Alright so I'm thinking about dad mori again. Truly this is a mold that has grown on me and won't leave.
I have some old draft that I might rework.
One of them is about dazai testing whether mori cares for him. Because a traumatized suicidal child would test his equally smart carefaker.
What are the ways dazai would do this? Smaller ways, like asking for attention and being annoying. Bigger ways, like planning things where mori is needed to avert his way or take some sort of loss for the Mafia.
ok but mori teaching 14-15 dazai things, giving him books to read about war strategies, about language and culture, about psychological responses. and then, like, teaching him instruments, learning how to read the notes, to play them on the piano, the violin, anything. showing him how to write, and how to paint, and how to knit. random things that could be practical for any mission, but mori indulges in it like a teacher and his student. like a father and his son, guiding him with the utmost care in a way he seems to be doing for the time spent together rather than the skills learned when it’s over.
dazai pretends not to notice because it makes him hate mori even more, somehow. but mori thinks back from time to time, and maybe he smiles when he remembers the way dazai kept mispronouncing words in german, or his fingers would slip on the strings of the cello, and how mori would pause and have him try again until he got it right, and dazai would huff and say he knew how to do it all along, even as he glowed when he didn’t stumble at all the next time they practiced.
Hello, hi first of all, i wan to say what a huge fan i am of your dad!mori series i love it soo so freakin much. I mean i really share that view about how Mori is a practical person who ultimately uses the most optimal solution for a greater good kind of outcome regardless of the means. Hahahaha okay, i just have a question, i am fairly new to the bsd fandom n i have read a lot of fanfics (there's too little fanfics where Mori is not a pedophile or sexual assault on Dazau or Yosano) so i actually wanted to write my own fanfic that kinda plays with the idea that Mori may or may not be Dazai's biological father but there's this part/tidbit that resonates deeply for me.. it has to do with theend of the episode where Atsushi is crying over the headmasters' death and he asks dazai what tgat feeling was and dazai replying that usually people cry when their father dies. Soooo, i'm not sure if i read it from another fanfic but i feel like Atsushi kinda ask Dazai if ge cried when his father died and Dazai easily says that his father isn't dead yet. THIS. THIS PART IDK IF I read it in your fanfics or someone elses but I really like that scene and kinda want to incorporate it into my story but i'm scared that people might accuse me of copyright because I really dont remember where i read it from but i realky wanna use and credit it to the original writer😭😭😭so,,, ahhagaha sorry for this really long question and i want to know what you think??? Hahahhahahaha sorry to bother you, though.
Hello,
Thanks for the ask. Glad you enjoy my stories and I heavily encourage you to write something if you want to.
That section you're talking about, I don't think it's in my stories as far as I can remember? And even if it was, that scene is actually just canon.
I doubled checked online and found this screenshot from a conversation about that line. So, yeah canon. Go have fun. You don't need my permission for that scene. It's not mine.
I'm really happy to hear people that are interested in more nuanced takes of Mori. Feel free drop me a link if you write a fic.
Hello, hi first of all, i wan to say what a huge fan i am of your dad!mori series i love it soo so freakin much. I mean i really share that view about how Mori is a practical person who ultimately uses the most optimal solution for a greater good kind of outcome regardless of the means. Hahahaha okay, i just have a question, i am fairly new to the bsd fandom n i have read a lot of fanfics (there's too little fanfics where Mori is not a pedophile or sexual assault on Dazau or Yosano) so i actually wanted to write my own fanfic that kinda plays with the idea that Mori may or may not be Dazai's biological father but there's this part/tidbit that resonates deeply for me.. it has to do with theend of the episode where Atsushi is crying over the headmasters' death and he asks dazai what tgat feeling was and dazai replying that usually people cry when their father dies. Soooo, i'm not sure if i read it from another fanfic but i feel like Atsushi kinda ask Dazai if ge cried when his father died and Dazai easily says that his father isn't dead yet. THIS. THIS PART IDK IF I read it in your fanfics or someone elses but I really like that scene and kinda want to incorporate it into my story but i'm scared that people might accuse me of copyright because I really dont remember where i read it from but i realky wanna use and credit it to the original writer😭😭😭so,,, ahhagaha sorry for this really long question and i want to know what you think??? Hahahhahahaha sorry to bother you, though.
Hello,
Thanks for the ask. Glad you enjoy my stories and I heavily encourage you to write something if you want to.
