too.

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nataliaphantomhivesblog · 9 months

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Hello! Hope I am not bothering but I wanted to ask: in your post about BSD chapter 109 you mentioned Soukoku dying together eventually and it being hinted at, can you elaborate on that? I mean, I remember the scene in SB with Mori but I do not remember Fifteen very well and where it was hinted at there… Thanks in advance!

Good day, anon! Thank you for your question, I appreciate it:)

Alright so in fiftheen, it's mostly in the subtext of the story.

a good example of this is Dazai's will to live in the fifthteen light novel.

So in the beggining of the story, Dazai is shown to be ultimately bored of life, he only stayed alive to somehow get closer to the human condition, thus, a reason to live yet to be found.

But with the passage of time and nothing catching Dazai off guard or closer to the value of human life, he was basically giving up.

Until Chuuya showed up, of course.

So back to the main point however, Dazai was bored, and when he first met Chuuya, he was still bored.

It was up until the moment that Chuuya kicked the gun right out of Dazai's hands that he got caught off guard and emotionally moved. (Check out the link if necesarry!<3)

Chuuya's impact on Dazai's life is actually so important to the narrative of Fifthteen, paralleling Rimbaud and Verlaine's partnership as well.

It was Chuuya who gave Dazai an intrest in the Port Mafia, not just because of the possibilities of finding meaning through other people, but to find meaning in his partnership with Chuuya.

So, in short, Chuuya helped Dazai find meaning, but honestly, Dazai said it better:

Anyways, it wasn't only Dazai that was battling with a reason to live, Chuuya was too.

In the start of the novel, Chuuya was heavily struggling with his identity, and in order to fill that void, he blindly was loyal to people who constantly overworked him.

It was Dazai who shifted Chuuya's perspective, albiet quite manipulating, it still got Chuuya to realize how he truly wasn't being a leader to the sheep, he was just being used.

I think the scene im painting is sort of evident for die hard bsd fans, Chuuya's (and Dazai's?) verbal confrontation with the sheep:

to make it quick and actually get to the point: Chuuya found a purpose thanks to Dazai and his recruitment to the Port Mafia.

Now you all probably think i'm absolutely off the rails wondering what this have to do with the original question, but i promise, I have a point! Just walk this through with me and you will get it too:)

During Fifthteen, we don't fully see hints of them dying together, but we do see Chuuya and Dazai metaphorically at the brink of death giving each other a reason to keep going through their partnership.

Their reasoning to live is so intrically connected to one another, as well as their dream of persuing the real human condition.

And that's what the subtext of Fifthteen is all about, their partnership bringing a fresh new outlook on something they believed was dead or possibly didn't exist.

But time passes, soukoku's narrative is running out and being "replaced" with shin soukoku's.

Their motivations, their abilities, and their lives are so intertwined that of course, if one dies, the other will follow.

Atleast that's my interpretation of it all! I am not Asagiri and can only assume with what's been shown and hinted so, let's see what he has in store for us<3

#bsd #chuuya nakahara #dazai osamu #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd spoilers #analysis #fiftheen light novel #light novel bsd #soukoku analysis #soukoku #dazai x chuuya #chuuya x dazai #chuuya and dazai #theory #prediction

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gildeddlily · 1 year

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we stan homosexual behaviour (so dazai knew he was somehow already important to chuuya?) (woah that's gay)

[1. We Stan The Flags 2. We Stan Adam (Paul bby what are you doing)]

3. We Stan the "Demon Prodigy" (the homo prodigy maybe) (he ab to flip Verlaine off)

Adam's point of view? nothing better than it

yk what Mori how about you fall down the stairs and oh so accidently break your neck? no bad feelings just go die in a ditch (he's actually right, cause they're in the damn mafia and Chuuya has to kill the man who slaughtered his family. but he's mourning them and that patronising voice is killing me)

well maybe. but reading things like this makes sense, like who even thought ab just chewing something for a long time without eating it? ppl who didn't know ab it must have felt like Adam, they have my solidarity (Chuuya's about to kill him right there, first with the chocolate now with gums. imagine if he saw him eating pure sugar like it was water)

because he's a self harming asshole who still thinks he deserves the sheep's betrayal cause he was a "bad leader" sugar they were shitty people, and even if you were all fifteenish you didn't stab anyone without any second thought at least

No, you didn't get anything, you're a dumb bitch who makes me want to rip out my own eyeballs every time I have to read one of the stupid sentences you says. one thing I didn't miss about Stormbringer was Shirase talking again and again and again about things he didn't know and treating Chuuya like he was the one at fault just don't talk

ADAM STOP IT NOW they're always dropping height jokes about Chuuya and it makes me cry everytime (Asagiri thinks he's funny) (he is)

EVEN MURASE no I don't know why but I totally forgot everything about him. and I don't know if I'm happy or not, knowing how he'll end up...

why so romantic Chuuya him talking ab Dazai like he's a piece of trash is funnier than everything. this following the "dazai fell first" headcanon that basically is my bible (it's canon shut up, chuuya started to really love him after stormbringer just trust me)

and talking ab Dazai

so he thought of Dazai as someone dear enough to Chuuya to tying him to the Mafia? wow that's some serious charges Paul are you sure ab it? (I just imagine Paul about to kill him and Dazai being like "hey, you're the dog's lost brother, why are you here? me? tying him to the mafia? I don't think so, but you can kill me if you need it so much, thank you!")

you'll find something one day honey please stop you're making me cry (i love Odasaku but straight up telling him that he'll always feel empty is a little fucked up but I understand that you're traumatized too so dw)

he's so teenager just stop please (his writing is so pretty and the he-learned-to-write-properly-thanks-to-the-mafia hc is as canon as his name)

shut the fuck up. shut up. I don't wanna hear you. you're not even my shoe's king, just shut up.

AH AH TAKE THIS YOU ASSHOLE Adam doing what Chuuya wasn't able to (admit he wasn't the guilty one in that fucked up situation) Shirase needed someone telling him that he wasn't the fucking centre of the universe

Murase is the man every kid in bungou stray dogs needed. He already knows that is late for Chuuya, that he has already became a tool in the mafia's hands, but he doesn't want him to see it happens to others, or to be the one doing it. (think about Akutagawa, that entered the organization in some months I think, and became a tool in Dazai's hands. Chuuya was made executive in little time and he was for sure busy, but he was still there to look at Akutagawa craving for someone's approval to the point of becoming with time the Rabid Dog of the Mafia, Dazai's dog (funny) and he remembered what Murase said to him. just- him remembering. need more Akutagawa and Chuuya contents btw)

I hope you die (I love you but stop with the "little brother" thing you're hurting my eyes) (you're depressed like anyone else so stop pretending to be cheerful) (parallels with future Dazai? no alr stop)

not Chuuya knowing how to speak but not what bread is (people joke a lot about it but it made me cry the first time, and it's still fucking sad. and Shirase calling him disgusting when they were almost in the same situation? shut up please)

...yeah bby you're the mildest person I've ever seen

mild adjective, mild·er, mild·est. -amiably gentle or temperate in feeling or behavior toward others -characterized by or showing such gentleness, as manners or speech

yeah ofc you are bby

I hate them so much Chuuya still doesn't see the mafia as "family". his family has been killed by the only person in that world that could understand him. he doesn't trust Dazai, and he doesn't trust Mori, even if he respects him. He truly is desperate about the fact that the only man who ever tried to give him a chance died, cause the truth is no one will ever do something like this for him again. And the hitting his chest things is so immature and childish- like yeah we'll tell you ab his strength and power every two sentences, just to remind you he's been around killing people for years, but then we'll drop something like this to remind you he's a mere teenager

#bsd #bsd stormbringer #stormbringer #chuuya nakahara #the flags #paul verlaine #dazai osamu #bsd adam #stop it ty #bsd manga #bsd spoilers #bungou stray dogs #burn the gays

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evermorethecrow · 10 months

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FUCK I FORGOT THE QUESTION PART

by forgot i mean i have no idea how to ask questions

UHHHH

tell me ... about it ??? what sort of ada au is it, does he start out in the ada is it a switch with dazai does mori do some fucked up shit so he has to leave?? give me all the details

sorry im terrible at this

How dare you be insecure in the asks I don't bite..

ANYWAY SO

ADA!Chuuya!!!

He leaves the port mafia during to almost after stormbringer and I won't say how or why but I will say Verlaine helps him. NOW joining the ada as an unstable 16 year old nuclear reactor is not the best especially when it's small and very loving and Chuuya's last found families ended terribly. Now chuuya really struggled when he first joined for a bunch of reasons a few being

Fresh out the sheep he fears the ada is using him for attack purposes especially since they don't have any strong combat fighters

fresh out of the port mafia he feels like he can't do good thing

Fresh out the flags he feels like accepting a new family straight away is saying he didn't care about them and he feels like allowing there affection is dishonourable to their memory

Small other point on the flags. Chuuya feels like the flags would have wanted him to stay with the pm and he's putting all they did for him to waste

So chuuya already has a few issues there, now let's add a few more. Chuuya doesn't like Fukuzawa because he feels like Fukuzawa wants him as firepower and he wants chuuya to forget the flags and chuuya doesn't like ranpo because he knows to much about his past and chuuya doesn't like yosano cause he just went through all of those things with Prof. N

Now what does chuuya do about all of this? Act out. He'll be disrespectful to Fukuzawa and yosano and he'll be reckless with himself in missions (keep in mind he's not being reckless with the safety of others in this. Only himself). Chuuya is doing this because of his feelings and because he doesn't believe the agency care for him and he's trying to make them snap- which doesn't work, instead he gets a long talk with ranpo that calms him down somewhat (I forgot to mention entrance exams but chuuya kinda has two- one when he first joins thats easy because ranpo had a plan, and a second actual one which is him accepting the agency). He's not rude to Fukuzawa now just distant but he's avoiding yosano like the plague. Chuuya gets injured and tries to hide it, when Fukuzawa finds out he's dragged to the infirmary where he freaks out and breaks some of Yosano's equipment. Yosano is pissed (but not actually) and as punishment she makes him her errand boy for a month and during the whole errand thing chuuya actually befreinds yosano. Now cause this is getting super long I'm gonna shorten the rest. Chuuya becomes Yosano's apprentice and then he ends up working with her in the Ada's medical field this cements the fact he isn't being used as a weapon as he originally agreed because medical work doesn't require tainted as attack, he also does it as a way to make up for all the blood he's shed before. Yosano helped him learn some value in life but his morals are still a bit off. Chuuya's outfits in the ada au also have symbolism I'll bring up another time but that's it for now!!

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs manga #chuuya #nakahara chuuya #chuuyabsd #chuuya au #evermore answers

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le-dormeur-du-val · 3 months

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Dazai's Timeline, full of gay assery.

A timeline put together, which my brain can (hopefully) finally find satisfying. Let's begin, shall we?

Age: 14

There are two crucial parts during this stage of the timeline, one of them, the earliest we know of Dazai so far. Mori rescues him from a suicide attempt and ropes him into being his right hand to do one thing; killing the current boss.

A picture from Dazai Chuuya Age 15 Vol: 1. Dazai laying in a hospital bed due to a previous suicide event.

The second crucial part of this age is when after planning and calculation between the two, they're finally able to asassinate the current boss, and manage to frame Mori as the new leader.

A panel from the original manga, Dazai aged 14 as Mori slits the previous boss' throat.

Age: 15

Oh yeah, I've been waiting to do this one. Mori sends Dazai on a mission, his very first. Handing him a silver oracle he sends him out with Hirotsu as his escort to keep him safe, and on that very mission he meets Chuuya.

Their first encounter is in a very violent manner, foot crushing his stomach asking for information only to be met with teasing remarks concerning his height (he's still growing, obviously), after a failed attempt of Dazai trying to nullify his ability, Chuuya sends a fatal kick which would have suceeded...if it weren't for the explosion.

A panel of Dazai and Chuuya's first encounter, from the 15 manga.

Chuuya wakes up in Mori's office, restrained, when Dazai comes in and they're both shown footage of the now previous boss, in the mafia's vault. Shortly after they're both send on a mission (begrudingly) to investigate the rumours and bring an end to them.

After an embarrasing love confession and- Dazai didn't breathe as he saw the storm that was Chuuya decimate the battlefield -they investigate Rimbaud, to which the duo forms an interesting conclusion.

After a battle between the duo and Rimbaud paired with the previous boss, Dazai joins the mafia and Chuuya goes back, (only to be later stabbed by the sheep and then enveloped into the mafia).

Age: 16

The king of assassins incident. Verlaine is set loose in Yokohame, his goal? To kill those chaining Chuuya to the mafia, killing The Flags, Professor N and Detective Murase. Dazai's first encounter with Verlaine is when he visits his home- a storage unit, and have a short conversation. Later, Dazai goes to the lab which Chuuya is currently in and manages to gather him, Adam and Shirase. Verlaine escapes but is later defeated in a battle with him as Guivre verses Chuuya. Verlaine doesn't die but joins the mafia and trains coming members.

A picture from the novel Stormbringer of Dazai and Verlaines first shown encounter.

A month or so after the whole incident, theres word of a large sum of money set loose in the city after a wealthy indiviudal died, the underworld of Yokohama became a blood bath. This incident is the Dragon's Head.

During the incident, Dazai meets Oda "Odasaku" Sakunosuke. During a sewer mission with Oda, the two meet Ango, who was currently working on writing reports on those who are dying during the Dragon's Head. After pissing him off but also bonding, the three form the Buraiha trio.

The Dragon's Head ends by Chuuya using corruption to end the whole thing, as vengance for his dead friends. (Srsly bros got daddy issues too, why u gotta add that man???) Dazai gets promoted to executive.

A panel of 16 year old Dazai in the Dead Apple manga.

Age: 17

It's mentioned that there was a Laughing Lemon incident but there aren't any descriptions as to what it is or could be, I placed this in age 17 because that's the most reasonable place to put it in the timeline.

Age: 18

Dazai, now 18 years old is a well known and feared executive in Port Mafia territory. Drinking at Lupin as the Buraiha trio, soon to end. The mafia clashes with Mimic, an orginisation hell bent of having someone 'worthy' kill them. Ango turns out to be betraying both the Mafia and the Mimic, Oda ultimately dies in a showdown with Andre Gilde, leaving Dazai to hear his last words. To join the light. The mafia gained the ability permit but lost a valubable member.

