It’s clear that there’s an agenda and that Republicans are desperately trying to spread a narrative in order to potentially cause more political violence. They don’t care even if it turns out it’s not a Democrat, they won’t care just like they didn’t care that it was actually a trump supporter that attempted to assassinate him last summer, just like they didn’t care that it was a right-wing conservative nut that assassinated Democratic politicians in Minnesota.
They have an agenda and a narrative and they’re gonna go out of their way to push it. And I think they’re also gonna institute draconian and very oppressive laws against anyone who they consider opposition to them. This will be the excuse.
does anyone know if people are going to be queuing for the target midnight release because i really want the vinyl and i don’t want to delay listening to the album bc im stuck in a 3 hour queue or something 💀
Late New Years writing piece about my favorite little guys Osamu Dazai and ATSUSHI!
References to the WAN episode where they go to see the fireworks and to season 4 and 5.
CW: Talk of su1c1de, dad Dazai and son Atsushi headcanon, some projection, possible bad characterization DUE to the projection as well as me writing this in multiple times instead of directly in one sitting.
Word Count: 1396
Type: Technically a one shot since it isn't related to anything else.
Enjoy!
Dazai closed his eyes, the loud banging of the fireworks continuing to sound in his ears. He knew there was a high likelihood that his hearing would be damaged, but he was never really the type of person to care about those sorts of things.
He leaned forward, his arms dangling haphazardly over the railing as he finally reopened his eyes and stared up at the twinkling fireworks that cracked and then fell down to earth.
"When I go, I hope I'll go out just as beautifully." He commented, not really saying so in hopes of comments from the others, but more so for himself. He knew however, that someone was likely to comment on his actions, and that person just so happened to be Atsushi.
"I'd really prefer if you didn't go at all.." Atsushi mumbled, his voice filled with more concern than Dazai was used to. He found it sweet actually, that someone cared about him, and yet it didn't seem to phase him too much. He shouldn't get attached to people that he might- no would most definitely, lose. Best not to dwell on those things.
"Please don't say things like that, even as a joke." Atsushi added, more worry and even frustration in his tone. It was concerning to him that Dazai could mention such things so casually. While Dazai had assumed people he cared about would eventually run out of his life in twisting flames, Atsushi couldn't even think leaving. In fact it made him scared to think of such loneliness.
"Try not to worry too much Atsushi," Dazai said calmly, his voice happy and light, "I'm merely making a sweet comparison."
"Not when it's about death!" Atsushi argued. "This kind of thing is serious- you can't just call it sweet because you talk about it so often!"
Dazai chuckled, another firework blowing up loudly in the distance. It reminded him of gunfire, and even though it made him slightly nauseous he enjoyed it. "I'll be okay, really," he consoled, although with a sort of languid sweetness, "There are many more important things you should focus on Atsushi, like the fireworks show in front of us!"
"But you're important to me, Dazai." Atsushi repeated, "Fireworks will blow up over and over again but you-"
Dazai held up his hand to stop Atsushi's speech. This conversation was gaining a bit more attention from the others than he wanted it. "Let's go discuss this somewhere else, okay?" he said, a serious tone coming up through his smile that let Atsushi know he wasn't joking around. "If this really is that important to you, then we can talk about it. Just.." he sighed, almost like he was annoyed, "Not in front of a geezer like Kunikida." Ah, well maybe he wasn't being serious after all.
"I heard that you know! If you two have something important to talk about, then do so without bothering the rest of us." Kunikida scowled, but underneath he too was a bit worried. He'd have to have a follow up conversation with Dazai as well.
"Sorry," Atsushi bowed his head, grabbing Dazai by the wrist and starting to drag him off before there could be anymore banter. He knew it more than he knew the beating of his own heart, more than the tiger he'd grown to master, more than his own soul, that he needed to have this conversation.
This man who had become an anchor for him, a father in the wake of the headmaster, the smartest man he knew- was more than just a person. The jokes scared him, hell they scared him about as much as they annoyed him. To make a comment like that meant something, it had to.
Once they got far enough away from the others, Atsushi let go of Dazai's wrist, moving backwards and crossing his arms. "Why do you say things like that?" he asked, more weight behind his sentences than he had first anticipated. "You do know those kind of things aren't funny, right? Like- it's hurtful to other people?"
Dazai didn't hesitate, merely nodding to Atsushi. He knew those kind of things were hurtful, that's why he said them. It was best to keep people he was already going to lose at a distance, right?
Atsushi looked up at him, slightly baffled. "Are you trying to push us away?!" He exclaimed, a firework going off in the background and shaking the ground they stood on. "You know- even if you are you shouldn't be! That's.. that's really shitty of you!"
Dazai frowned, "I'm aware." He sighed, "I'm just your coworker. You don't need to worry about me, or care about me, or anything. I'm fine, Atsushi."