That section you're talking about, I don't think it's in my stories as far as I can remember? And even if it was, that scene is actually just canon.
I doubled checked online and found this screenshot from a conversation about that line. So, yeah canon. Go have fun. You don't need my permission for that scene. It's not mine.
I'm really happy to hear people that are interested in more nuanced takes of Mori. Feel free drop me a link if you write a fic.
the rule of fandoms is that if someone has a character in their url or bio they either understand that character well enough to give a 3 hour unscripted lecture on the subject OR they're really obsessed with their version of that character thats an entirely different made up guy. and theres literally never an in between
So I encountered this one post on Pinterest about how Dazai's life before meeting Mori is not recorded, which basically means that he didn't exist before Mori came along.
And I think that's pretty interesting.
Because even though I haven't read the light novels, I feel like every character's additional backstory like Kyouka or Chuuya are all recorded by the government.
Fifteen arc ends with Ango typing out Soukoku's fateful first meeting. Kyouka's backstory are the stolen government documents Kouyou gifts her. I don't know enough about Stormbringer to know whether or not it ended the same way as Fifteen, but it's pretty obvious that the government would know. Their escaped experiment literally fought with a transcendent and caused a lot of property damage.
Although the current arcs are alternating povs with the exception of quick flashbacks here and there, the longer arcs that take place in the past are just events the government mostly has access to.
Fifteen, Stormbringer, Dragon Head Incident, Dark Era, all of these were large and big enough to warrant the attention of the government.
So it would make sense for the government to gloss over or be totally unaware of other things such as Kyouka's life with her parents, Chuuya's early life with his family or Atsushi's life in the orphanage. As far as they care, the three of them lived there till some incident. That's it.
For Dazai though, it's a completely different matter.
Dazai is a character shrouded in mystery despite having a lot of screen time. He's dramatic and unpredictable but is actually a major genius and has very big trauma that he either covers with a facade or functions despite of it. You know, kind of like Chuuya and every other character.
But for Dazai, most of the times where we see him in the past is with Chuuya. Both appear in Fifteen and Stormbringer. I say most because there is one exception which is dark era. And that can either be a flashback Asagiri included to explain Dazai's main motives or another report Ango types. Idk if it was actually mentioned I forgot.
He's pretty much like Chuuya. He's life doesn't begin until a certain point. Chuuya's life begins after the Arahabaki incident that formed Suribachi City, but he's ACTUAL life or arc that we care about starts when he meets Dazai.
Dazai's arc that we care about also starts at Fifteen, but his life practically starts when Mori finds him. There have been allusions to him being a gifted child Mori met during his doctor years and Dazai was his suicidal sick patient. There have also been theories about Dazai being trained in a lab meant to make gifted children and Mori chose him. Regardless, there is no actual confirmation.
This is because the other characters don't know of this. And Dazai probably won't like bringing up his past, especially traumatic memories like his years alone with Mori. And the other character(s) that know of it get too little screen time to show, and it's not like it's their business to tell anyways.
Lastly, the government doesn't know of it. It's only describe that at some point, Mori picked Dazai up. They don't where when or how. Mori is too smart to be detected by the government and no secret government agents or whatever were present.
This means that Dazai's early life will be shrouded in mystery like Chuuya's. We're given one sentence or so describing it and the rest is left up to the imagination.
Unless Asagiri decides to reveal it for extra angst, which I doubt since Dazai has an aura of mystery and secrets going on.
Linkle, I must know, what are your thoughts on Mori as a character? His actions and motivations?? Id love to hear your opinion, btw that last chapter of cherish was great!! I loved it so much!!!
Ahhh hello there, anon, thank you so much! 🥺😭💕💖🥰 It’s such an honor to get a message like this from someone who is reading the fic. 💕🥺💖🥰💕🥺💖🥰 I’m so glad you liked Chapter 12; it definitely has one of my own personal favorite scenes, tbh (but I won’t take up your time talking about that right now lol). Having a fan base for Cherish is truly lovely; I’m so blessed by each and every one of you. 🥺💖
As for your question, I’m always happy to share!
Before I say anything at all on my opinion, though, I’m first going to make it clear that I am completely setting aside that one…particular matter that has been discussed to death by the fandom for the moment, because I fear far too many people tend to forget that it is entirely possible to make any remotely positive commentary on a fictional character without that actually somehow meaning you condone his alleged…preferences. For the people in the back that need to hear this out loud to be set at ease: I in absolutely no way do.