A picture from the Dark era light novel, of Dazai reprimanding his subordinates. Age: 18 - 20

Dazai goes under the radar. After meeting with Taneda, he's told to join the Agency, the path to light for Dazai, he has to stay low for atleast two years because his record is too filthy. So he does.

Age: 20

After mantaining a low profile, Dazai's finally able to join the Armed Detective Agency. He's paired with a suspicious Kunikida as they together face the Azure Messenger incident.

A picture from Dazai's Entrance Exam

Age: 22

In a manhunt to find the mysterious tiger who's been terrorising the city, Dazai takes in an orphan. Atsushi Nakajima. After taking care of the he's-the-tiger-thing he blackmails him to join the agency. (Lovingly, cmon everyone would squeeze Atsushi's cheeks).

Dazai a hundred percent lying, after nullifying Atsushi's ability before letting him join the Agency.

Not even a month of Atsushi joining, there is already a large bounty upon his head. The culprit? A North American orginisation named The guild. Making the correct pairings and interregations, Dazai and his old partner, Chuuya, defeat lovecraft, Atsushi and Akutagawa both come together to defeat Fitzergerald and Ranpo, Yosano take on Poe.

Dazai in the lovecraft battle, asking Steinbeck about the guild as Chuuya kicks ass.

Dead apple. The incident started by Shibiusawa, a rouge ability user left to roam by the government, and has Dazai and Fyodor, two intellectful ability users to join him as he wreaks havoc upon Japan.

The incident ends with Chuuya saving his gayass and said gayass cupping his cheek unnecessarily, but we apreciate it. Chuuya uses corruption do aid in defeating shibusawa.

Dazai inside the dragon created with Fyodor's ability, right before he gets saved.

Fyodor manipulates an ability user to do his bidding, by using his ability on Fukuzawa and Mori. The ability being to poison them on a timer, they can only survive if the other dies, his intention to create battle and ultimately wipe out all ability users. Akutagawa and Atsushi sucessfully stick to Dazai's plan and defeat Ivan, who was crucial to this part of Dostoyvesky's plan.

Dazai in the hospital after being injured, and getting to use the phone after uhm....convincing the nurse.

Current arc, the Meursault arc. Dazai is arrested due to his previous crimes being found out by the Hunting Dogs, an elite government task force. He's taken to the same prison Fyodor is and communicated to Ango through Morse code using his heartbeat. After Chuuya serving fr, faking as a vampire, Fyodor ends up dead, Nikolai ends up having to jerk off using an arm and The duo are set to escape the prison.

Photo of Dazai in his little twink prison uniform.

And that concludes the timeline.

#OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS TOOK ME HOURS #i said id do a chuuya one but i had to do this #spiral's thoughts

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daz4i · 1 year

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Please tell me about your au, I saw you said you had a bit about Chuuya written? I'm instantly 👀, can't wait to read the whole thing if you ever post it. I also need a bit of a distraction tbh, got my T shot today so now my ass hurts, you know how it is

oh damn stay strong bestie!!!!! D: i feel your pain 🤝

as for the au!!!!!! i'm gonna copy paste the chuuya bit and everything around him (which oh god now that i'm on browser view i can see it covers nearly a whole google docs page) but like, beforehand lemme give you a tldr:

angels. demons. all real baby. no abilities tho. the mafia are demons, the hunting dogs are angels, and the agency is made of (mostly) humans who protect humanity when they might get in the crossfire between these factions (there are more angels and demons out there but like. these are their anchors to the human world, in a sense)

some background abt the mafia bc it's necessary (also copy pasted directly hehe sorry): the mafia is basically hell. not as in it sucks, but, it’s a safe haven for demons and fallen angels and the likes (important to note, it employs - mostly in the lower ranks or in utility positions - humans as well)

i think that's all you need to know to understand the chuuya stuff hm. i will def post the whole thing tho when i'm finished! anyway here's darkness my sorrow:

chuuya is a fallen angel. he was a young angel taken for experimentation, humans studying the species to learn more about them, with one single researcher wondering what’ll happen if you combine an angel with a demon somehow - thus, creating arahabaki, inside chuuya, essentially a demonic soul he has to keep at bay. however, one day in the lab, while chuuya was barely aware of what’s happening, arahabaki unleashed itself and killed all the humans around, causing chuuya to officially lose his (physical) wings.

being a fallen angel does not necessarily mean he’s a demon - his holy, radiant powers simply turned darker, and his angelic values are gone, essentially he became a human with the powers of a dark angel, and these powers help him keep arahabaki down.

chuuya doesn’t remember his past - doesn’t remember being an angel, let alone being experimented on. he knows arahabaki is inside him, and he remembers his own name, and that he’s been alive for A While, but nothing from that time. the events of 15 go p much the same, i wanna say (rimbaud is a demon and the sheep are human btw), so he ends up joining the mafia.

will verlaine come in at some point? maybe. i wanna say he will be an angel that through experimentation was turned into a demon, and he thinks chuuya is the same.

the flags were humans, also low ranking in the mafia, and given chuuya's odd nature of a being, mori put him in their care "thinking" he's a weird human anyway (but lbr he knows better). this makes chuuya feel more defined in his humanity and having a sense of belonging to humanity as a whole - he doesn't remember being an angel (tho through plot stuff he does learn about it. blame verlaine), and he no longer is one anyway. he's certainly not a demon, even if he now works for them. he knows he's not Normal, can feel arahabaki living under his skin, but he wants to be human, fascinated with the life you can have as one, and so he chooses to live as one.

hehe this is my translation of stormbringer into this au, mostly. or like. the first half of it bc oh god oh fuck i still haven't finished reading it. btw as a bonus here's what i have abt adam for now:

idk where adam comes into play but legally he has to be there bc i love him. maybe he's an artificial angel, somehow. i do so love the combination of divine and machine 👀 (<- smt metatron stan)

riveting i know i know. if you've got ideas for him feel free to send them my way!!!! (and this is @ all my followers not just anon >:3)

#long post #like really long. sorry hehe #hope you found it interesting tho uwu #bsd angel/demon au #<- very excited to go back and add this tag onto older posts

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mirsvintagesonytv · 2 years

Note

this is the same anon who sent the ask about verlaine.. also what happened to chuuya and the sheep? since you mentioned before chuuya didn't join the mafia, where is he when yosano takes over? did she had any plans of recruiting him? did the sheep betray him as well here? mori and dazai both thought it was the matter of time before the thing with the arahabaki and old boss happened. im really invested now and i need to know everything ekemek

Hello Anon!!! Thank you for the ask!! I'm going to answer this one first since its easier to articulate my thoughts for this question:

Okay so Chuuya joins the sheep. Because Dazai never joined the mafia and Mori is...well.. dead... He never gets roped into the mafia through the events of fifteen.

As another consequence of this, Chuuya comes across the homeless struggling Akutagawa siblings and they too join the sheep. They come to view each other as siblings (bc once again forcing my headcanons on you) and Akutagawa is incredibly loyal to Chuuya for saving his and Gin's lives.

When Yosano takes over he's in the sheep, naturally. Mori had records of the Arahabaki experiments which Yosano finds almost 5 years after her takeover, but doesn't particularly understand. All she really knows is there was a strong ability user that was supposedly created as a government weapon, which Mori was aware of and had future plans to recruit him as a valuable asset to the mafia. She begins to search for this said ability user privately with sub exec Randou (Rimbaud) not wanting to disclose her plans to anyone else.

However Rimbaud betrays Yosano, after figuring out where Chuuya is but not disclosing this to her, and going rogue, since he doesn't hold the respect he held for Mori towards Yosano, freshly 19 and a bit of a bitch if I do say so myself.

The fifteen stuff still happens, but slightly differently. Dazai is sent to build ties with The Sheep's leader for intel on a rumour about Arahabaki and the Mafia's old boss from multiple sources in his network of informants. He's mostly supposed to be doing intelligence work and diplomacy here for the ADA, but alas Soukoku shenanigans ensue, and he and Chuuya are roped into a scheme by Rimbaud. Rimbaud essentially sets himself up as a "witness" of one of the sightings of Arahabaki, luring both Dazai and Chuuya into his plans.

He'd essentially planned to find Chuuya using the information from Yosano and lure him out with the rumors of Arahabaki and some impending threat to the sheep (the old boss being sighted in Suribachi) and subsequently using Chuuya to lure Verlaine out, in order to find out what happened to his partner. This goes horribly wrong however, and ends up in Dazai's first murder of the AU (yay!)

This is resolved and Yosano finds out about Rimbauds betrayal and subsequently where Chuuya is, but at this point she has no intention of recruiting him straight away. The ADA and The Sheep are now on good terms, and Dazai and Chuuya begrudgingly become friends at some point during this.

About a year later, Yosano, who knew about Rimbauds real identity, broadcasted the fact that the mafia killed a french spy as a warning to her enemies, an act that draws Verlaine back to Japan, kickstarting au!stormbringer events.

Essentially Yosano makes a deal with Verlaine in which she'll hand over Chuuya to him (she's fucking lying like a liar) if he helps her with her plans which she purposefully keeps vague, and Verlaine assumes its got to do with bringing down the sheep.

Verlaine attempts to kill the sheep, which he succeeds in killing a few members, declaring he is there for Chuuya. The events of stormbringer aren't too different tbh, just Chuuya isn't a part of the mafia at this stage. He and Dazai team up along with new cyborg bestie Adam to get Verlaine to maybe fuck off, and while they're focused on that, Yosano takes the sheep hostage.

She offers Shirase a deal, that if they give up Chuuya to her, (knowing that he and Dazai will defeat Verlaine eventually) she'll let them live. Shirase weighs the pros and cons and decides to betray Chuuya, as he is a liability if people are going to continuously be hunting him for his ability. Chuuya leaves the sheep, and out of loyalty and disagreement with Shirase, Akutagawa and Gin leave too, following Chuuya, despite his protests that being with him could get them killed. Yosano attempts to recruit him then, and still Chuuya refuses.

She sets up an ambush in which she'd planned for either Akutagawa sibling to be either killed or fatally injured, and then bargain Chuuya's mafia membership with their lives. However Chuuya takes the blow for Akutagawa, almost dying, and Yosano forces him to choose between letting Chuuya die and selling them all out to the mafia. Akutagawa sells them out, not wanting to see his older brother-figure die, and gives up their freedom to the mafia. Akutagawa was never a part of the deal, but he and gin stay in the mafia for Chuuya out of guilt of surrendering Chuuya's right to choose, despite him reassuring them both that he doesn't care.

So yes, the sheep do betray him and Chuuya, despite not joining the mafia initially, joins soon after he turns 16 (I lied... sorryyyy but im a sucker for The sheep angst) Also if u see plot holes.... no you don't. this is still in the rough drafts stage so it will be ironed out when I eventually start writing the fic LMAO

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pepper-steam-milkshake · 1 year

Text

Timeline of Pre-ADA Dazai-Centric Events

Okay, so. I have fallen down the research rabbit hole yet again. I thought, “hey, I’ll write some Dazai POV to get into his head so I can write him better! Let me just do some research first!”

...That was my first mistake.

Anyways, here’s a timeline of Dazai-focused events from before he joins the Port Mafia up until he leaves it. I didn’t go further because I mostly wanted to focus on Dazai prior to his joining the ADA.

WARNINGS: This timeline mentions suicide, torture, violence, death, etc. I imagine if you’re reading this, you’re a BSD fan and already familiar with the content of it, but doesn’t hurt to mention it.

SPOILERS: This timeline contains spoilers for the following:

MANGA

Bungou Stray Dogs Main Manga

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old

DEAD APPLE

LIGHT NOVELS

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old

The Day I Picked Up Dazai

Stormbringer

DEAD APPLE

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era

ANIME

Season 2, Episodes 1-4

Season 3, Episodes 1-4

DEAD APPLE

Hopefully I’ve covered all my bases. If you don’t want spoilers for ANY of those, I would NOT read this, because it absolutely goes into detail.

0. At some point, the Sheep offer for Dazai to join them, which he refuses.

(Dazai Osamu) "A long time ago, I was invited to join the Sheep. Of course, I refused."

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

WOLF WITHOUT SHEEP’S CLOTHING: There is not a specific time mentioned for when Dazai was given said invitation, but it has to occur before the events of FIFTEEN. It’s very possible this offer was extended prior to even meeting Mori, but without more info, it’s not entirely clear. The offer was not given by any on-screen members of the sheep (Shirase, Yuan, etc), as they do not recognize him when they see him with Chuuya. Based off info from Stormbringer, it was probably some time between the age of about seven to fourteen.

The Sheep were initially founded by orphans as a mutual aid organization...

(Shirase Buichirou) “Back then, the organization was still small.”

Stormbringer, Code; 02

For reference, Chuuya joined the Sheep early on, and that was after Rimbaud and Verlaine broke him out of the government at age seven.

1. Dazai meets Mori Ougai after attempting suicide at the age of 14.

It was a year ago that the two became destined collaborators. Mori, who was the chief physician, and Dazai, who was just an attempted suicide patient...

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

DAZAI’S AGE: At first, I thought, ‘wait, Dazai might have been 15 during the assassination’, since it says it was a year ago give or take. I wasn’t 100% sure; however, there is a quote (listed below) that does in fact confirm that Dazai was 14 when he first met Mori.

2. Dazai and Mori then immediately decide to kill the current Port Mafia boss within the next 24 hours.

...had collaborated to carry out a secret operation: assassination of the head of the Port Mafia...

A 14 year old boy was there. It happened in front of Dazai’s eyes.

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One Screenshot from Season 3, Episode One

NOT PORT MAFIA YET: So, at this point, Dazai is now a witness for Mori’s killing the Port Mafia boss, and also for him being “officially recognized” as the boss’s successor. He is not officially a member of the Port Mafia at this point.

The next few events occur during the time between this point and FIFTEEN.

3. Mori has at least one attempted assassination. It fails, and the traitors are killed.

Already this year, two members had made an assassination plan for Mori. Of course, the traitor was executed...

