i want to consume your art /pos

also, i love that you use she/ her pronouns for Atsushi and will now forever use this. You drawing her is amazing and i love your art sm >v<

have an Atsushi (her bean form is precious, is it not?)

THANK YOU SM OMG

I’ve had people point out the same thing under the tags, but they don’t know if it’s intentional or not lmao. IT IS, IT ALWAYS IS‼️ Calling Atsushi by she/her just makes sense to me.. Kyouka’s big sister, her ane-san, Lucy’s girlfriend, her wife, my daughter, etc. I love her very much!!!!

I LOVE HER BEAN FORM‼️‼️ THIS IS THE WERETIGER PEOPLE WANT TO HUNT DOWN BTW I WANNA HOLD HER

Hello, anon! :D And thank you for your trust in my opinions!

[The following quotes from Beast!AU are from @looking-for-stray-dogs.

A complete translation of the novel was made by @yanase-gr.]

~ ~ ~

Dazai’s and Atsushi’s relationship in Beast is very complicated to begin with.

During their scenes Dazai is switching between being respectful towards Atsushi and then being pretty cold to him in the next moment.

Apparently Atsushi is allowed to do things other subordinates are not allowed to do. He actually calls Dazai “Dazai-san”, and not “boss”. Although, the hesitant way of him saying his name implies that he’s uncomfortable to do so:

“Thank you……very much, Dazai-san.”

Head still bowed, Atsushi said so in a nervous voice.

Immediately, Chuuya’s low voice interrupted. “Haah? Call him ‘Boss’, brat. You wanna be killed?”

Dazai must have either offered or ordered Atsushi to address him that way for whatever reasons. I doubt that Atsushi was the first to call him “Dazai-san” without being giving permission, since he has an awed and dependent perception of Dazai in Beast.

We know that Beast!Dazai has the knowledge of other realities/worlds, so he may want that subconsciously (being called “Dazai-san” by Atsushi), because he knows that in other realities/worlds he has a good relationship with him. Which is kind of a parallel when he sits with Beast!Odasaku in the bar and actually calls him “Odasaku” (much to Odasaku’s irritation), because he knows in another reality/world they were friends.

.

Another thing Atsushi is allowed to do is being alone with Dazai. Chuuya as his bodyguard opposes to both these exceptions, calling Atsushi out to be more respectful towards Dazai and not allowing anyone to be alone with him, since that person could be trying to kill Dazai:

“Now now, Chuuya, it’s fine,” Dazai said while crossing his legs. “More importantly, I want to speak to him alone. Chuuya, leave us for a while.” [...]

“What’re you talking about. A mere member not even an executive member or your secretary seeing you directly, that’s already the exception of exceptions.”

“Why? Atsushi-kun’s a trusted subordinate.”

“It’s not about trust. What’re you gonna do if he’s controlled by an Ability, or a bomb was planted on him without his knowledge? There were precedents. Impossible that I’d give you permission for you two to be alone.”

.

[...] Dazai made a wry smile, and he turned to face Atsushi. “Be at ease, Atsushi-kun.”

.

From what I understand from the fan translation is that in Beast Dazai also trained Atsushi. Of course, these sessions must have involved physical force, too. There is also the fact that in Beast Atsushi has to wear a spikey collar in order to suppress/control his tiger powers. Since he isn’t an ADA member there, and Fukuzawa with his ability cannot make him control the tiger, it’s the only way for him to do so. Otherwise he would be blindly going on rampages (which apparently did already happen in Beast), or he would be waiting inside a cage.

But I still doubt the training was as violent as between Canon!Dazai and Canon!Akutagawa. Because:

1.) Canon!Akutagawa disobeys Canon!Dazai’s orders (killing people he should not kill), for which he gets punished. This is something Beast!Atsushi does not do, he strictly follows Beast!Dazai’s orders. But more on that later.

2.) Beast!Odasaku says about Akutagawa‘s ability something like: “Your ability is strong, but you’re physically weak.” Something that’s also not the case with Atsushi, since he has the tiger’s regenerative powers and so on. So training him that violently may not be necessary for Beast!Dazai.

3.) Beast!Dazai planned from the very beginning to not let Beast!Atsushi stay forever in the PM:

There is the sound of clapping, and Dazai congratulates them.

“Atsushi-kun. You’re fired.”

Atsushi’s eyes widened for a moment from surprise, then he closed them immediately.

“……understood.”

“In exchange, go live in the outside world. I’ve made arrangements for somebody to take care of you. Go into the world of light, together with Kyouka-chan.”

.