Now with that out of the way for a bit, let’s talk about the rest of Mori. I’ll throw it under the cut, though, both for length and for potential spoilers of multiple light novels (Dark Era, Fifteen, Storm Bringer, etc.) and obviously the manga up to his last appearance in current arc. Oh and obviously the typical Mori-related trigger subjects. Yeah.
Honestly, on a general note, these days I think Mori as a character is super cool; I’m not sure where precisely I’d rate him on the list of characters because I honestly like nearly every character in BSD and think they’re pretty awesomely written, but on a general scale of 1 to 10, he’s a very solid 8 or 9 for me.
My first introduction to him was…admittedly not at all the best possible representation of him.
When I first joined the fandom, I began my journey through the series by watching the anime adaption of Dark Era, at the behest of a dear friend who said I would be best off doing so before I watched the rest of the show (of which there were only two seasons at the time) and then reading the manga, in order to get the best and most meaningful experience; it is not something I remotely regret, and in honesty, I would probably wholeheartedly recommend any new people to do the same, if they intended to start with the anime. Regardless, though, this decision did have the impact of making me immediately strongly dislike Mori as a person from the very start, given what he did to the orphans, Oda, and Dazai by extension.
Really, I wouldn’t say that I came to see him in any particular shades of grey motivation-wise until I watched the episode titled Double Black, in which there was the first reference of what would have become of the Port Mafia and Yokohama as a whole had he not usurped the throne to the organization so many years ago.
After that, I began to look at him with a bit more understanding and curiosity, horrible and ruthless though his nature may still mostly have been. Fifteen (specifically the light novel, NOT the anime) — which it should be said, I think is the best existing canon representation of Mori in terms of giving us a good look at his thoughts and motivations — only amplified that outlook and interest for me, and I think it alone is largely to thank for why I enjoy him as a character as much as I do in current time.
Although he’s definitely not someone I’d feel particularly comfortable writing an entire story solely around — as I don’t believe I’m expert nor absurdly passionate enough to do so compared to some genuine Mori fans that I know are out there out there — I nevertheless really, really do enjoy writing him, especially in Cherish (which is only the second time I’ve written him, if I’m honest — at least, in anything I’d consider publishing, anyway).
There’s just so much potential in him plot and personality-wise; he is incredibly flexible of a person in terms of his thoughts, mannerisms, motivations, and actions, which makes it super fun to explore and play around with when telling a story. I’d say he easily has one of the most fun personalities among the BSD ensemble, purely because of utterly unpredictable it can be; on one hand, he has moments where (at least outwardly) is capable of being extremely friendly, outgoing, generous and unassuming, and yet on the other, he is very much always inwardly observant of all that is going on around him and capable of quickly switching to being cold, calculating, and openly cruel at the drop of a hat. But even then, usually, his cruelty doesn’t come in the form of physical violence; it’s often emotional manipulation, intimidation, taking your fears and weaknesses and using them against you to get him whatever he feels he needs in the present moment. Sometimes, it isn’t even outwardly visible that the switch of gears happened; he knows how to poison you in the sweetest and most unassuming yet effective way possible — whether that poison is literal or metaphorical. He’s definitely the kind of person who could sing you to sing to sleep every night and kiss your cheek every morning even as he’s secretly plotting your demise. lol
That being said, I think a lot of the fandom, in their hatred for him as a person, tends to mischaracterize him a lot, rather than looking at it objectively. I’ve seen a lot of fics and general fandom takes that portray him as a sadistic person who is cruel simply for the sake of being cruel and does terrible things to others purely for the enjoyment factor, but that is 100% not who Mori is; canonically, Mori does what he does mostly, if not entirely, out of what he feels is necessity as the leader of the organization. Now, I’m not saying there may not be parts of him that enjoy certain things he does — it’s certainly more than possible, and even highly probable — but his actions as godfather are driven by achieving what he feels is the optimal solution, not by personal pleasure and amusement; as a matter of fact, in Fifteen, he even made it clear when speaking to Chuuya that he fully acknowledges a lot of what he does is morally reprehensible — he just feels that it is his duty to commit these atrocities for the ‘greater good’ of the organization, and that the end therefore justifies the means.