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

4. Dazai repeatedly tries to kill himself, and Mori stops these attempts.

(Mori Ougai) “How many times do you think I stopped your suicide this year?”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

MORI’S MOTIVATION: Mori has stopped Dazai from killing himself for two stated reasons: one, because of the mentioned assassination above, and two, because he wants Dazai to be his right-hand man. (ASSUMED: Take over the PM in the future?)

The following are events from FIFTEEN.

5. Dazai gets his first Port Mafia job from Mori.

(Mori Ougai) “This is your first job. Welcome to the Mafia.”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

MAKING IT ALMOST “OFFICIAL”: This line implies that by Dazai taking the mission to see if the previous Port Mafia boss is actually alive, he is going to join the Port Mafia. A later line in FIFTEEN contributing to this:

(Dazai Osamu) “Finish this job safely, join the mafia.”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter Four

6. Dazai meets Hirotsu.

Dazai raised his face and spoke to the escort mafia walking behind him... “...Um...”

“Hirotsu.” The escort mafia responded...

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One

OLDER GENTLEMAN: It is implied that this is the first time that Dazai meets Hirotsu by the fact that Dazai didn’t know his name. There’s also the context clue of the fact that Hirotsu didn’t seem to recognize him outside of him being the witness for the previous PM boss’s death. Hirotsu is initially very distrustful of Dazai. Dazai appears to have some level of respect for him, as we are informed that he asked for Hirotsu specifically to be his escort.

7. Dazai meets Chuuya.

The next moment, something hit Dazai’s torso without any warning...

Something was on top of Dazai, the same thing that hit Dazai a while ago and blew him away--a black figure.

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter One Screenshot from Season 3, Episode One

NOT SHOWN IN ANIME: Dazai actually rolled down a hill, smashed through multiple huts + a fence due to the attack from Chuuya, and then Chuuya proceeded to beat the shit out of him while interrogating him for info. Also, a decent amount of mafiosi show up alongside Hirotsu when he goes up against Chuuya, which implies that Mori had people tailing them just in case things went sour.

Dazai’s ability was also only triggered if the subject is touched. His ability blocks and negates the triggering of all abilities--the ultimate anti-ability. There was no exception to the invalidation.

DAZAI’S ABILITY: I thought that the above description was interesting. Prior to this, Chuuya’s ability was explained, which mentioned that he could “change the direction and force of gravity as long as the object touched was somewhere on their body.”

8. Dazai makes a bet with Chuuya to make him his dog for life. He wins.

(Dazai Osamu) “...let’s have a contest to see who can catch the culprit first... But if I win, you’re my dog for life.”

(Nakahara Chuuya) “...Bring it on...”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter Three Screenshot from Season 3, Episode Two

DON’T MAKE BETS YOU CAN’T WIN: This may not seem important, but considering it involves the status of what could be considered one of Dazai’s subordinates, I think it’s relevant.

“You and Chuuya-kun had a bet.” Randou said. “In that case, you won. Since you found the culprit first.”

“Thank you, Randou-san.” Dazai smiled.

Several lines later...

(Nakahara Chuuya) “--ound you!” There was a violent shout. “I win the bet with this scheming bastard! You’re the culprit!”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter Four Screenshot from Season 3, Episode Two

HEY, THAT’S NOT FAIR!: Chuuya, of course, says that since he didn’t finish explaining that Randou/Rimbaud is the culprit, Chuuya won instead. (This is more spur of the moment, however; Dazai continues to push this.)

9. Dazai and Chuuya defeat Rimbaud.

Blood invaded Randou’s respiratory tracts and overflowed from his mouth. He fell face first towards his won pool of blood with a wet noise.

Obviously--it was fatal.

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter Four

10. Dazai joins the Port Mafia and is given power of the army.

“...When I said I was joining the mafia, Mori-san was so pleased he jumped up and down... I was given command of this unit and forced to do my first job.”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Chapter Five

IT’S A LITTLE DIFFERENT: If you watch the anime, Dazai does not actually state that by this point, he is officially in the PM. He simply tells Chuuya that he is here to recruit him by Mori’s orders.

11. Dazai makes Chuuya join the Port Mafia.

Screenshot from Season 3, Episode Three

THAT’S LOYALTY FOR YOU: Dazai forces Chuuya to join the Port Mafia by holding the Sheeps’ lives at stake, while also ensuring that the Sheep don’t trust Chuuya anymore. Yikes!

12. Dazai meets Q and is informed that his next job involves them.

Next to Dazai was Mori in a white coat and a small child holding a doll.

“Hehe, I’m Kyuusaku! Hey, wanna play? Wanna play?”

Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old, Epilogue Screenshot from Season 3, Episode Three

HE’S LITERALLY BABY: Mori tells Dazai that his ability nullification will help in showing the true form of the ability. As we all hear about later... this cannot end well.

13. If Q is Dazai’s next job, we can probably assume that the event where Dazai ends up imprisoning Q happens sometime between FIFTEEN and Stormbringer.

Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Seven

Unfortunately, there is no true confirmation about when everything with Q goes down, but going by the fact that we don’t hear anything about Q again until in the main series (Season 2, Episode Seven being his first appearance), it can probably be assumed that it happened not long after his introduction to Dazai.

With that, the events of FIFTEEN come to an end. Things get a little fuzzier here, because now, we have The Day I Picked Up Dazai. I was going insane trying to figure out where this fits in, because it goes somewhere between FIFTEEN and the Dragon’s Head Conflict... but so does Stormbringer. The only reason that I think it could fall after Stormbringer is thanks to Side B, where Dazai drops that he is a Port Mafia Executive:

(48 member) “You... who the hell are you? How can you do this?“

(Dazai Osamu) “I’m a Port Mafia executive.”

The Day I Picked Up Dazai, Side B

...in the BEAST universe, which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s one in the OG universe.

Then, I did more research. Dazai doesn’t become an executive until after the Dragon’s Head Conflict, as he and Chuuya discuss the candidacy for becoming one after one of them is killed. So, that quote above is completely 100% irrelevant!

HOWEVER. When reading Stormbringer, Dazai is in the pits of despair and flatly states to Verlaine:

“I want to see the Port Mafia burn.”

“Because I’ve grown bored with it... In the end, I didn’t find anything.”

Stormbringer, Code; 02

After meeting Oda, he wouldn’t react like this. Therefore, it only makes sense chronologically for Stormbringer to come first.

The tears I’ve shed in the past several hours trying to figure this out. Good lord. Anyways. Stormbringer time.

14. In the year after he joined the Port Mafia, Dazai crushes organizations, creates new trade routes, etc. He’s been busy.

It’s been one year since he’s joined the mafia. Dazai commanded a secret unit under the boss’s direct control... A number of organizations have been crushed, and a number of new trade routes have opened up.

Stormbringer, Code; 02

HE’S “KILLING” IT: Career-wise, Dazai is doing great! Mentally, he is incredibly ill. It is stated that he is one of the most successful mafia members at the moment simply due to how quickly he has progressed. He also handled the gem trade before it got handed off to Chuuya:

“Wow, so confident. You’re in the gem trade? Sounds like it’s going pretty well.”

“Oh, I know. Before you took over, I was in charge of that.”

Stormbringer, Code; 04

15. Dazai meets Verlaine, who promptly tries to kill him.

(Paul Verlaine) “Even while trying to kill you a couple days ago, you seemed to feel almost nothing.”

Stormbringer, Code; 02

ORDER OF DEATH: According to my reading of Stormbringer, Verlaine went after Dazai first the day before going after the Flags. Dazai says to Adam later on in the story that he gave him information in order to ensure that the last target Verlaine would go after would be Mori:

“Everything, literally everything--from Verlaine’s targets, to Detective-san, to Researcher-san--has been based on the information I gave him.”

“Mori-san was originally going to be the first one killed, but I manipulated the information so he was last on the list.”

Stormbringer, Code; 03

ORDER OF DEATH (cont.): This sounds pretty damning in regards to whether or not Dazai caused the Flags’ death. However. Dazai also says pretty soon after:

“You’re more than welcome to try to find out [how Dazai got Rimbaud’s notebook], but no matter what I’ll only tell you lies. I’m a liar, after all.”

If Mori was going to be the first one killed, why did Verlaine first go after Dazai? A simple answer: Dazai is lying to Adam. Or, at the least, not everything he’s saying is the whole truth. This is also questionable by the fact that Dazai sees Verlaine again later and states that he was always on the Port Mafia’s side. Dazai rarely if ever speaks the whole truth out loud, and without actually being in his perspective during this (we are seeing through Adam’s eyes), it’s hard to know the specifics.

Later on, when Chuuya is torturing Dazai by spinning him until he vomits (yes this is absolutely important information what do you mean) as they discuss the plan against Verlaine, Chuuya states:

“He gave N’s information to Verlaine to earn us some time knowing I would be tortured. Not to mention, as a result of that information, Detective-san was killed.”

Stormbringer, Code; 04

With this quote, it seems like Dazai more led to Murase’s death (and N’s attempted assassination), and not the Flags.

16. The next day, Dazai nullifies (partial) Corruption for the first time.

The boy casually grabbed Chuuya’s arm and lifted it up.

At that moment, the abnormal gravitational field that surrounded them immediately disappeared, along with the insufferable pain Chuuya had felt.

Stormbringer, Code; 01

17. The day after that, Dazai hands off Port Mafia secrets to Verlaine in exchange for his life.

(Paul Verlaine) “This is the inside data on the Port Mafia?”

It was an extremely valuable document that recorded all of the Port Mafia’s secrets.

Stormbringer, Code; 02

PM SECRETS: I’m assuming this includes the Arahabaki Project (knowledge of N). Dumb question: Dazai is not an executive at this point, so how did he get his hands on this? Possible answer: Mori probably gave him the info to help trap Verlaine. I don’t know. This is more speculation on my part.

18. Dazai and Chuuya defeat Verlaine (Guivre) through the use of Corruption.

Guivre wasn’t shooting anything at them now... It didn’t make a sound, just peacefully disappeared.

Stormbringer, Code; 04

FIRST TRUE USE OF CORRUPTION: Dazai and Chuuya successfully defeat Verlaine’s Guivre form (like Chuuya’s Arahabaki form) through Chuuya’s Corruption, which Dazai nullifies once it’s all over.

Bam! That’s the events of Stormbringer. Now, the Dragon’s Head Conflict doesn’t wait for long until after Stormbringer, but Oda has joined the Port Mafia by the point that it occurs. That means that The Day I Picked Up Dazai occurs sometime in that year.

19. Dazai bleeds out on Oda’s doorstep. On purpose.

The young man’s wounds are clearly from gunshots. He has been shot multiple times... to top it all off, he is holding a bunch of new notes in his left hand... A supernote.

The Day I Picked Up Dazai

REALLY CASUAL: It looks like Dazai was trying to steal counterfeit money, and then got shot for it. Then, he chose to pass out on Oda’s doorstep, as evidenced by this later statement:

“How about I tell you why I went and collapsed in front of his house in the first place? Because I knew of a rumor. That no evils can come close to that house, be it burglars, smugglers, or mafia. No matter who it is, it is just around that house that they can’t cause any troubles. It is a “calm-zone.” It is as if they are afraid of something, or someone there.”

20. Dazai attempts to die under Oda’s care. Repeatedly. Over the span of a few days.

His first request is for pufferfish’s organ sashimi... Next is grilled amanita virosa.... The last dish is potato sprout salad.

The Day I Picked Up Dazai

WAIT, THAT’S POISONOUS!: When Dazai realizes that Oda isn’t going to let him go, he starts asking him for dishes containing deadly ingredients (unknown to Oda, I guess?!).

Also, later:

Dazai suddenly comes up with the idea that if he jumps out of the door with a gun in his hand, there are chances that he can be shot dead by the cops. Oda tells him there is no gun in the house, so he decides to get a knife instead.

...trying to choke him unconscious. Dazai, as a result, struggles happily while kicking his legs around... it makes the knife Dazai was trying to grab earlier fall off right to where Oda is.

Dazai keeps kicking the kitchen stand and this time, it’s the kettle above Oda’s head that’s going to fall.

The Day I Picked Up Dazai (Summarized Translation)

YIKES!: Oda proceeds to choke Dazai unconscious so he’ll. stop doing things. Literally this is all happening in, what, five minutes?

21. Dazai and Oda are abducted by the organization “48″.

The cops take out two gas masks and put them on their faces. Then they throw a gas grenade towards Dazai and Oda. Oda realizes that they are actually not cops.

The Day I Picked Up Dazai (Summarized Translation)

WHO PASSED THE GAS: 48, as informed by Dazai after he sees Oda again, is an organization of dishonorably discharged police officers. They abduct Oda (and Dazai) to try and get hold of a painting that Oda stole years ago.

22. Oda takes Dazai to Bar Lupin for the first time, Dazai gives him the nickname of Odasaku, and Dazai extends the offer for him to join the Port Mafia. It is implied that he accepts.

“Is this, by any chance, the place you should go before you die?” Dazai asks, his voice sounds disappointed. “Isn’t it just a normal bar?”

...

“Okay, I have decided. You are Odasaku... You are too strange for a short name like Oda. And Oda Sakunosuke is just too long to call. You are Odasaku. From now on, whenever someone asks for your name, you have to say so.”

...

“If the other side of the world doesn’t work, you can run to a deeper place.” “...I promise you. If you join, you will no longer be bothered by anything from your past. Because no past can touch that place.”

The Day I Picked Up Dazai

SO I STARTED SOBBING: Oda lied to Dazai when he met him and said that there is a place that one needs to go to before dying, and reveals after escaping from “48″ with him that it is Bar Lupin. They then proceed to play poker, tell stories, and more. Oda is assigned ‘Odasaku’ by Dazai, and after acknowledging that other organizations are probably just going to keep coming after him, Dazai offers for him to join the Port Mafia.

Dazai nods and takes the cards from me. Then in a casual tone, he says those words. “When are we meeting next?”

I’M NOT CRYING. YOU’RE CRYING. STOP.

So, Odasaku joins the Port Mafia under the behest of Dazai. This then brings us to the Dragon’s Head Conflict, featured in DEAD APPLE. By the way, please keep in mind that all this has been happening at the age of 16 from Stormbringer to the Dragon’s Head Conflict!