“Dazai-kun must have, in his own way, been worried for you for after he’s gone.” − Beast!Mori to Beast!Atsushi

He made arrangements that he would live a better life, after the incidents of Beast. Contrary to the canon storyline, where Dazai did not have any plans to bring Akutagawa out of PM. Also because at that time, he himself thought that he would stay there forever. Leaving PM was an impulsively made decision due to Odasaku’s death and last wish, and he didn’t bring Akutagawa with him. All these circumstances do not happen in Beast, and Beast!Dazai’s plans differ greatly from his canon self.

So from Canon!Dazai’s mindset it was important to teach Akutagawa how things work in the Mafia, and that he won’t survive there, if he ever shows weakness. Which isn’t the case with Beast!Atsushi.

.

Even when Atsushi disobeyed Dazai one time (He went back to the orphanage and killed the headmaster, something which Dazai advised him against), Dazai seemingly didn’t punish Atsushi in any way. Because Atsushi was already punished in dealing with his trauma and guilt for killing the headmaster.

[Sidenote: Yes, even in Beast we have that stupid “AKSHUALLY the headmaster was a gOoD gUY uwu” narrative. Thanks, I hate it.]

It’s not mentioned anywhere that Atsushi was once punished by Dazai for anything or that he’s afraid of him in (physically) hurting him. Instead Atsushi begs Dazai for orders and states several times that he saved him:

“Please, order me, Dazai-san.” Somehow, Atsushi squeezed his voice out from behind trembling teeth. “Immediately. I will never again, go against your orders. Never, never, never.”

“I’ll believe that,” Dazai said while coolly looking down at Atsushi.

.

“That person [Dazai] saved me. He saved me from hell, and invited me to this organization. I will never betray that person’s orders.” [...] “He told me to join. Said that I’ll be granted what I wanted.”

Of course, their relationship in Beast is far from healthy and good. And it’s very shocking to read for the first time. But it’s also not as terrible and cruel as it was between Dazai and Akutagawa in the canon story. That of course, doesn’t make Atsushi’s mental state in Beast any better, and it doesn’t excuse Dazai’s treatment of Akutagawa in the canon story.

.

In addition to this, I think that Beast!Atsushi and Beast!Dazai truly care for each other. Atsushi is visibly devastated when Dazai is about to commit suicide. And Dazai, as mentioned above, made preparations to have Atsushi live a better life. It’s just that they have complicated circumstances. Beast!Dazai’s main goal is to keep Odasaku alive, because Beast is the only reality/world where this is possible (which kind of gives Odasaku the role of a martyr in other realities/worlds). But to achieve this, he has to make everybody else suffer and keep a cold facade:

“Yes, this is a natural phenomenon.” Dazai’s voice carried the accompaniment of fatigue that had been thinly extended. “Nobody can stop it, nobody can fight against it. Even I cannot— if there’s one thing we can do, it is to love it. The truth that this world is one huge lie.”

.

“It was dreadful,” the young man muttered. “It was really dreadful. To fight against Mimic without you, to have to succeed Mori-san, to make enemies of everyone and expand the organisation. It was all for this world’s—”

− Beast!Dazai to Beast!Odasaku

There is a sad parallel where Dazai says the following to Odasaku:

“A life with someone to say goodbye to, it’s a good life. If there’s someone who would feel pain from the goodbye, I’d wish for nothing more. Am I wrong?”

And the only person who actually feels sadness for Dazai’s death is Atsushi:

It was true that, after Dazai’s death, Atsushi hadn’t known what to do and had left Yokohama, refusing food, wandering in remote places. Even he hadn’t known why. But—he couldn’t help but do so.

.

“You didn’t want to die, you just didn’t want to live. They are two completely different things.” − Beast!Elise to Beast!Atsushi

Soukoku Rant

So I just needed to get this out there.  This won’t have any references (although I will try to direct to where I saw a thing) so sorry, but I just need to blab about this thought in my head. THIS TURNED OUT TO BE SO LONG SO HERE’S A CUT.

A big part of the BSD fandom is Soukoku.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Soukoku (Nakahara Chuuya and Dazai Osamu).  I don’t ship them but I love them, and especially love them separately (Chuuya is my favorite, and he’s still taller than me). ANYWAY something that always comes up is Soukoku’s relationship and I think the fandom in general is pretty spot on about how their dynamic is complicated and complex.  It is stated in the both the manga and anime by the characters themselves and in the manga character sheets that they hate each other.  Like to the point that Chuuya’s only dislike is Dazai. Not even Atsushi and Akutagawa have each other listed as dislikes (granted that’s pretty obvious and is a main story arc with Shin Soukoku, but I digress).  And they do apparently hate each other.  However, we all saw in both the manga and the anime how, when Dazai was smacked by Lovecraft and actually pretty hurt, Chuuya was concerned.  And in the opening art of Chapter 31 (Double Black/Soukoku)  of the manga little Chuuya and Dazai looking at each other as they walk away.  This all leads (pretty obviously) that their dynamic is more complex than just ‘they hate each other’. 

