Genuinely Don't Know How This Will Turn Out, But—

"Akutagawa is Atsushi's foil" yeah but you know who else is?

Dazai.

Atsushi and Dazai are really good parallels in a way that doesn't ever get talked about. Atsushi saved Dazai from dying in the moment that he decided he was going to live. Everything Atsushi does, everything that drives him, is his utter desire to live. Sure, sometimes he may doubt his own right to do so, but to him, life is the most beautiful thing he wants to be worthy of.

Dazai, on the other hand, is driven by his desire to die. He searches for a way out, even if he never goes through with it. He doesn't see the value of life, not in him and not in most others.

That's one of the things that attracted Odasaku to him, and now Atsushi. Because as much as Dazai never valued life, he values people who value life. Chuuya, Odasaku, Atsushi, even Ango he chose to befriend when learning that he was writing the names of all the dead. That's why Atsushi is so precious—it's someone he could learn from, maybe to find his own will to live.

The boy who desires life while his mentor desires death. And their relationship is somehow one of the most wholesome in the whole series.

Chuuya's wardrobe and how it changes over the years truly is everything to me. He's on the streets, he wears a hoodie, a biker jacket covering the hoodie, and jeans. He joins the mafia and gets a hat. He immediately gets a fancy outfit to accommodate said fancy hat. He loses the hat, and then he wears the standard suit, but different, cuz he's Like That™. Then it's back to the hat, but also back to the biker jacket. Then it's the fancy outfit. Then it's a fancy biker jacket. Seriously, his wardrobe is such a perfect representation of his character. I love him.

Oh and don't even get me started on Dazai. What he did would make way more sense coming straight from the Mafia, letting everyone kill each other. It doesn't feel like something Dazai would have done already being with the Agency for two years, and he's never killed anyone in present (he tried with Fyodor but...yeah. Also it's fyodor it's fair). And then him talking to Kunikida about the dangers of his ideals...it's all things that would make sense happening after he recently met Kunikida, not someone who's been in this organization for two years now.

Having the events of Dazai's entrance exam take place before the start of the series rather than during it really makes Kunikida's character make so much more sense. Specifically why, at the beginning of the series, he was really hesitant to save Atsushi, or have Atsushi save Kyouka. It's not out of rudeness or apathy. He won't let himself care, because he tried before. He tried to bring up a kid that had a bad life, and it only ended in failure. The events of the Azure Messenger arc really shape Kunikida's character into being someone who wishes he was a hero, but isn't. That he can't save everyone. So when Dazai saves Atsushi, at first, Kunikida doesn't want to grow close or allow himself to care because he feels that this too is only going to end in failure. Hence what he tells Atsushi about he and Kyouka both drowning if there isn't enough room on the boat (the metaphor admittedly makes more sense when he said it). It just adds so much in respect to his character if it happened before the events of the series as opposed to during it, because then it just makes Kunikida out to be super uncaring. But he's not. He just doesn't want to get his hopes up until he can truly accept the fact that this time, it might end better.

What if skk got caught in a bank holdup

A random idea/fanfiction by me.

Inspired by: the shower (truly, it's a magical place)

Because like, imagine, will you, that Dazai goes to the bank on his day off after payday, possibly looking to get some new bandages, and who should he come across but Chuuya, who is there to take out some money from a totally legitimate Port Mafia account. They'd probably bicker for a minute, Dazai would find at least three ways to insult the mafioso, who would then shout back at him, only to have everyone else in the bank shoot them strange looks, so he then resorts to whisper shouting. Until suddenly, the doors burst open, and in rushes five men with guns blazing, their faces obscured by masks. "This is a hold up!" they declare. Three of them usher all the bankgoers to one wall, forcing them to sit down quietly. And of course, if any of them try to call the police, they'd really get it. The other two deal with the clerks, getting them to open the vault, and no one gets hurt.

Meanwhile, Dazai and Chuuya are watching this play out with mild amusement. After one of them sticks a gun in Dazai's face and tells them to move it, they share a shrug and walk to the wall, plopping down criss-cross applesauce. The patrons are shaking. Some of them are crying, some are praying. Dazai folds his arms behind his head and leans back against the wall, suppressing the urge to yawn. Chuuya takes the opportunity to munch on a granola bar and observe the robbery with vague interest.

With his eyes closed, Dazai asks... "so...are you going to stop them, or...?"

"Nah," Chuuya answers between bites. "I haven't eaten much all day, so..." He turns to Dazai. "What about you? Aren't you the detective here?"

"Yeah, but it's my day off now. I don't want to work."

"Yeah, yeah, definitely know the feeling."

"Hey, you two!" shouts one of the thieves watching the hostages. "Be quiet!"

"Sorry." Neither of them sound particularly apologetic. They sit for a few more minutes. Dazai yawns and stretches. Chuuya finishes his granola bar. Nothing changes.

"What's taking them so long?" Chuuya mutters. He's starting to get annoyed. "Some of us have things to do, you know."

"This is actually really pathetic," comments Dazai. "We could have gotten double the money and been halfway back to the base by now, gone before the police even knew there was a threat."

"And we'd never do it like this," agrees the mafioso. "This is too loud, and it's got no class."

"Right? It's like begging for the police to come. And besides, this whole hostage situation is thin as paper. If they really wanted to intimidate people, they should have shot someone by now, prove they're serious."

"Those guns probably aren't even loaded."

"Honestly, this whole set up is awful. Truly amateurish."