At some point, Ango does join the Port Mafia, although according to some lines from Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, it seems like he actually joined around the same time as Dazai and Chuuya?:

Two years ago, one year after Ango joined the Mafia, Ango had earned the trust of the organization and travelled to Europe.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter 2

The Dark Era takes place about two years after the Dragon’s Head Conflict. Ango joined a year before the Dragon’s Head Conflict, which took place not long after Stormbringer. Stormbringer takes place a year after FIFTEEN. I sound like one of those ‘Illuminati Confirmed’ videos. Anyways, this is 100% relevant.

23. Dazai and Odasaku meet Ango for the first time.

By word of mouth, I’ve learnt that the youth is a newcomer by the name of Sakaguchi Ango... At that time, the Dragon’s Head Conflict had just gotten into full swing.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter 2

THE TRIO MEETS: Dazai and Odasaku are taking care of dead Port Mafia members during the conflict, and they go to Ango for cataloguing. They then proceed to drag him to Bar Lupin:

Later, Ango, Dazai and I go to the bar and start chatting.

The DEAD APPLE light novel is a novelization of the movie, but the manga gives a lot more info. The movie did come first though, interestingly enough!

24. Dazai gets abducted on purpose by the “White Giraffe” (Shibusawa).

DEAD APPLE Manga, Chapter 8

A+ COMMUNICATION: Shortly after a heated conversation with Chuuya about the newly opened executive position, Dazai goes missing. He intentionally gets himself captured to draw Chuuya to his position.

25. Chuuya and Dazai find Shibusawa and kill him using Corruption.

DEAD APPLE Manga, Chapter 10

6 IS A MAGIC NUMBER: Chuuya rescues Dazai, and they go after Shibusawa. He discovers that Shibusawa pushed his six friends to suicide, and decides to annihilate him through the use of Corruption. (Good lord, this sounds familiar. Please save Chuuya. Man needs a break. And therapy.) This ends the Dragon’s Head Conflict.

26. Dazai and Chuuya become known as “Double Black”.

And after the Dragon Head’s Conflict, the mafia changed and grew again. There was the rise of “Double Black”, Dazai’s promotion to an executive, the Laughing Lemon case, the Mimic incident...

Stormbringer, Epilogue

27. Dazai becomes an executive.

Despite the fact that we are in the same organization, Dazai is an executive, Ango is an intelligence agent, and I am a low ranked operative with no title.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Prologue

PROMOTION: Dazai’s becoming an executive probably happens not long after the Dragon’s Head Conflict, since there’s an open position. It is also confirmed that on the same day...

28. ...Dazai finds and takes in Akutagawa as his protégé.

"I actually got promoted today,” he said. “I’m part of the leader [executive] class now. Which... you know what they say--the fancier the title, the more responsibility and other nonsense you have to deal with.”

“Of course,” he continued, “there is one good thing about this title. It gives me the right to hire a single underling, someone who acts under my direct control... I’d like to invite you into the Port Mafia.”

Bungo Stray Dogs Manga, Volume 6, Short Story: The Heartless Cur

FAST DECISIONS: Within the 24 hours that he became an executive, Dazai immediately chooses to invite Akutagawa to the Port Mafia as his personal underling. He accepts and brings Gin with him.

29. Whatever the hell the Laughing Lemon case is. I don’t know. Asagiri I want answers. I don’t even care about what’s happening in the manga anymore now, Asagiri what is the Laughing Lemon case. Asagiri please. I feel like this is Kaijii related and I’m so curious and confused. What’s up with this. You need to elaborate.

At this point, we can probably jump ahead to the Dark Era, which is about two years post-Dragon’s Head Conflict. Dazai is 18 years old now; he has had Akutagawa, been friends with Ango and Odasaku, been an executive, been one half of “Double Black”, and more for about two years. I certainly wasn’t that productive 17-18, but go off, king. Anyways, shit is about to hit the fan.

30. Dazai, Odasaku and Ango have drinks together (happily) for the last time.

“That’s it, let’s take a picture!” Dazai bursts out suddenly, “As a commemoration!”

“Dazai, why the sudden urge to take photos?” “I don’t know. I just feel like if we don’t take a picture now, there won’t be another chance...”

In the end, there would never be a second chance for us to take photos in that bar.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Prologue Screenshot from Season 2, Episode One

LOOK AT THIS LOSER: He blinked. Cringe.

SINCERELY THOUGH: Dazai suspects Ango of doing something shady, and before things go from bad to worse, he has the three of them take a photo together.

31. Dazai finds out the name of the latest organization the Port Mafia is going up against: Mimic.

“The only words we got was the name of the enemy... Mimic.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter One

32. Dazai saves Odasaku at his request from Mimic assassins.

“Odasaku! Get down!” At this moment, I hear Dazai’s voice.

“Did you kill them?” I glance at the fallen assassins. “Mmhmm.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter One

33. Dazai and Odasaku begin to realize that Ango was lying to them, and something weird is up. They start to investigate more heavily.

--Ango. Mimic. Attack. Everything is starting to come together.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter One

Dazai is running around everywhere collecting information on Mimic.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Two

34. Dazai is assigned to be the main person to handle Mimic by Mori.

“In the end, I was appointed as the battle strategist and front line commander to tackle Mimic. I’ve already settled some matters and set up a few simple mousetraps. It shouldn’t be long until the war begins to show signs of activity.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Two

35. Dazai successfully captures Mimic soldiers... who are promptly killed by Akutagawa.

A total of three corpses lie in the cell. They haven’t been dead for long... The deceased are Mimic soldiers.

“Luckily, because of you, all three of the enemy soldiers were caught are now dead.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Two

UNHEALTHY: Dazai doesn’t take this well, of course.

Without letting him finish, Dazai swings a fist at Akutagawa’s face. Akutagawa is sent flying.

Three gunshots, three flashes of light, three empty bullet shells roll on the ground with a crisp sound.

“The next time you screw up, I’ll hit you twice and fire five shots, understood?”

Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Two

36. In spite of this, Dazai successfully gets a lead and informs Odasaku.

According to what Dazai says, a wilted leaf of a broad-leaved tree had been found stuck on the bottom of a Mimic’s soldier’s shoe.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Two

37. Dazai figures out that Mimic is planning to annihilate the Port Mafia. The executives make the decision to give their all against Mimic.

“While Odasaku was bedridden, there have been six stores in the mafia’s turf that were bombed. The damage is increasing every minute.”

“...We can confirm that they really plan to raze the mafia’s territory to a flatland.”

“A five-executive conference has already convened, and it has been decided that we will use all of the mafia’s forces and face Mimic.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Three

38. Dazai, Odasaku and Ango meet for the last time at Bar Lupin. Ango provides information before leaving both the bar and the two mafioso behind.

Dazai and I walk down the dimly lit stairs leading to the basement floor.

Sitting at his usual spot, in his usual tone, Ango raises his glass at us in greeting.

“We’re here to obtain information on Mimic. You should have known that by now, right?”

He [Ango] slowly rises from the barchair, as though listening to the sound of his own footsteps, walking out of the shop with his head lowered. I probably won’t meet Ango again.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Three Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Three

39. Dazai tries to stop Odasaku from going after Mimic. He fails.

“Odasaku, I know what you’re thinking, but I still have to stop you. Even if you do that--” “Even if I do that, the kids won’t come back?” I say.

“Odasaku,” Dazai says quietly. “I hope you will forgive me for speaking so strangely, but don’t go! Go and rely on something, hope that something good will happen next, that something will definitely happen.” I walk off. Despite Dazai’s shouts, I don’t look back.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Four Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Four

SOMEONE TO FIGHT FOR: Odasaku is one of the very few if not only person we see Dazai actively fight for. Ango didn’t even get this treatment. Chuuya gets this treatment more or less, but it’s fairly begrudging. It is apparent from this how much Odasaku means to Dazai--he even talks about trying to live for something, similar to how Odasaku has spoken to him. He is desperate at this point.

40. Dazai goes to Mori to get permission to save Odasaku and promptly discovers that Mori was planning this all along.

“Do you agree to mobilizing the organization’s executive level gifted squad to storm Mimic’s headquarters to save Odasaku?”

“That envelope is--” Something inside Dazai’s mind starts to move violently, flashing. “So that’s how it is... So that’s what this is all about.”

“I just can’t accept it. The one who secretly told Mimic where the orphans Odasaku was raising were hidden was you. Other than you, no one else could have obtained information on the hiding place I chose.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Four

TRUE EMOTIONS: Dazai is furious in this scene. He is horrified and disgusted that Mori has decided to sacrifice Odasaku (and Odasaku’s kids, but less so) to get the Ability Business permit. He is probably the angriest we’ve seen him since the beginning.

41. Dazai essentially says “fuck you” and goes to save Odasaku.

“I want to tell you two things, Boss. First, you won’t shoot me, neither will you order your subordinates to shoot.”

“I am going for one reason, because he’s my friend. I’ll be leaving now.” The subordinates raise their guns, fingers on the trigger. Uncaringly, Dazai strolls towards the door. The subordinates look at Ougai, requesting for him to give the order. Ougai crosses his arms, carrying a slight smile as he looks at Dazai’s back wordlessly. Dazai passes through the door and heads towards the corridor, then disappears.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Four

DEFIANCE: While Dazai by no means sticks strictly to Mori’s wishes--we’ve seen this since the beginning--this is the first true act of angry defiance against him that we know of. Mori anticipated this response, but it is still insane that Dazai, the normally incredibly apathetic bastard he is, is so outraged and takes direct action with that.

It’s a shame.

42. Dazai arrives too late and finds Odasaku bleeding out.

Dazai rushes towards Odasaku’s side, checking the severity of the wound. The bullet has pierced through his chest and blood is pooling on the floor--it’s obviously a fatal wound. Dazai falls to his knees, kneeling by Odasaku’s side.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Four Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Four

THE MOST EMOTION WE’VE SEEN. EVER: At the time this post is made, we’re at Chapter 107 in the main manga. Even with that, I truly do think this still remains as the most extreme emotion we’ve ever seen on Dazai in every way. Odasaku is the equivalent of Dazai’s best friend, and he’s shot and dying in front of him. He had given Dazai a reason to keep going, motivated him to still push forward. Dazai made exceptions for this man. And now, he’s dying.

43. Odasaku’s final words to Dazai.

“You once said that ‘if you immerse yourself in a world of violence and blood, perhaps you would be able to find a reason to live on.’”

“Aah, I said that, but that sort of thing now...”

“It can’t be found.

“You should know this yourself. No matter whether you’re on the side of killing people or saving people, there will never be anything that can surpass your mind. There is no place in this world that can fill your loneliness. You will linger in the darkness forever.”

“Odasaku... I... What should I do?”

“Go to the side that saves people!

“Since both sides are the same, become a good person. Save the weak, protect orphans. Regardless of whether it’s justice or evil, there isn’t a big difference between the two... But, doing that would be better.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know, I know this better than anyone else.”

“I understand... I’ll do that.”

“’Humans live to save themselves. They will understand this before they die’... Well... said...

“I really want to eat curry...”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Chapter Four

THE PATH FORWARD: If Dazai’s loyalty to the Port Mafia was shaken by this point, it was now shattered. His best friend’s dying words were to leave the Port Mafia and try to do better things.

44. Dazai goes to Odasaku’s funeral.

Dazai stands before that epitaph. Dazai is dressed in black funeral attire, a bouquet of white flowers in his hands.

Dazai takes out one photo, placing it before the epitaph. The three people in the photo, in a moment where time has stopped, have smiles that will never disappear carved onto them.

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Epilogue

45. Two weeks later, Dazai goes missing.

“Leader, Executive Dazai-san has been uncontactable for two weeks. To decide the next executive, it should be time to call for a five-boss conference...”

“Don’t convene the executive meeting. Just keep Dazai’s spot empty.”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Epilogue

46. Dazai meets with Chief Taneda of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at Bar Lupin.

“I’m looking for a new job. Do you have any place you’d recommend?”

“...What do you hope for?” “A place where I can help people.” Dazai replies immediately. “Your ledger is too marred. To clear it, you have to lay low for around two years. But... let me answer your question first. It’s not as if I cannot find such a place.”

“There is an armed organization comprised of ability users. They’re in charge of handling grey areas, troublesome matters that cannot be entrusted to the military or city police. The director there is a man with a good heart, he might be able to grant your wish.”

“What is the name of that organization?” “Name? That company’s name is--”

Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Epilogue

TWO YEARS: Dazai decides to join the ADA, and goes underground for two years.

Screenshot from Season 2, Episode Four

And with that, Dazai’s four years in the Port Mafia come to an end. What a shitty teenage experience, honestly. Asagiri really went “want to see how much trauma and mental illness I can fit in this bitch?” and then did that. I mean, he did that to every character to be frank, but from Dazai’s very introduction, the man is messed up on so many levels.

I feel like I’ve learned a lot more about Dazai’s character by writing all this, and to anyone who happens on this, they might feel the same. But honestly, it’s just bonkers thinking about all this. And again, this doesn’t cover everything that happened to Dazai in the Port Mafia! We still don’t have a dedicated light novel to the Laughing Lemon incident, for example! We hear a lot about years 15, 16 and 18, but we know little to nothing about what happened when Dazai was 17. Plus, there’s the two years where Dazai goes underground--what happens to him during that time? And what about him meeting the Sheep prior to Mori? What about the fourteen years he was alive prior to Mori?! It’s just bonkers to me, man.

To any poor soul who read all this, you’re absolutely insane and I salute you. Now, I should probably either work on writing, or get some sleep.