What I’ve been thinking about is this - there are two ways their relationship has played out. But there is something to keep in mind here before I ramble more: 1. the main ‘pairing’ of the story isn’t Soukoku (at least the main story of Bungou Stray Dogs); that belongs to Shin Soukoku. Atsushi IS the listed main protagonist and the manga has this goal in mind.  BSD is about Shin Soukoku not Soukoku. 2. We are getting an original movie that the poster featured Soukoku; so there might be hope for more Soukoku past but I don’t know anything and all my info has to be translated because I’m lame and don’t speak Japanese. So all this could be for naught. But do keep in mind, the movie is a Bones production and I have no idea how much say Asagiri is having (could be writing the whole thing, again I don’t speak Japanese and I have no idea). 

Now, the two ways Soukoku relationship could play out.  Let’s start with the optimistic one first. They were probably raised somewhat together in the Mafia and were friends once upon a time. They were partners after all, and while one could make an argument for putting them together for the compatibility of their strengths alone it was probably a little more than just that.  But they are SUPER compatible.  Chuuya is strong, and not just because his ability is fucking gravity manipulation; he is the lead martial artist of the Mafia.  Dazai is ‘the demonic prodigy’ and while he does have some hand-to-hand combat training and is good with it his real strength is his strategic mind.  They are very much a brains and brawn combo.  Not saying Chuuya isn’t smart, he is; Dazai is just smarter.  And this is where the hatred probably started.  They are listed as being the same age (both 22 in present day BSD) yet Dazai is the one known as the Demonic Prodigy, the one with the title of ‘Youngest Mafia Executive’.  Not Chuuya. We don’t know when Chuuya became an Executive (or at least I don’t) but we can assume it was after Dazai became one. And we know Dazai used to give Chuuya shit all the time when they were partners - Chuuya says Dazai used to spite him and insult him during Episode 10 (and the correlating manga chapter) when they were partners all the time.  Do we think Dazai is above rubbing something like that in Chuuya’s face? Chuuya is big on loyalty and the Mafia hierarchy, and Dazai being an Executive and Chuuya not would cause some problems for Chuuya with being his partner.  But is Dazai about being petty? Absolutely not.  Especially ESPECIALLY Mafia-Dazai. And Dazai toward Chuuya in general; he admits he was captured and came to Mafia headquarters ‘mostly for Atsushi’ with the rest of his reason being to spite and goad Chuuya.  EVEN AFTER FOUR YEARS OF NOT SEEING EACH OTHER DAZAI IS STILL A LITTLE SHIT TO CHUUYA. So let’s think about this; Chuuya as we know is an extremely hard worker, loyal to a fault to the Mafia, and cares deeply (as shown when he is looking at the deaths from Q’s curse).  Dazai (especially Mafia-Dazai and yes we must separate them) cares little for others, loves to prank his partners, and while he works hard everything is easy for him because he is so smart.  The hatred could have started, at least on Chuuya’s side, from a sense of jealousy and that’s WHY anytime Dazai is brought up and praised he still gets upset (that wine scene with Kouyou, Mori, and Chuuya post Shin Soukoku fighting Fitzgerald). And another thing - Chuuya is dependent on Dazai for Corruption. Completely dependent and at Dazai’s whim.  Soukoku is powerful and became Soukoku because of Corruption (as stated in the manga); Corruption being CHUUYA’S ability yet Chuuya’s life is in Dazai’s bandaged hands. And yet, Dazai seems to get the most praise.  Now why does Dazai hate Chuuya? (We know he does, it’s stated and he is much less reactionary toward Chuuya than the other way around). Not sure, Dazai is always hard to read.  But I would theorize that they were friends at one point, probably partners for a long time, and it was jealousy and conflicting personalities that made them drift apart.  But it’s hard to let go of in-grained habits, like caring for your partner and knowing their habits and attacks; remember it was 4 years from when Dazai left the Mafia and they still remember their old maneuvers.  And caring for the one person that could save your life if you have to use your suicidal yet super strong true ability. Looking at you, handsome ginger. 