The thing is, there is a character in BSD who is exactly the way this portion of the fandom characterizes Mori, and he was even a member of the Port Mafia, so if people really wanted to canonically explore this dynamic of a character who wholly gets off on tormenting people, causing suffering and probing others’ heads rather than doing it as just a business practice, they absolutely could still do it and be true to canon by writing about said other character; it’s just that it’s not a convenient truth that a lot of the fandom wants or likes to face — because that would mean acknowledging that it was everyone’s beloved Dazai and not the oh-so-despised Mori who used to think in such a sick and twisted way during his days in the criminal underworld.
Granted, some people do write both characters very well and very accurately, and I applaud them, but I do find it frustrating when the fandom reduces either Mori to this purely evil, sadistic villain who is bad just for the sake of being bad, because he is so much more interesting as he truly is in canon.
It’s this dichotomy where his dedication to the overall well-being of his people and company is admirable and even understandable, yet at the same time his individual actions when you look at them from a moral perspective are pretty much all morally reprehensible in some way, shape, or form — if not in every way. The same is true of his time in the army; as a general concept, his desire to protect Japan during the Great War was on the whole admirable and understandable, we know that he was well-meaning about it, but at the same time, no matter how desperate the situation was, what he did to Yosano and his entire army was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable — especially because it came so easily to him to do it and he made no apologies for it nor expressed any guilt over the suffering he caused later on.
Do I think Mori is, on the whole, a good person? Absolutely not. Do I think that he sometimes has the best of intentions in mind with his schemes? In the grander scheme of things, yes; it’s just that he mostly doesn’t care who or how many he has to hurt to achieve that so long as it’s slightly less than his net gain from doing it, which in turn cancels out things enough to prevent him from ever being labeled as being or acting as a “good person” at any moment.
I think the best, most objective description of him is to say that he’s pragmatic and ruthless.
…And then obviously there’s the part that everyone in the fandom discusses to death — about the main universe version of him being into little girls. Not a whole lot to say about that; it’s gross, it’s wrong, it’s unforgivable, it’s morally reprehensible, and it’s chilling and disturbing and it definitely completely disqualifies him from being labeled a good person even if he had been able to earn that title from something he did somewhere along the way.
That being said — and I know this is probably going to be controversial to a lot of the fandom, so let me say upfront that I’m not saying that that isn’t 100% a valid and understandable reading of who he is and the way he feels based on all the evidence throughout the series, nor am I trying to convince anyone otherwise — purely because it is fiction and therefore all made up to begin with, at least for my own personal comfort, I typically choose in my own personal readings to just look at him as someone with a particular weakness for little girls because he’s fatherly — although I make no effort to claim that to be the objective truth, nor does such interpretation affect or influence any of my writings in any way; it’s simply the way I prefer to engage with BSD on my own personal time — outside of my writings.
As a matter of fact, in my one fic, Bittersweet Belief, he was intentionally written with the intention of being portrayed as a groomer, and in Cherish, his ‘tastes’ will be portrayed no less nor more suspicious than how they are in canon, and therefore it will never be fully, directly addressed, but may be interpreted however you wish.
I do not need people coming to me providing evidence of why they believe there is no way to look at it differently, as again, I am not arguing that it is objectively untrue in any way that Mori is written to be a pedo in BSD, and when in public spaces among other people talking about it I don’t even try to say otherwise, much less convince anyone of it. I understand fandom etiquette and I am not trying to erase anything about him from others’ perceptions in order to make him more “likable”. I am just engaging with BSD, whenever I am personally reading it and watching it, in the way that is more comfortable for me. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anyway, yeah, Mori’s a super fun character to write and observe in the BSD world! I think there’s a lot of depth to him and he’s very well-written — probably among my top past antagonists purely for the super interesting personality and the purely pragmatic outlook to life and business.
this is a mori safe space. he is an antagonist who has done bad things for the sake of good things, and perhaps bad things because bungou stray dogs provides no character a wholly good or bad ideology. abuse is repeated and often violent behaviors.
did he abuse dazai? no, i don't think he did. i do not think mori's part to play in dazai's upbringing affected him positively, and instead did make a negative impact, but it was not abuse.
I made this meme while I was in class as my friend was also doing it. In the end, we both laugh at our work that we realize our meme turns out to be funny 😭😂😭