#original post #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai osamu #bsd light novel spoilers #bsd manga spoilers #bsd spoilers #bsd stormbringer spoilers #was this necessary? no. did i do it anyways? yes.#i spent two days on this and all i got was this lousy timeline. ACTUALLY NO im fucking proud of this because now i have a point of REFERENCE #hehehehehehehehehe i have too much power now #long post

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 3 years

Text

Thoughts on Chuuya’s Character Song

I was going to do Atsushi’s next, but I figured I may as well do soukoku together. Also, this is really fucking hard with a hilariously limited understanding of Japanese and trying to cross reference poem translations with song lyrics, my god. Complaining now out of the way, this song is half as depressing as Dazai’s and twice as sexy, so buckle up, y’all. It’s a long one :p

No matter what kind of cliched game it is, I'll play until the end But I won't be satisfied with a scenario by a third-rate writer

Ah, an opening line that fits Chuuya to a tee. So, I figure he’s opening with the acknowledgement that many of the people he knows likes to treat him like a chess piece--namely, his boss and Dazai. He knows he’s just a player in the schemes of others, but he doesn’t particularly care about the fact that he’s being jerked around as long as it’s for some greater purpose. His tone seems to indicate that he resents this, at least a little, but his fiery dismissal says that it doesn’t matter to him in the end.

GOOD BYE, tainted clothes are no longer to be worn I simply wanted a way to kill time

Alright, multiple ways to interpret this bit. Goodbye in english, and a reference to the poem his ability is named after with “tainted”. The argument could be made he’s referring to Dazai, considering the title and references made in Dazai’s character song.

I’d actually argue he’s talking about the Sheep. It feels like he’s casting off his past with that organization, dismissing them with the words that they weren’t really important to him--just a way to kill time, even though we know that their betrayal cut him deeply. And it’s why he’s saying goodbye, and dismissing them as a part of his past. It’s an interesting parallel to the way Dazai talks about Chuuya himself in his own song, because the both of them have pasts that they’re trying to run from.

'In languor dreams of death' ... who was the one that said it?

That would be you, Chuuya. At least IRL Chuuya, in his very fancy poem “For the Tainted Sorrow”. But why this line?

I’ve puzzled it over for a while, but I don’t have a conclusion. Interesting that he opens with talking about death, though, considering how he brushes up against it almost every day by nature of his job.

The world is a bird cage, faded in colour Even if I lament, I can't get out of this prison

This part is also oddly reminiscent of Dazai’s song. Chuuya’s saying that he feels trapped, like a bird in a cage that no longer interests him at all, and that he can’t escape no matter how much he laments. Which is an interesting translation choice, considering his Sheep Song poem can also be translated as “Lament of the Lamb” (though the words themselves in Japanese differ, so I can’t call this an actual reference).

BUT NOW, DARKNESS MY SORROW I have not yet fallen apart So, as I laugh off this imposed inconvenience Let's overturn even the heavens and the earth (GRAVITY) Within the darkness, a shadow of a hat lightly dances

But Chuuya doesn’t care. So what if he’s trapped? So what if escape is impossible? He’s still alive, he’s still holding it together. So he brushes it off as something that doesn’t really impact him much. This song seems very much like a massive middle finger to the shitty cards he’s been dealt. Chuuya’s saying that despite it all, he’s still going to turn the world upside down.

Part of me thinks the reference to the hat is a Rimbaud reference, since he got the hat from Rimbaud and it originally belonged to Verlaine. I feel like this is Chuuya acknowledging how those two people have influenced him, which...we don’t know about yet, as his backstory is still mostly unexplored.

Even if I get tired of the night and tear off my shackles That eye who sees eye to eye with Kierkegaard is also here

This is Chuuya saying that if he gets tired of the Port Mafia (remember, the night is the PM’s domain) there’s still someone who will make sure he can’t leave. After some googling, I’ve realized Kierkegaard is a Danish poet. But who is Chuuya referencing, who sees eye to eye with Kierkegaard? I’m pretty sure it’s Mori, but the JSTOR article I made an account for is 45 pages long and I’m working my way through it slowly. I’ll get back to y’all on this bit, but for now, I’m 90% sure this is Mori.

WOW OH [The best view worth more than a ten-billion masterpiece...] Let's stop messing around already

Ah, Chuuya, always ready for a fight. And this is definitely a reference to Dazai. This is what he says when he sees Dazai for the first time in four years, coming down the stairs to see his old enemy/friend/partner chained to the wall. If you need a memory refresh, it’s the scene where Dazai says “✨CHUUYA!✨”

Why, of all people... is the KEY CASE in that person's hand? In the moment we clashed, the one in control is me I will manipulate even the weight of this cut-short life

Who is “that person”? I’d hazard a guess that it’s Dazai, considering the previous line. The first line is him lamenting that Dazai seems to always have the answers, always to hold the key. But the next part is Chuuya reasserting his control. It’s Chuuya, fiercely defiant to the end, flipping another middle finger to the guy who keeps coming into his life to turn it upside down. Even his own mortality doesn’t faze him in the least. To Chuuya, it’s another obstacle to overcome.

LONELY DARKNESS MY SORROW, once it is opened by the key I'd rather just fall than go back to being alone Staring at the destroyed cage of this self, (GRAVITY) Slowly, I sing, "Not bad at all."

Chuuya, I love you, but why so many goddamn metaphors? Let’s break this down.

Firstly, there’s a swap from “darkness my sorrow” to “lonely darkness my sorrow”. Ignoring the key part for now, we can look at the second line where he says he’d rather fall then be alone again. I think this is a part of his trauma from how he was alone, with Arahabaki/as Arahabaki, for so many years. Chuuya very deliberately surrounds himself with people--first the Sheep, then the PM. He hates to be alone. And it’s an interesting counterpoint to Dazai, who always feels alone regardless of who he’s with by sheer virtue of how isolated his brain makes him feel.

Secondly, the cage metaphor. So the cage from earlier also seems to double as a metaphor for Chuuya himself, which makes sense. He’s technically a vessel for Arahabaki, and so inner conflict has been a part of his identity from the beginning. So once someone (possibly Dazai, possibly Mori, possibly even Rimbaud if you want to focus on how Rimbaud freed Arahabaki) frees him, it’s like he destroys the things that are holding him back. And he’s fine with that.

I’ll address the themes of destruction and the repeated screaming of “GRAVITYYYYY” at the end.

Even though it feels like I might be trapped, there is no room for sentiments I'll push myself to the limit and dye everything jet-black

Again, this is Chuuya brushing away his limitations. He’s still going to fight in spite of it all. He’s very goal oriented, liking to take action more than sitting back and thinking about it.

The world is a bird cage, faded in colour Even if I lament, I can't get out of this prison BUT NOW, DARKNESS MY SORROW I have not yet fallen apart So, as I laugh off this imposed inconvenience Let's overturn even the heavens and the earth (GRAVITY) Within the darkness, a shadow of a hat lightly dances.

And then this bit is just a repeated part, nothing new here. So, a few concluding things.

Firstly, Chuuya and Dazai sing about each other very differently. Chuuya seems to be almost nostalgic about Dazai. But Dazai rejects him entirely in his own song, and it’s an interesting counterpoint.

Secondly, the repeated themes of destruction and fighting. It’s honestly all Chuuya’s ever known, and the thing he’s best at. At this point, it’s a part of his identity, so it makes sense that it’s in his song.

Third, and this part interests me the most. Chuuya’s ability is gravity manipulation, right? And gravity is an attractive force that draws objects to things with the greatest mass. I just feel it’s kind of fitting, that Chuuya--terribly scared of being alone--has a power that brings people towards him.

Just a thought.

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bsd-bibliophile · 5 years

Photo

Nakahara Chuuya - “Poem of the Sheep”

Intention, thou art old dark vapour; begone from my heart! I now hope for nothing more than simplicity and peaceful murmurs and, at any rate, neatness.

Society, thou art indulgence of gloomy filth; do not wake me up again! I now will try to endure solitude, my arms already seem like useless things.

Thou, eyes opening wide in suspicion, eyes not moving for a while as they open. Ah, heart that believes too much in what is outside itself.

Intention, though art old dark vapour; begone from my heart! Begone! Apart from my poor dreams, nothing interests me.

Dazai Osamu - No Longer Human

“You might say that I still have no understanding of what makes human beings tick. My apprehension on discovering that my concept of happiness seemed to be completely at variance with that of everyone else was so great as to make me toss sleeplessly and groan night after night in my bed. It drove me indeed to the brink of lunacy. I wonder if I have actually been happy.”

“Whenever I was asked what I wanted my first impulse was to answer 'Nothing.' The thought went through my mind that it didn’t make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.”

Mori Ogai - Vita Sexualis

“There are things which everyone does but which one does not mention to others.”

(FIFTEEN spoilers below)

Arthur Rimbaud - “A Season in Hell”

A while back, if I remember right, my life was one long party where all hearts were open wide, where all wines kept flowing.

One night, I sat Beauty down on my lap.—And I found her galling.—And I roughed her up.

I armed myself against justice.

I ran away. O witches, O misery, O hatred, my treasure’s been turned over to you!

I managed to make every trace of human hope vanish from my mind. I pounced on every joy like a ferocious animal eager to strangle it.

I called for executioners so that, while dying, I could bite the butts of their rifles. I called for plagues to choke me with sand, with blood. Bad luck was my god. I stretched out in the muck. I dried myself in the air of crime. And I played tricks on insanity.

And Spring brought me the frightening laugh of the idiot.

So, just recently, when I found myself on the brink of the final squawk! it dawned on me to look again for the key to that ancient party where I might find my appetite once more.

Charity is that key.—This inspiration proves I was dreaming!

“You’ll always be a hyena etc. . . ," yells the devil, who’d crowned me with such pretty poppies. “Deserve death with all your appetites, your selfishness, and all the capital sins!”

Ah! I’ve been through too much:-But, sweet Satan, I beg of you, a less blazing eye! and while waiting for the new little cowardly gestures yet to come, since you like an absence of descriptive or didactic skills in a writer, let me rip out these few ghastly pages from my notebook of the damned.

Paul Verlaine - Oh, Heavy, Heavy My Despair

Oh, heavy, heavy my despair, Because, because of One so fair. My misery knows no allay, Although my heart has come away. Although my heart, although my soul, Have fled the fatal One's control. My misery knows no allay, Although my heart has come away. My heart, the too, too feeling one, Says to my soul, 'Can it be done, 'Can it be done, too feeling heart, That we from her shall live apart?' My soul says to my heart, 'Know I What this strange pitfall should imply, 'That we, though far from her, are near, Yea, present, though in exile here?'

Note: These poems were selected simply because they reminded me of the plot in FIFTEEN.

#dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #mori ogai #fifteen #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd

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thesilverhunt3r · 4 years

Text

Title: Ace-in-the-Hole

Summary: Dazai had spent time searching for Chuuya once he hadn't found his partner with the Sheep. Nothing was different in this timeline, except for Chuuya not being in Japan-everyone else was where they should be. Dazai-centric, Book!Dazai, AU.

Link to story on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21651634

Warning-typical Dazai mentions of suicide

"Thinkin' that they've won

It's only just begun

When I go into that ground

I won't go quietly, I'm bringin' my crown

And when I go into that ground

Oh, they gotta bury me, bury me face down."

-Bury me facedown, Grandson

The Book always existed in some form, or another. It went from being slate to papyrus, papyrus to wood pulp. It changed from one single scene to one page half-full of writing to one book of mostly empty pages.

A powerful object having existed for so long, would it be all that odd if it became sentient? If it became human. . . yet not? It took centuries for it to learn how to. Seven years ago, wood pulp, the white pages still in the Book, turned to skin, to flesh, blood, to muscle, to bone. It, he, took the name Osamu Dazai.

XXX

Yokohama, Japan

Dazai tugged on the man's sleeve.

Mori peered down at his young patient, curious. "Dazai-kun?"

"You're not a normal doctor, are you."

An indulgent smile spread on Mori's face. This was not his first time getting barraged with observations by the child. He hummmed. "I guess it depends what you mean by 'normal'."

"I'm not normal either," Dazai bluntly revealed.

"No, you're not," Mori agreed. "But it's better for no one to know about that. It's safer. Okay?"

"Okay," Dazai agreed. Somehow, he knew Mori was right. That he had tried to be open about not being normal. . . and it never worked out.

XXX

Dazai liked his dreams.

He dreamt of many people.

Mori was the only one he had met yet. But he would meet the rest, he knew it. There was Ane-san, Ango-kun, Odasaku, and Chuuya who usually were in the Port Mafia. And then there was Kunikida-kun, Atsushi-kun, Yosano-san, Ranpo-kun, Fukuzawa-san, Kenji-kun, and Kyouka-chan in the Armed Detective Agency.

Dazai will go the usual route for this world, the most common one. He doesn't see why not to? Odasaku is a good friend, even if Dazai hadn't met him yet, and his advice always helps.

XXX

Two years later

"Dazai-kun. No," Mori ordered as he pulled the rope away.

Dazai whined. "But I want it."

"For?"

Dazai looked at the ground as he admitted, "I wanted to try hanging myself."

Mori cuffed Dazai on the head. "No," he sternly insisted.

"Okay."

Mori sighed, crouching down so that he could look his ward straight in the eye.

"You are not allowed to try to kill yourself, Dazai-kun."

"Yes, Mori-san," Dazai murmured. He didn't want to live, he had no reason to.

XXX

Six years later

Suribachigai City, Yokohama, Japan

Dazai was the Boss's, Mori's, witness to the former Boss's death. Being in the Port Mafia, he noticed Randou, or Rimbaud, was missing first. Then a year passed, there were no sightings of the old Boss nor Chuuya. It wasn't the normal timeline, that was for sure.

"Who are you?"

Dazai looked meaningfully at the boy's blue bracelet. His brown hair shifted with him, covering one of his eyes. "You're part of the Sheep, right?"

The boy bristled defensively. "Yeah, so what?"

Dazai pressed closer, grabbing hold of the other boy's collar. "Do you know a guy named Chuuya? Red hair, angry, short?"

"No?" The boy went stiff. His hand strayed towards his knife. He was ready to attack Dazai, but he wasn't lying.

Dazai sighed. He forced a grin on his face and let go. He waved goodbye as he walked away. "Thanks for the help."

XXX

Unknown City, France

Chuuya, a young teenager with red hair, put his hands in his pockets. He looked like a thug, albeit a thug with good fashion sense.

"What do you want to eat?" A man stood next to him, Rimbaud. He had long black hair.

Chuuya cast a look at his guardian. "How about something warm?"

Rimbaud huffed a laugh. "Alright. That sounds good." Despite the warmth of the summer day, he was bundled up in a coat, scarf, and earmuffs. He was always cold.

The two bought some soup from a street vendor. It was hearty and rich, full of vegetables.