Now for the more pessimistic reason they hate each other - because Asagiri wanted a parallel to Shin Soukoku. That’s it. Because the author wanted a parallel.  And this only works as the parallel to Shin Soukoku because Dazai is officially part of the Agency and Chuuya is a Mafia Executive.  It would make sense for there to be an original Soukoku if the end-game is Shin Soukoku with Atsushi and Akutagawa.  It makes Shin Soukoku more believable and gives them room to grow and makes them front and center if and when they become more powerful than Soukoku.  Now yes, Chuuya and Dazai were dubbed Soukoku back when they were in the Mafia together, but WE DON’T SEE THAT which is what is important.  We don’t see Soukoku originally, we see Soukoku as Asagiri (this is an intentional fallacy but imma do it anyway) intended for us to see them - as one member from the Agency and one member from the Mafia working together. Giving us an original Soukoku with a backstory that makes it believable makes the idea of Shin Soukoku more appealing and more believable especially since Akutagawa spends SO MUCH TIME trying to kill Atsushi. Them working together without a previous basis of reliability, of an example of ‘oh hey two people from opposite sides who hate each other working together can work cool’ would be hard to sell.  Now this isn’t the first time things have been twisted to suit the narrative in BSD.  Very first episode, very first chapter - when we find out Atsushi is the tiger and we see Dazai’s No Longer Human nullification for the first time, for some reason Atsushi’s arm doesn’t return to normal.  Which, by all accounts and all instances we see of No Longer Human later, it should have.  So why this first time does Atsushi’s arm remain a tiger paw? Dramatic effect. So Atsushi can find out in a slightly humorous manner he is the tiger and he is a gifted individual.  Dazai says “My nullification ability is absolute” in Double Black when fighting Lovecraft.  If it’s absolute, as we have seen it to be, this first interaction of No Longer Human on Atsushi makes no sense - except as a twist made by the author for the narrative.  And the narrative is Atsushi, as the main protagonist, joining the Armed Detective Agency and later becoming part of Shin Soukoku. Side/Last note, Soukoku isn’t the only Mafia/Agency duo OH NO we find out Mori and Fukuzawa were an unofficial Soukoku back in the day.  Chapter 50 we discover THIS LITTLE TIDBIT and it was hinted they had interacted before during the Guild Arc. 

All in all? It is probably some combination of the two.  There is probably a back story to Chuuya and Dazai’s hatred of each other we are not privy to. But this is a chance it is not detailed because it isn’t necessary for the main story.  Now, if the movie does prequel to our BSD universe and gives us the truth of Soukoku? I’m down. 

The purpose of this? I’ve been thinking about this every god-damned day for like a week and I needed to get it out. Sorry for the ramble. 

I'm completely baffled at how so many people make the port mafia out to be actually really nice and just trying to protect their city. like they'll literally slaughter anyone without hesitation. They obviously do shady stuff to make revenue and they force children to kill people. I mean you can still love the characters without justifying all the terrible things they do?? Also if the Port Mafia is not so bad then why would Dazai leave ? though to be fair i think this might be more of .. (1/2)

a narrative problem then a fandom thing. ADA is often compared to the mafia. we know ada are the good guys because the story tells us so, but we arent shown much difference between the two. apart from Kunikida, most members are very morally grey and seem to be on the ‘good’ side by chance. i think this is why the mafia seems not so bad then? idk i just wish it’d be brought up or at least have someone be conflicted about it, but i doubt it’ll happen. sorry for ranting at you ahaha (2/2)

No, don’t be sorry. I love your view on it and I agree with everything. Especially the part, that it’s more a narrative thing rather than a fandom thing, even though  with other characters such as Fyodor, i certainly believe fans woobify him. 

The problem is, that there is always a common enemy for both the ADA and the Port Mafia- so the story puts them both on “the good side” while the Guild for example is on the bad side. And thinking about it from a logical view it doesn’t even make sense that Mori decided to declare a  war against the guild. He could have tried to side with them. They wanted to get only Atsushi after all :/ It would have been less risky for them. I wonder if the new arc will go the same way after the 2-days-limit expired, but I srsly hope not. 

One thing I also wanted to mention is that everytime the story gets serious the Port Mafia, aside from Mori, never really poses a real threat to the ADA. They never really hurt the ADA long-time in any way, which is why the fandom also doesn’t really treat them as danger or real villains. They are rather a foil to the ADA than an antagonist. And if it’s supposed to be their role in the story, then I’m fine with it as well, but only if their actions, characters and intentions don’t get downplayed.