"This whole thing would be much smoother if we did it. Maybe we should help them, just so they can get their money and leave the rest of us alone."

"That-"

"Hey!" shouts the same guard again. He points at Dazai, then at Chuuya. "What did I say about talking?! If you don't shut up-"

"No, you're doing it wrong," Dazai informs him.

"I...what?"

"If you really wanted to intimidate us, you should have fired off a warning shot, at the very least. Even if you're too coward to actually shoot a person, at least don't make it so obvious the thing's not even loaded."

Beads of sweat drip down the thief's face. "Huh?"

"And could you tell your friends there to hurry up?" adds Chuuya. "They're going to be caught at this rate. Obviously, the clerks are stalling. They're probably sticking in the lowest bills they have to give the bags some weight. It would be way more efficient to have one guy guarding the clerks and two of you doing it yourself."

"Just figure out the accounts with the most in them and take from there," Dazai suggests, standing up. "You'll get more and faster like that."

Chuuya rises as well. Now, the other two thieves who were supposed to be guarding the hostages come to back up their friend, pointing their guns directly at their heads. Dazai frowns.

"Hold on a second, can I see that? Thanks." He reaches out and grabs the nearest thief's gun, and before he even has a chance to protest, he opens up the magazine and shakes it.

"See? Empty. Would it really have been so hard to even find one bullet to put in there?"

From behind their masks, the burglars begin to panic. The public, now aware they're being held up by nothing, stand up angrily.

"And look!" Chuuya strides over behind the counter, where the clerks are supposed to be filling up bags with money. He takes one out of a male's clerk's hand and dumps it out on the floor. "All 1,000 yen bills. If you had just paid more attention, you could have made off with much more. And, now the police are coming."

Indeed, the sound of wailing sirens gets louder and louder. The thieves glance at each other. With a single nod, they turn on their heels and run.

"Not so fast!" All of the former hostages block the door. The thieves freeze, turning to Dazai fearfully. He shrugs.

"That's what happens when you don't back-up your claims. This is due to your own stupidity."

The public manages to easily restrain the thieves until the police arrive to take them away. As they're being dragged out, Dazai and Chuuya merely watch with their arms folded, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves.

"Disgraceful."

"What a sloppy job."

"Embarrassment to all criminals, really."

"Can't believe I had my time wasted with this crud."

"Hopefully, they'll do better next time."

"Yeah. If you're going to hold up a bank, at least do it well."

After the thieves are taken away, the police ask Dazai and Chuuya about what happened, since everyone says that they're the ones who stopped them. They answer with vague statements that amount to nothing, and leave the bank before they have to get more involved.

Neither of them speak much, each caught up in his own memories from the past. Eventually, Dazai decides to head back to his apartment, though not without giving one good jarb on Chuuya's height. In the end of the day, he supposed he did stop them. Well, as long as it didn't have to count as work-

The next day, both Chuuya and Dazai were required to make a report on the matter.

End.

While I'm grateful bsd doesn't do the "As you know..." type of exposition, it's crazy how much worldbuilding there is like. in the shadows of everything. Like, what's up with the Great War? This isn't even so evident if you don't read the light novels, but there was literally a world war that ended less than fifteen years before the start of the main timeline. It's because of the war that there are so many orphans in the universe. It's because of the war that ability users have faded into a myth, and why they have to get special permits to work and usually gravitate towards underground organizations. It's because of the war why world relations are so shaky, why the government strictly monitors all ability users, and yet all of this is sort of like...in the background? Season four is the first time we ever even get a real flashback and actual exposition about it in the anime, even though it's been vaguely referenced as early as season two with Mimic. They literally did experiments on children, hence Chuuya. So much of the world and the violence and the tripartite framework all came into existence because of the war. And until the most recent arc, where it's being brought to the forefront with both Fukuchi and Fyodor's plan to eradicate ability users, it's sort of just in the background.

And don't even get me started on the lore behind the Dragon Head Conflict because like-

Fitzgerald is such an underratedly funny American like-

He showed up, created chaos, mispronounced names because those darn Chinese I mean Japanese names amirite, and then even after he got defeated, he was saved by the power of love and now he's just in the background doing capitalism while the main cast is busy fighting off terrorists.

Ok so I just read chapter 119 and aside from the fact that I will need extensive therapy after this, why is no one talking about the parallels from when Akutagawa showed up in this chapter and his first appearance???

When he is first introduced, it's as a murderer, a villain. He's come to kill, and he doesn't have any qualms about it. He doesn't care about life, not that of others or his own.

But-

Now, he's a savoir. He's essentially saying the same thing (translation differences, I'm pretty sure it's meant to be the same thing), but now he's not a heartless murderer. He's a hero, a protector. He's telling his enemies to fear death, because he will fight for the innocent souls. Honestly, the parallels are so genius (and quite frankly, one of the only parts of this chapter that doesn't make me want to sob in a corner). He's GROWN. He's not the same Akutagawa he used to be. Here's to fight for life and to protect it.

^Description of Oda from Beast.

Odasuku’s somehow the most unserious serious person.

He takes everything literally and it doesn’t matter what the topic of conversation it. He will handle it with the same amount of important and seriousness.

Without changing his tone or facial expression.

Like that man probably talks about getting milk from the shop in the same way he’d talk about killing a person.

There’s simultaneously no thoughts in his head and too many.

Sorry not sorry about this, but I need to see something:

like if you want Jorge to pay for your therapy bills