Rimbaud blew on a spoonful of his soup.

Chuuya tapped Rimbaud's shoulder, having to stand on his tiptoes slightly because of the height difference. "I think those guys over there want to 'talk' to us."

"Well, they shall have to wait until we are finished," Rimbaud calmly responded.

Chuuya sighed. "Let's hope they're not stupid enough to interrupt us, I guess," he grumbled.

They were.

Chuuya had his hand up. A bullet hovered in front of his hand, encased in a red glow.

Rimbaud tilted the bowl up and drank the leftover broth. He finished and turned to the men in black suits. "Would you like to explain why you attacked us? Or shall we return in kind?"

XXX

Three years later

Yokohama, Japan

Dazai sprawled himself out on the bench. He let a leg dangle over the edge. He shifted, trying to find a position where the wooden slates didn't dig into his back.

He had just left the Port Mafia, so he had two years to kill before joining the Armed Detective Agency.

Dazai had spent time searching for Chuuya once he hadn't found his partner with the Sheep. Nothing was different in this timeline, except for Chuuya not being in Japan-everyone else was where they should be. And now that Dazai had crossed off Japan as a possibility and was free to travel to other countries, where should he start?

Dazai hummed. He always enjoyed choosing where to travel. There wasn't much to worry about, he had time to explore. He brushed away the tangent thought. That wasn't what he should be doing right now.

Of course, there was the distinct possibility of Chuuya not being alive, not existing in this world. But Suribachigai City had been created, so Chuuya had been in Japan, he did exist. Just as unusual, Rimbaud had never become part of the Port Mafia, nor had Dazai seen Verlaine. Both of the men were from France. Dazai grinned, lazily put his hands behind his head. Looked like he had his first lead.

XXX

Charleville-Mézières, France

Dazai smiled as he propped an elbow on the bar, leaning closer. He gave off a warm, amiable air. "What's so dangerous about a shrimp?"

The man harrumphed. "He may be small, but he could beat anyone in this place with a hand behind his back and a glass of wine in the other hand." He gestured with his own glass, emphasizing his confidence with the loudness of a drunk.

Dazai laughed slightly. He perched his chin on his hand. "He does sound dangerous," he admitted. His lips curled up, "Despite his size."

The man's friend interjected. "I almost wish Chuuya was here to see you poking fun at him. You'd find yourself in hell before you could blink."

Dazai let his grin turn into a slight smirk. He couldn't help it, with success so close. "Chuuya, huh?"

The man's friend swore. He had a yellow scarf around his neck that he tugged at nervously. "Just forget I said that."

"What, he doesn't like people knowing his name?"

The two men shifted uneasily.

Dazai almost sighed. "How about this, tell me his last name so that I know who he is. I'll avoid him wholeheartedly," he promised. He had the childish urge to cross his fingers under the bar counter, where the two men couldn't see his hand.

The man snorted. "You talk big, but you're a coward?" He called out.

"I prefer, someone with common sense," Dazai joked.

The man slapped Dazai in the back, rattling the younger's man shoulders. "Alright, I like the mouth on you, kid. The guy is Chuuya Nakahara, hangs around downtown, avoid him all you can."

"Noted," Dazai chirped. "Thanks for the advice."

Jackpot.

XXX

Dazai had the general location. He scoped out the bars and waited until the next night. He had to go over the La Meuse several times, because of how the river annoyingly crisscrossed the city-it honestly got a bit repetitive.

His chosen bar was the one with the best wine reviews, of course.

Dazai scanned the place for redheads. Bingo. He raised an eyebrow at the lack of Chuuya's tacky hat- Rimbaud still wasn't dead. Dazai slid into the stool beside Chuuya and ordered a whiskey, not really paying attention to the type much. He was getting it more to blend in, than for the taste.

Chuuya sat straight-backed on the stool, albeit leaning backwards a bit. He had an ankle crossed over his knee. He looked to be the definition of someone at home in their regular bar.

"Hello," Dazai greeted in Japanese.

Chuuya's eyes moved towards Dazai, blue eyes that puzzled at the unknown man beside him. His stance didn't change at all.

"What's a shrimp like you drinking? Are you sure you're not underaged?"

Chuuya snarled at the insult. He shrugged it off as much as he could. "And who the h*ll are you?"

Dazai grinned, happily volunteering, "Osamu Dazai."

"Chuuya Nakahara," Chuuya grumbled in reply.

"You're a slug. You've probably been here for a while and you've barely touched it." Dazai gestured to Chuuya's still largely full glass.

Chuuya glared at Dazai. "And you're a mackerel floating in the sky," the odd insult fell off his tongue with ease. He picked up his glass and downed half in one go.

Dazai laughed. He slumped forward, letting his elbows hit the counter softly. He shook with laughter, hiding his face between his arms.

Chuuya's face was red, partly from alcohol and partly from embarrassment. That was a stupid insult and that was a valid response-he didn't know how to counter that. He angrily took another sip of his wine. "Shut up."

Dazai continued to laugh.

Chuuya frowned in confusion. The whole conversation felt like a well worn groove that he had slipped into automatically. But he'd never met Dazai before-he knew that.

XXX

Dazai hadn't seen the rat sneaking into the town. He regretted that.

He clutched at the hole in his chest, trying to keep conscious long enough to hear them.

"I came to offer you a job."

"What kind of job?"

Dazai heard as he bled out onto the floor in the secret hallway. He bit back a whimper at the pain. So that was Dostoyevsky's game-the Russian was after an ace. Once Dostoyevsky became Chuuya's employer, he would have Chuuya's loyalty.

Dazai only could process murmurs of brief snatches of the two's conversation.

"I would-"

". . . not a problem, I assure you."

". . . to go there?"

". . . days. . . . Fees are. . . ."

". . . of course, we have a deal."

"Good."

Dazai's consciousness started to fade, along with the sound of their footsteps.

Dazai had played dead for long enough. He pulled himself onto his hands and knees. He choked blood, along with the bullet that had punctured through his heart.

He staggered upright, pressing a bloodied hand to the stone. The tilted sense of balance he was experiencing was matched by his mental state, a confused mess that was barely still working. He left rusted looking hand prints as he shuffled his way through the tunnel, the blood flaked off his palm.

Wet blood still trailed down his mouth and chest. His clothes were stained. There were advantages to wearing black, like the blood on your clothes not making you look like a serial killer or barely surviving-really should be dead by now-victim when out in public.

He opened the secret door to the tunnel. All that was left was an empty room.

Dazai's eyes narrowed in anger. He had played a game with Dostoyevsky and lost devastatingly. Usually, he saw things coming and gained something useful. This time? Nothing. He'd been blind sided. This world was so different yet so familiar that he had ignored the possibility of differences.

He always hated losing, especially with strategies, regardless of whether it was Mori or Dostoyevsky. Dazai had lost-lost arguably his most important piece in one stupid move-and that was unacceptable. Possible paths to victory and revenge streaked through his mind.

Dazai hummed. He would make Dostoyevsky regret what he did. A grin etched itself onto his face as he exited the room.

XXX

Around a year and a half later

Yokohama, Japan

"Hello, Kunikida-kun," Dazai chirped as he strolled into his office. Time for his current, favorite past time: teasing his Agency partner. "How's your schedule going?"

Kunikida stood up. The hold on his notebook tightened. "It was going wonderfully, Dazai. Until you didn't show up for work for three hours," he scolded.

Dazai shrugged, unrepentant. He proceeded to sprawl out on one of the office's couches.

He dreamed, with a smile on his face.

XXX

Lyon, France

Chuuya put another piece of split oak wood in the fire. The fire cracked and popped, accepting the fuel eagerly.

"So, how have you been?" Rimbaud asked.

"Well," Chuuya simply summed up.

"How has the job with that Russian been?"

Chuuya shrugged. "It's been alright." He turned the question around, looking over his shoulder. "How have you been?"

"Good. I took a trip to Italy during winter. It was nice." Rimbaud smiled. "Coffee?"

Chuuya got up. He brushed off the wood dust that had made it on his hands and knees. "Sure."

Rimbaud poured out two cups, both were a crimson. "Any cream or sugar?" He always took his coffee black.

"I'll do mine. You don't have to." Chuuya grabbed a spoon from the kitchen drawer.

"Alright." Rimbaud sat near the fireplace.

Chuuya dumped in creamer. He stirred in his sugar as he went to sit on the floor beside his former guardian. "I still don't know how you can drink tar."

Rimabaud gestured towards Chuuya's cup. "Would you like some coffee with your milk?"

Chuuya snorted. The spoon clinked against the side of his cup.

Rimbaud sighed. "It's been a while."

"Yeah. Glad to be back, if only for a little bit."

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with your job?"

"Yes," Chuuya immediately said.

Rimbaud watched the younger man patiently.

Chuuya ran a hand through his bangs. "I may have some doubts about things," he admitted.

XXX

Yokohama, Japan

Dazai was cheerful and open. Yet Dazai was. . . vaguely secretive at the same time, the type of person one could trust with secrets, but would always be the type of person to keep unknown secrets of all shapes and sizes.

Yosano reached for Dazai's wrist on instinct-his bandages had become loose. It was only when she had the medical clamp in her hand that she realized Dazai had grown stiff, that he was looking at her warily. Oh, Dazai, tried to restrain his flinch and the urge to run, but Yosano noticed.

Yosano promptly ignored him, busying herself with the bandages. She didn't take them off, instead she grabbed Dazai's other hand and put it where she wanted. With something to keep the bandages further down in place, she shifted the loose bandages to where they should be. She still saw the skin underneath.

Dazai smiled as he slipped the clamp from her hand with ease. "Thank you," he said.

Yosano shook herself out of her thoughts. "Of course." She had expected scars. But why the h*ll had they looked like kanji?

Things like that lead them to question just how open their coworker was with them. Was Dazai only keeping a few things close to his chest? Were the things he told them simply a false bottom in an abyss? Merely an act to keep them from asking the important questions? They had no idea, but they suspected there was far more about Dazai they didn't know than knew.

XXX

Approximately a year later

Yokohama, Japan

The tiger had a secondary attribute. It acted like a compass, pulling its host towards the Book. That was why Atsushi always ended up near Dazai. But obviously, Dazai didn't need to find the Book. No, Dazai needed to find the pen, or stylus.

And how was he going to get that?

Dazai sighed. He had sort of forgotten the first step of how to put his overly complicated revenge plan in motion.

Let's see. He had the Book, himself. He had Atsushi as of two day ago. . .and that was about it. But the Book was useless without the pen and he didn't know how to get Atsushi to find the pen for him.

Atsushi was a compass? How accurate was he?

Dazai pulled out his phone. "Hey, Atsushi-kun. Where are you?"

"At the dorms, why?"

"Close your eyes, turn around three times and point in a direction."

"Dazai-san? Okay?"

Dazai heard Atsushi moving around.

"Umm, I'm pointing at my kitchen?"

"That'd be West," towards Dazai's apartment, where he was.

"Umm, Dazai-san? What's going on?"

Dazai grinned. "Thanks for the help." He paused, mulling over how to rope his apprentice into helping him. "Actually, Atsushi-kun, I'm going to send you on a series of tasks tomorrow. To help you sharpen your detective skills, of course."

"Uhh, okay?" Atsushi stammered out, unsure.

"Great."

XXX

Dazai took a train out of the city the next day.

If Atsushi was like a compass, Dazai was a magnet. If Dazai was in Yokohama, he would interfere with things, like a magnet held against the facepiece of a compass, he would disrupt the tiger's ability.

Dazai was the Book and the tiger was drawn to him. It would make sense for the pen to have some sort of draw for the tiger as well, albeit lesser.

Time to send Atsushi on the weirdest scavenger hunt ever.

XXX

Two hours later

"So what is it supposed to look like?" Atsushi asked.

Dazai had his phone between his ear and shoulder. He had started playing a game part of the way through, muting the volume so that Atsushi wouldn't hear. "What'd you find?"

"Uhh, a pen? Black, steel nib?"

Dazai was surprised his half-baked plan of Atsushi playing a bastardized version of hot-cold had worked. "You found it," he cheered. "Good job."

"Dazai-san, you didn't have me do all of this just so you could find a pen you lost, right?"

Dazai almost laughed-in a way, Atsushi was right. "No, no," he assured. "It's very important."

XXX

Dazai sat up. He winced at the pain in his chest. He could heal himself back to perfect health, but that would be suspicious. He was supposed to be human. Humans didn't walk off gunshots. Well, unless Yosano used her ability.

A vase of flowers sat on the bedside table. Dazai scooted himself to the edge of his bed. He shot another glance towards the door-no one was there-the nurse shouldn't be back for another half-hour.

He stuck his hand in the vase. Dazai felt the edge of a plastic bag near the bottom and took it out. Water dripped from the bag. He opened it and withdrew a black pen. He put the bag on the table.

He tapped the fountain pen against his wrist, considering. What exactly should he write and where?

His arms and torso were completely covered in writing, everything from Japanese and Swahili to English and Russian.

He pulled up his pant leg and unwrapped a section of the bandages.

He brushed his fingers over three black lines that curled around his ankle.

He uncapped the pen and set the nib against his skin. He made slow movements, trying to make the kanji as small as possible. The black ink stung. His handwriting was as scratchy as ever, he idly noted.

He didn't kill Dostoyevsky. Doing something directly and costly like that-part of skillfully using the Book is to create great change through small things because that has a much smaller punishment-he did something else. He wished to speak with something, so that he could Amir a deal with it.

When Osamu Dazai goes to sleep on October 14th, tonight, he will talk to Arahabaki.

He gritted his teeth, holding back the scream that rose in his throat. The ink burned, sinking into his skin.

XXX

When Chuuya was first formed, he ended Arahabaki's rampage with his iron will, caging the snarling being in the mind they shared. Chuuya was stronger mentally; therefore, Arahabaki could not force his way into control of the body. But Arahabaki had access to the non-human parts of them, Corruption and the Beyond.

Dazai called out into the darkness. "Hello?" He hummed. "Hello, Arahabaki," he sang, skipping forward.

The darkness shifted. A small red fire appeared-an eye opened. A black snout appeared.

"Arahabaki, there you are," Dazai cheerfully said. He did not look concerned at all with the dangerous being.

