#kewl.txt

[raaanpo]

chuuya hanging dazai upside down from a lamp post and unravelling a string tied around him multiple times till he gets dizzy is the funniest method of torture i have ever read in my life. it also opens up so many questions.

what do the other 190 torture methods chuuya threatened him with entail? how many has he had a chance to punish dazai with when he’s used as a tool within an elaborate plan? has dazai always played along despite saying he hates pain? has chuuya ever dared him to do something embarrassing as a method of torture? do they know how goddamn funny they both are?

[raaanpo]

asagiri might have just topped every single halloween special out there when he introduced bram stoker as a character in the latest bsd chapter.

[raaanpo]

some insight into ability users and state issued business licenses in the bsd universe: ability users are sought out by governments in the bsd universe for the purposes of weaponisation. we already know characters such as ango, h.g. wells and chuuya (arahabaki) all had some connection to their respective governments as a result of their power. their instrumnetality becomes interesting to note, however, when the existence of ability related business licences (which can only be issued by the state) are taken into account. if the government wishes to have ability users work for them and them alone, what better way to do this than to disincentivise the creation of alternatives with regards to their employment? this little tidbit of political insight explains a number of aspects within the bsd universe namely:

why ability related business licenses are so difficult to acquire

why there seems to be a disproportionately large number of ability users who turn to a life of crime (the places where they can attain a sense of belonging such as the ada are strictly limited thanks to the licence system)

why dazai was so quick to recommend atsushi as a potential armed detective (he did not wish for another ability user to be affiliated with the state or end up with a criminal record)

why the ada prefers to operate in secrecy to the point where average citizens of yokohama consider their very existence to be mythical (partly to prevent the government from taking an interest in their ability users and partly to prevent other actors from taking an interest in their license)

why the port mafia so much as wished or even attempted to receive a license in dazai and the dark era after committing countless atrocities, on the other hand, will always remain a mystery. at the same time, if they were to succeed in this endeavour, it would solve a lot of the state’s problems with regards to ability related crime oddly enough. the only way the government would understand that though is if they starting seeing ability users as people rather than weapons to be exploited for the sake of securing their authority.

[raaanpo]

fyodor is either going to receive some character development or be contrasted with dazai by the end of bungou stray dog’s story line. arguably, this has been done so already. in order to understand exactly how, the best source is none other than the brothers karamazov wherein dostoyevsky’s namesake writes “brothers, have no fear of men's sin. love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of divine love and is the highest love on earth.” and “at some thoughts one stands perplexed, especially at the sight of men's sin, and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. always decide to use humble love. if you resolve on that once for all, you may subdue the whole world.”

for fyodor, ability users are the very embodiment of the sin he seeks to purge. what he is doing by meeting them with force rather than love or a radical form of acceptance is far from what the author he was based off of suggests he should do. either this means fyodor will come to realise he is at fault and redeem himself which is in line with bsd’s overarching themes about overcoming one’s dark past and atoning for one’s mistakes, or his failure will serve a lesson for the reader.

fyodor worldview can also be contrasted against dazai’s who has come to terms with the bad that he, and by extension the people like him, are capable of committing. this couldn’t be better expressed than with dazai’s own words. after taking a bullet to his chest he says “certainly people are sinfully stupid but what is so wrong about that?” which is a line that cuts to the core of fyodor’s conflict with the world at large. his answer to this question, should he choose to grapple with it at all, is what will ultimately determine his fate.

[raaanpo]

Dazai and Odasaku + Literature about L(iterature)ove — Kait Rokowski, Alight / — Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Meaningness / — Jeanette Winterson, Lighthousekeeping / — Langston Hughes, Poem / — Frank O'Hara, Mayakovsky

[raaanpo]

it’s entirely possible that dazai takes solace in chuuya’s humanity. in spite of his origin, his inhuman strength and his godhood, chuuya always remains incontestably mortal in dazai’s eyes. if he can carry the added weight of personhood without the threat of disqualification, perhaps even with confidence and ease, then that may lead dazai to believes there is some hope left for his own status as human too.

[raaanpo]

i always thought fyodor and hawthorne would get along well because of their obsession with the concept of sin but then fyodor just had to go ahead and brainwash the poor priest. typical.

[raaanpo]

odasaku would never be the port mafia's boss even if he was handed the opportunity, let’s be honest. better candidates for the “good person, bad position” hypothetical are dazai, ranpo or yosano. dazai and yosano are particularity notable given their terrible pasts with mori and ranpo would just be killer for the job especially if the oddity that is his moral compass comes into play.