A large beast of black flame stalked fully out of the dark. It was vaguely wolf shaped. Two red eyes made of fire peered at Dazai.

Dazai's grin widened. "I have a proposition for you." His spine curved as he slouched, showing off his nonchalant air.

Arahabaki moved closer. It was wary. It knew what Dazai was, who Dazai was.

"I want you to kill Dostoyevsky. You want control of Chuuya's body." Dazai put his hands in his pocket. He ignored the uncomfortable heat around him.

Arahabaki cocked its head. It opened its maw and spoke, "How?" It's voice was charcoal, dry and dark.

"Simple. Overwhelm Chuuya with memories." Dazai used a hand to gesture around as he spoke, as if to say it was easy.

"Memories," Arahabaki replied, skeptical.

"Yes, memories. You know of the other Chuuyas, but this Chuuya doesn't. If you overwhelm him with thousands of years of memories from other worlds? His mind won't be able to process it and you can take over." Dazai shrugged. "All you have to do for me, is kill Fyodor Dostoyevsky when I say the phrase 'do not wake me again' and you can walk away in Chuuya's body," Dazai promised. He held out a hand, more of a symbolic gesture than anything else, an invitation. "Do we have a deal?"

Arahabaki inclined its head.

Dazai gave a close-eyed smile. "Wonderful." It didn't matter that Arahabaki would try to kill him after taking care of Dostoyevsky.

Chuuya was now the perfect sleeper agent.

XXX

A year later

St. Petersburg, Russia

The melody echoed softly through the halls. It was melancholic, fitting what Chuuya was feeling far too well.

Chuuya pushed the door open. He let his shoes hit the floor in a staccato rhythm.

Dostoyevsky almost paused as he looked up from his cello. He absently reminded his fingers to keep playing.

Chuuya Nakahara's ocean blue eyes had hardened into cold ice. A black fedora with a silver chain sat firmly on his head, a momento. "I'll do it."

Dostoyevsky nodded. He looked down, back towards his cello to hide the chilling smirk that spread across his face. Honestly, he should have done this sooner.

XXX

Yokohama, Japan

A thought struck Kunikida. "What's Dostoyevsky even after?" He muttered.

The question was loud enough for everyone in the office to head.

Atsushi tilted his head. "I never thought about that."

Dazai's mouth went dry. He plastered a smile on his face. "The Book." His coworkers looked at him.

Kenji looked the most openly confused. "The Book?"

"An object that can change reality," Ranpo explained. He was sitting on his desk, legs lazily swinging back and forth.

"Ohhh," Kenji replied. "Okay."

"Dazai-san, what is Dostoyevsky planning to do with the Book?" Atsushi

Dazai chuckled. "Something along the lines of, kill all of the Gifted?" His tone grew slightly sardonic. "He never really took the chance to clarify."

Kunikida's knuckles went white. If he didn't keep his nails impeccably short, he would be leaving indentations on the cover of his notebook.

"That sick b*stard," Yosano flatly commented.

Atsushi was pale. He looked as if all of the color in his face had vanished, leaving behind a whitewashed ghost.

Kyouka grabbed Atsushi's hand, a reassuring presence.

Ranpo moved his gaze slowly around the room-he looked at the Agency, at the ability members around him, his co-workers. Him, a normal human that did not possess any ability no matter how much they all lied. Ranpo stared at the lolipop he had unwrapped. He wrapped it back up-he had lost his appetite for sweets.

XXX

The large office room was empty. The only thing worth the visit for anyone normal would have been the view out the window of the sun low on the horizon, coloring the clouds purple, red, and pink. The sky was a baby blue, a contrast to the cobalt blue bay and metal grey buildings beneath.

Dostoyevsky held the pen in his hands. It was a trap, but that didn't matter. He ignored the beautiful view in front of him in favor of turning over the pen in his hands. He admired the smooth metal nib and the comfortable weight of the black barrel. It was the real thing, the Book's stylus.

"Checked the other floors. No one there," Chuuya reported. He stayed by the door.

"Good. Now, Dazai, would you come out already?" Dostoyevsky cast a cursory glance around the room.

There was a chuckle from the ceiling. A white tile slid aside. Dazai dropped to the floor, gracefully straightening up. He pulled out a pistol, pointing it at Dostoyevsky.

Dostoyevsky sighed. "Are we really doing this? We both know how it goes."

A red dot appeared on Dazai's chest. He shrugged.

A red dot appeared on Dostoyevsky's side and the back of Chuua's back.

"This is still nonsense," Dostoyevsky dryly said.

A squad of Dostoyevsky's men burst into the room. They were covered in bulletproof armor.

Dazai smiled as pointed out, "You accuse me of nonsense than just pile on more." He pulled the magazine out of his pistol, letting them both fall to the ground.

Dostoyevsky's expression turned wry. "I decided to try. Turnabout is fair play, after all."

"What, should I get a swat team to break in the office window next?" Dazai cheerfully suggested.

The two masterminds smiles turned a mix of apathy and slight giddiness. There were few people, no one else really, who could surprise and understand them.

"So what's your actual plan?" Dostoyevsky asked. Dazai wouldn't give Dostoyevsky the pen for nothing in return.

Dazai sighed. Mocking disappointment was blatant in his tone. "You walked into a trap of mine with no idea?"

"You did it a year ago. I decided to return the favor," Dostoyevsky mocked back. He had walked into a trap. But he had taken Chuuya, he deemed that a big enough protection for anything Dazai could throw at him.

Dazai hummed, looking at Chuuya. "You did a good job of getting in his head," he praised. "But I planted my agent a bit, well, deeper." His grin stretched into something monstrous. "Do not wake me again."

Arahabaki hid in the recesses of Chuuya's mind. It did not trickle the images and sensations into Chuuya's mind. It made a hole in the dike and let the flood pour in. It slipped into control during Chuuya's confusion. It breathed for the first time in sixteen years. It unsheathed it's knife and hurtled across the room to it's closest target, the squad of Dostoyevsky's men.

Dostoyevsky held a hand up and pointed out the window. He had directed his man to take out Dazai's snipers. The red dots disappeared. Shots cracked out, the glass did nothing to muffle the sounds.

One might have wrongly assumed that bullet proof meant knife proof. It did not. Dazai and Dostoyevsky watched as Arahabaki took its time to tear apart Dostoyevsky's men, playing with them. Stray bullets from the squad embedded themselves in the walls, cracking and breaking off pieces of the wood paneling.

Chuuya stopped moving. He was surrounded by carnage, blood and flesh scattered around him in a similar manner to how confetti and glitter ended up everywhere without one intending it. He wiped one of his bloody gloves off on his dress slacks and picked up one of the squad's guns. He seemed ready to fight again, either with Dazai or the snipers outside.

Dostoyevsky turned back to Dazai, looking sincerely discontented. "That was what you were banking on? Shame it didn't work."

Dazai shrugged. He knew that Arahabaki couldn't permanently take over control unless Chuuya handed it over.

Dostoyevsky was shot in the back of the head, specifically his cerebellum. He fell forward, blood dripping down the back of his neck.

The flood of memories changed Chuuya's mind. It wore away rock and tore away dirt. The ill conceived notions about Dostoyevsky were substituted for knowledge of his plans and the lows the mastermind had gone to. The loyalty to Dostoyevsky was combated by a thousand memories of people. Chuuya cared about and trusted. Chuuya was not simply this world's Chuuya anymore-he was all of the other Chuuya's. Each one that worked in the Port Mafia, Armed Detective Agency, and Japanese government. Each one that had killed and sacrificed for the city of Yokohama and the people that lived there.

Dazai grins. "Good to have you back, partner."

"Yeah, yeah. Glad to be back, a*shole."

A/N

Tl;dr Dazai wants his best friend back and Dostoyevsky dead. He is 100% willing to change reality for that to happen.

To explain Dazai's plan: it wasn't having Arahabaki kill Dostoyevsky-it was having Chuuya do it. The way to get Chuuya to do it was to have Chuuya gain the memories of the other hims. Basically, four years of being Dostoyevsky's subordinate and Dazai's enemy versus thousands of years worth of memories of him being Dostoyevsky's enemy, Dazai's partner, being in the Port Mafia, Ada, government, always working against Dostoyevsky, always loving Yokohama the place Dostoyevsky always seemed hellbent on destroying. Basically, Dazai kind of switched out this universe's Chuuya for canon Chuuya (except armed with meta knowledge).

My favorite part of this is definitely Dazai's solution to finding the pen.

Dazai: "Welp, guess I'm going to send Atsushi on a city wide hot-cold game and hope it pans out."

And for some reason, it works.

-Silver

Notes:

A/N

Tl;dr Dazai wants his best friend back and Dostoyevsky dead. He is 100% willing to change reality for that to happen.

To explain Dazai's plan: it wasn't having Arahabaki kill Dostoyevsky-it was having Chuuya do it. The way to get Chuuya to do it was to have Chuuya gain the memories of the other hims. Basically, four years of being Dostoyevsky's subordinate and Dazai's enemy versus thousands of years worth of memories of him being Dostoyevsky's enemy, Dazai's partner, being in the Port Mafia, ADA, government, always working against Dostoyevsky, always loving Yokohama the place Dostoyevsky always seemed hellbent on destroying. Basically, Dazai kind of switched out this universe's Chuuya for canon Chuuya (except armed with meta knowledge).

My favorite part of this is definitely Dazai's solution to finding the pen. Dazai: "Welp, guess I'm going to send Atsushi on a city wide hot-cold game and hope it pans out." And for some reason, it works.

Shoutout to my betas, TKDGirl17 on ff.net and Solitaire_Dreams on Ao3.

-Silver

#bungou stray dogs #OSAMU DAZAI #chuuya nakahara #Fyodor Dostoyevsky #arahabaki #bsd #rimbaud #the book bsd #book dazai #book!dazai

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thebrookesnook · 4 years

Text

Royalties

University AU! Bungou Stray Dogs Feat. Genderbend

Okay, I've thought of this idea for a while now. I'm not sure if my concept for this fic is final and I may change some things later on, but here's what I've came up with.

The Concept

So this universe will include the following ships:

Soukoku [Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya]

Shin Soukoku [Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi]

RanPoe [Edogawa Ranpo/Edgar Allan Poe]

FyoLai [Fyodor Dostoyevsky/Nikolai Gogol]

Arthur Rimbaud/Paul Verlaine (foster parents of Chuuya)

OdaAngo [Oda Sakunosuke/Sakaguchi Ango]

And more as the story progresses.

However as mentioned in the subtitle, there will be three characters whose genders are changed. These include:

Nakahara Chuuya

Nakajima Atsushi

Edgar Allan Poe (who'll be Edythe Allan Poe in the story)

Yes. These three will be females in the story. One of these reasons why is because I got inspired from a South Park fanfiction [The New Girl by Guestswithoutbags in Archive of Our Own] that had a similar concept except the later is set in highschool. Another reason why is because I love the idea of Female!Chuuya, Female!Atsushi and Female! Edgar, especially Female!Edgar because I rarely see any of her in the works.

Also the canon ages of the characters are losely followed here with minor changes for the sake of the plot. I do apologize.

The first story in this universe will be Chuuya-centric and the rest will be through other's perspective.

The Plot of the First Story.

Now, let's talk about the story itself. So in this universe, Chuuya and Dazai grew up as childhood friends.

Chuuya was once in an orphange in France and was isolated before being adopted by Verlaine and Rimbaud. She doesn't know who her biological parents were, all she knew was that both of them were dead. She loves her new family. She loves being around Ozaki Kouyou, who's also adopted, because she [Kouyou] teaches her [Chuuya] how to be a normal girl. She loves Rimbaud and sees him as more motherly figure, someone she's comfortable with talking about her feelings. Verlaine, however, is stricter than Rimbaud but she loves him nonetheless and sees him as her fatherly figure. One of the tings Rimbaud gives her as a welcoming gift was his hat, to which Chuuya becomes obsessed with and wears it all the time. It's understandable, it's the first gift she receives from someone.

Dazai lived with Mori Ougai because his family had disowned him. He was given the name Dazai Osamu by Mori. He doesn't call Mori father nor does Mori call him son. Dazai just lives with Mori.

(Note: Mori is the worst around this time and later on he'll change.)

Rimbaud visited Mori's clinic regularly for check-ups due to his cold intolerance or cold sensitivity (which is an unusual discomfort felt by some people when in a cool environment). Most of the time he'd bring Kouyou with him, but one day Rimbaud brought Chuuya with him.

This is how Chuuya and Dazai met. Dazai and Chuuya friendship involves a lot of hair pulling (from Dazai) and suprinsingly painful jabs and punches (from Chuuya). Despite their irritation with each other, they still hang out with each other. Some may say they were stuck to the hip.

They then went to the same elementary and middle school. Along the way, Chuuya started to develop a crush on Dazai. During elementary, Chuuya made friends with students who call themselves the Sheep who she met through Yuan and Shirase. Dazai commented that they were a group of delinquents or troublemakers and that she shouldn't hang out with them or else she would get influenced to be disobedient to her owner. To which Chuuya kicked him in response. Conflicted and hesitant, Chuuya decided to befriend the Sheep. Dazai felt a wave of emotion that he didn't understand and he started ignoring Chuuya.

At the end of elementary, Dazai had befriended Sakaguchi Ango and Oda Sakunosuke whom he met at a bar that Dazai stumbled into.

(Note: I'll leave it up to interpretation whether or not Dazai entered the bar purposely or by accident)

If the rift between Chuuya and Dazai wasn't clear enough, Dazai's new found friendship had made it clear. At the beginning of middle school, Chuuya and Dazai rarely talk to one another. Almost as if they had become strangers. Yet, Chuuya's feelings for Dazai remained the same. Everytime Chuuya tries to talk to Dazai, he'd straight up ignore her and pretend she didn't exist. It hurt Dazai as much as it hurt Chuuya.

Chuuya thought things couldn't get worse than that but then it did. Second year, Rimbaud had passed due to his condition getting worse. This had caused Verlaine's mental state to deteriorate and as a result he left Kouyou and Chuuya alone by themselves. Even though Rimbaud had left money for them, it was only enough for their tuition for Chuuya's third year in middle school. Kouyou being six years older than Chuuya (around 19 years old) started working in cafes to earn income for the two of them. To which Chuuya feels guilty for and plans to work part-time as soon as she reaches 15 as well as earn a scholarship for highschool.

Then Dazai leaves the school around the end of second year without even saying goodbye to Chuuya.

(Note: Not because Oda Sakunosuke died, he lives in this universe. But it relates to Oda)

This breaks Chuuya's spirit. It also caused her athazagoraphobia, the fear of being forgotten or abandoned among other issues.

She also stopped hanging around the Sheep too. Then something happens to Chuuya that would scar her for the rest of her life.

(Note: I'm also leaving that because I'm still unsure about adding the scene or not.)

The event had caused a change in Chuuya's personality being closed-off to others and quiet. Shirase and Yuan are upset with Chuuya and decide to confront her about it but Chuuya didn't want to talk to them about it. Which increased their disappointment with her and began telling rumors about Chuuya. Thus, for the end of her middle school, she had being outcasted and bullied by her peers. Despite this though, she kept up her grades and was able to earn a scholarship to an international highschool for foreigners and locals alike.

This is the sceond act and third act of the story takes place. At the start of her highschool year, she befriended Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Edythe Allan Poe due to their similar backstory of being ostracized during middle school (or in Fyodor's case, in senior school). Then the story follows their adventures in highschool and their slow rise to popularity. By that I mean, they became famous for defending those who were like them and make them proud of themselves.

(Note: Cliche, i know but i can see them as like protectors or defenders of the bullied and ostracized but their means isn't as heroic as their ends)

Later on, the Akutagawa siblings are accepted into the trio's group. Then the student body started calling them as the 'Royalties'. The origin of the name came from a student council member who had played cards with Dostoyevsky during an school event and recalls him identifying his group according to the royalty cards in the deck.

(Note: I tried look for a term to refer to the aces, jacks, queens and kings, but they were only two I could find. One was the royalty cards which includes jacks, queens and kings but doesn't have aces. The second one was the honorable cards which includes tens, aces, jacks, queens and kings but I don't know what to refer to ten other than ten. It also doesn't match the others, so I chose to use royalty cards)

Accorrding to Dostoyevsky:

the aces are the Akutagawa siblings. Akutagawa Ryuunosuke is the Ace of Spades and Akutagawa Gin is the Ace of Clubs;

his jack is Edythe, the Jack of Spades;

the queen is Chuuya, the Queen of Hearts;

and his role as King of Diamonds.

Thus, the name Royalties stuck. After all they were the ones running the school since the principle doesn't bother with the student body nor the staff. However, some began rumors about what Dostoyevsky said, specifically his wording. One of which that holds prevalence, is that Chuuya and the Akutagawa siblings doesn't belong under Dostoyevsky's deck. Meaning they have another king and began speculating about who it is. But that's a story for another time.

My thoughts

So that's all my coherent ideas about this half-baked universe I created.

I will come back and edit some stuff if I want to rework this universe and y'know actually start writing it.

Thanks for taking the time read this. Any constructive criticism and comments are very much appreciated and welcomed because I know I'm not a writer, I'm more of a reader.

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evermorethecrow · 10 months

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Oh wow there'll be a lot going on!! That's so cool :3 im also curious about the casino au

Stormbringer spoilers

i have two main beginning parts of the casino au

one of them means chuuya is picked up by fyodor similarly to how he is in my DOA! au

and in the OTHER one chuuya is picked up by fyodor directly after leaving the lab when he's 8 years old

now for the first option the sheep betray chuuya a year earlier because of fyodor's tampering and fyodor gives chuuya a new life in the sky casino. (chronologically the casino would exist then as it was built after the war)

for the second option fyodor places chuuya in the casino a year after finding him (when chuuya turns 9)

in both of these au's fyodor is placing chuuya in the sky casino as a way to hide him until needed for his plans. hiding chuuya from the government and lab (and verlaine)

on the subject of verlaine, since chuuya's location is unknown and very hard to reach verlaine doesnt find him which means professor N is still alive (as well as anyone else verlaine killed, the flags and detective murase)

Like mori i think fyodor would dangle the truth of chuuya's past over him but unlike mori i dont think fyodor would ever actually let chuuya discover it. so chuuya would just assume he's not human

sigma still exists in this au cause i love him so much, him and chuuya co-run the casino so chuuya runs it all day and sigma runs it all night. i imagine chuuya would have a strong attachment to the customers as well as sigma.

theres a few more things and little ideas for the au but im just giving you the backstory for now >_o

#chuuya would be very Rapunzel coded in this #bsd #evermore answers #chuuya au

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pinkgirl94 · 6 years

Text

SOKOKU -Underworld’s Nightmare- Prologue

This is my first BSD fanfic & still writing right now. Please give me your impressions, opinions or whatever about my writing. I’ll be glad to read them. Enjoy reading!

Sokoku

In Japanese, it means Double Black. For what I know, it is a duo formed for annihilating people with no self-pity, filled with black hearts.

Black is a symbol of evil, blindness, mystery, death, sins and other meanings I can find especially in literature.

In Bungo Stray Dogs, black and white are the color representatives that stand out to me throughout the story. Yokohama, a port city in Kanagawa prefecture, where the story is set.

During the day, when the sun rises above and lights the world, people come out of their house and start their own tasks like a colony of ants come out of their nest and do their duty.

Students attend to their school and study, company men and women went to their office to report their duties, shops, cafes and other places open for business, and vehicles drive on the road.

The city is just like a normal one, like any other places in my view but behind it there is a dark side when the sun goes down and a gloomy but aesthetic full moon shows up. At night, many criminals crawl out from the shadow to pursue their sins of crimes.

There are some groups which have a few special ability users like the Port Mafia. Those group of ability users are the kind of people to control and terminate the people who will get in their way. They are dangerous people but not all of them are that kind.

Because of these crime activities, the government already made a department, known as Special Ability Department, that specializes in monitoring the ability users in the whole nation, even foreign ability users who will come to visit. The department also has ability users for handling the cases regarding that matter.

Other than a government department, there are also a few other organizations which also have ability users to use their ability for good especially solving crimes that normal detectives and the police cannot do such as Armed Detective Agency.

In Yokohama, the government, along with military police, handle the cases at day. At night, the criminal organizations take over the city.

The city is always in the midst of war between special ability organizations. In order to reach the balance and peace of the city, a certain person named Natsume Soseki made his plan by, as a start, created a duo. A strong but dangerous duo.

Fukuzawa and Mori

At first, both of them never knew nor met each other before. Fukuzawa Yukichi used to work at the government as a bodyguard. He was a lone wolf who never wanted to work with anyone until he met a young boy named Edogawa Ranpo.

Mori Ogai was an underground doctor who, had his own clinic, worked in the slum where poor and street rats stay. He always bring a doll-like little girl named Elise to his office and spoils her all the time and always by her side.

How did they met?

Twelve years before an establishment of Armed Detective Agency, Natsume gave Fukuzawa a request for protecting Mori. No clear answer why he gave that kind of request but, in order to establish his agency, he accepted it and met him at his clinic for the first time.

They seemed to be never clicked each other. For example, Mori acted indifferent toward Fukuzawa about his fighting skills will become dull and Fukuzawa felt annoying on that. But once in a blue moon, when they faced their enemies, the two of them finished them off like a tornado destroy everything in a flash.

At one night, Mori captured by the foreign criminal gang from South America. The gang captured him because he was an information broker so they will require his knowledge of Port Mafia’s armory location by torturing him. Fukuzawa then came to their hideout and save Mori.

It was impossible for a man get through tight security filled with armed men but, for Fukuzawa, he killed them all easily. After that, it was Mori’s turn to kill other men in the same room as him.

Fukuzawa uses his katana to kill the enemies and Mori hiding his bloodlust to trick them until he took out his scalpel to either slice or throw at their throat. Both of them are the unstoppable that even the top assassins cannot lift his finger to stop them.

This is how the first generation of Double Black, Fukuzawa and Mori, formed by Natsume. As a writer, I will write the continue tale of them in the first chapter, about finding the true purpose of their fighting alongside together before they become the leaders of their respective organizations.

Dazai and Chuuya

They were the second generation of Double Black under Mori’s care but worked for Port Mafia. These two were not much different when in comes to fight together but, in terms of strategy and fighting style, they were much crueler than Fukuzawa and Mori.

One is a man in mummy-like bandage around his body who showed his inner demon himself and the other is a great fighter with his incredible gravity control ability. All people of the underworld knew them as the worst enemies they have ever encountered.

At the age of fourteen, Dazai picked up by Mori as a patient for attempting suicide. He always a type of person who continuously attempts his suicides but failed many times, always got himself hurt whether by those attempts or by accidents. Mori then brought Dazai along as a witness for his assassination plan.

To kill Port Mafia's predecessor.

Mori told Dazai a cover story and so that he became a new boss of his organization as his own. He kept him safe and alive in order to avoid the suspicious of the predecessor's assassination. To gain the whole organization's trust toward him.

One year passed.

Ever since Mori became a boss, rumors about him assassinated the predecessor spread around the Port Mafia. He even heard a rumor about the predecessor, who supposedly dead and properly buried, was alive and caused ruckus in their turf. If anyone learn about his assassination plan, then his position as a boss will be lost.

So Mori leave the investigation of predecessor to Dazai and, during his investigation, that is how he met a young boy as the same age as him, Nakahara Chuya, previously knew as King of the Sheep.

Chuuya is a natural fighter who only uses his legs to brutally kick his opponents like how he kicked Dazai when they first met. He never use his hands to fight until now. He also possess a special ability to manipulate gravity around him and his enemies will be crushed suffocating by touching him even the slightest hit.

When Chuya captured by Dazai, thanked to his ability-nullification ability, and Hirotsu, another ability user and the person who tag along for the investigation, Mori decided to let Dazai and Chuuya to investigate together.

Both Dazai and Chuuya disagreed together at first but Mori explained that things will work well by working together, with Dazai’s nullification and Chuuya’s fighting skills and ability, so they ended up investigate together. All that time, they always arguing and fighting each other like the small brats fighting over the small problems.

Throughout their investigation, they confirmed that the predecessor was not actually alive but it was a being called Arahabaki, known as a god of calamity, that can shape-shifting its body controlled by another ability user. Chuuya revealed himself that Arahabaki they saw was not a real one but actually himself because of his past.

Chuuya’s past is not a happy memory not because he was abused or tortured by someone nor started a harsh life like any characters you have seen in other stories who met their unfortunate fate. He was an empty shell, mere human body.

Eight, years ago, Chuuya was born as a vessel to Arahabaki and sealed away by the Japanese military. One day, two men, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, infiltrated the military base to take Arahabaki’s power but failed because Arahabaki was fully freed.

Arahabaki now merged with Chuuya and made his own personality and will but they lost their memories before the age of seven. Chuuya only recalled someone reached out to his hand and freed him from the seal.

Dazai and Chuuya found who controlled Arahabaki. It was Rando, a Port Mafia executive and his real name is Arthur Rimbaud, with his ability called “Illumination” that conjure hyperspace subregion. He joined Port Mafia in order to find Chuuya and kill him but failed to do so because Dazai and Chuuya defeated him in the end.

On Rando’s final breath, he gave Chuuya his final wish which is to keep living as a human being. Chuuya accepted his wish and still keeping onto him after that.

One month later.

Dazai finally became a mafioso and executive and made his own squadron. Chuuya also became a mafioso and even received Rando’s hat from Mori as a custom way of officially joining by giving a piece of clothing.

For the sake of continuing the event of their tale, I am going to write a chapter about an event when they fight against an enemy organization and made a debut as Sokoku which you never seen or read in the original work.

Atsushi and Akutagawa

Atsushi is an orphan and main protagonist of the series. At first, he had a low self-esteem, always considered himself useless by the people from his former orphanage especially the headmaster himself. After Dazai pick him up from the riverside while he was in a state of starvation, he recommended him to join the Armed Detective Agency and his life changed after meeting new people and slowly gain his self-worth.

Akutagawa is one of the antagonists and a member of the Port Mafia. He calls himself as Port Mafia’s dog and the agency members refer him as the most troublesome and dangerous ability user to be captured. Like Atsushi, he is an orphan along with his younger sister, Gin. They were raised in the slums of the city with other orphans. After the orphans were shot dead by a group of criminals and only him and her sister survived, Dazai picked them up, giving him a reason to live, to become stronger and get a praise from his teacher.

Their first meeting started with a bounty. The Port Mafia received an info from the Guild, a North America special ability organization, about a weretiger that needed to be captured with a big reward and that weretiger is Atsushi. They attempted to capture him a few times but Atsushi still be saved and protected by the detective agency.

In the last resort, Akutagawa successfully captured Atsushi and ready to deliver but Kyoka, a former assassin who became a detective agency member, tried to save him. Seeing her self-sacrifice for him in Atsushi’s eyes made him to save her and fight Akutagawa. That is when he finally begin gaining his self-confidence.

Both Atsushi and Akutagawa are always fighting in both physical and oral for their different resolve. Atsushi, who sacrifices himself to gain his right to live, and Akutagawa, who seeks an approve from a certain person, are likely same to gain something but different in terms of characteristics and morals.

During their final fight against Francis Fitzgerald, the Guild’s boss, they always arguing over their resolve like the stray dogs barking each other for finding out who is right and who is wrong and Francis saw them that way.

Which is why Dazai forced them to work together to defeat the boss and test his theory if their power have the potential to become a stronger duo than the previous Double Black pairs and he is right all along. Francis defeat with their combined abilities.

With Atsushi’s white tiger ability and Akutagawa’s black beast Rashomon, both of them are an unstoppable pair and that is the start of the new generation of Double Black, Shin Sokoku. Their tale of their fight is yet to end as I will write which they will face a new antagonist after the three-way war.

These three pairs are ferocious groups. Each character have different ideals and believe but their bond of fighting alongside is much stronger than we thought. When their tale is about to unfold, what are their string of fate lead to? Please enjoy reading them.

#fukuzawa yukichi #mori ougai #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #nakajima atsushi #akutagawa ryunosuke #soukoku generations #soukoku #shin soukoku #my fanfic #bsd fanfic #bungou stray dogs

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