Atsushi's eyes sharpened down into a glare, "You aren't just a coworker to me- you're.." he gasped, "You're my friend and- and like a.." his teeth grinded together, and he held the sleeves of his Yukata tightly in a nervous attempt to self-console, "a father or something."
Dazai's eyes widened suddenly. He was a smart individual, and he was able to predict most-anything, but he didn't expect Atsushi to actually.. well to 'put him in on a pedestal' in such a nice position.
Sure, he'd noticed the way Atsushi would cling to him during missions and look to him in times of trouble, but his view of himself was so damn low he never thought that it could mean more, and additionally even if he thought it possible he figured it would fizzle out eventually.
"At-"
"No!" He yelled, "You listen to me!" Atsushi released his Yukata, huffing out a large breath of air. "All I'm trying to say here is you're important to me, so it would be nice if you could try to be mindful of that, okay?"
Dazai didn't know what to say, stomach in a whirl as Atsushi stormed off before he could get a chance to finish. He hadn't seen Atsushi get angry often, and so he knew this was something serious for him. Maybe he should be mindful after all? Considering Atsushi's late headmaster it could be the least he could do, right?
Why did he even care?
That was the strangest part actually, the fact that he cared in the first place. If he thought all of them would leave it logically wouldn't matter what their thoughts were. It did though, and that was what confused him.
He didn't know how to chock this up to some psychological phenomenon he knew about, or how to rationalize what Atsushi had said. All he could do was realize that he meant it, and honestly he didn't know what to do since he did.
Did this information change what he should do as a person? Maybe be more courteous and such but.. if he was seen as a 'father' before should he not change what he was doing now?
What he didn't know was that regardless of what he was going to do Atsushi was going to wait.
Regardless of how Dazai changed or didn't change his habits, Atsushi was going to walk out to the river that night, and he was going to sit there. He was going to let his head bob down onto his knees because even though he was dead tired Dazai's life could be at stake.
Atsushi would sit there, staring down into the deep blue river next to the agency and watch as his heart jumped every time he saw something floating down the riverside. How he jumped in a few times because he swore he saw brown hair or a trench coat.
Dazai wouldn't know but Atsushi was gonna keep waiting, because no matter what Atsushi was to Dazai, Dazai was his dad to Atsushi.
Only after Dazai realized this would he stop making such crude jokes, because you wouldn't want to worry your son after all. Wouldn't you?
Sadly, it would take too long for Dazai to actually realize this. After he was stuck in Mersault prison wondering why he missed all of the agency members as much as he did. Wondering why although he believed Atsushi was strong enough to help save the Detective Agency, he had a second layer of concern.
Eventually it would hit him, and as Fyodor stared at him through the void's they were trapped in he would mutter an almost inaudible, "Shit."
Rick Flag x Delphia Holman, Fairytale Au, chapter 1 (?)
A gift for the incredible @anniesocsandgeneralstore based on this moodboard and her original character ♥️
Summary: A princess plagued with prophetic visions, the knight she loves and the cursed sword that would come between them…
Additional inspiration: ★ • ★
★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★
He took his oath to protect her with his life, armour glistening in the light, reflecting the colourful stained glass, down on one knee, a paragon; a man driven by duty.
She felt a gentle brush of gloved fingers against her own in the same cathedral where they’d first met, a quiet comfort after a loss; a man driven by compassion.
His lips crashed against her own, fingers frantically tangling in her intricate braids, clinging to her, the sounds of two desperate people echoing in her darkened chambers; a man driven by lust.
She felt his cold skin, held him against her breast, weeping, the eyes that once held all the warmth in the world, extinct and lifeless, his blood seeping through her dress, staining the fabric red; a man driven by love.
Delphia awoke with a start. Never in all her years had she seen someone’s path so clearly. A bright thread she could follow all the way to his demise. A man she knew she would love, a man who’s loss already brought her so much grief, long before they’d even met.
He must be so young still, she thought, probably not even a man yet.
She herself had just celebrated her thirteenth nameday. She wiped her tears, the dream already fading from her waking mind as the sun filtered through her curtains.
Everything in due time, she repeated her mother’s wise words to herself, no sense in being heartbroken today for something that will happen tomorrow…
Ever since she was a child, Delphia had been wary of the woman in the walls. Her father’s advisor maneuvered through the shadows, a whispering voice in the winding castle corridors. Always watching, always listening, the woman’s motives never fully revealed themselves and when they did, it was often too late. Despite all this, her father held Amanda in high esteem. She was, after all, loyal to the crown.
“You’ll come around once you realize just how heavy that thing is”, she’d mused one day.
A promise or a threat? Delphia could never be sure.
Rick Flag had always been a faithful servant of the realm. To the peasantry and courtisans, he was a paragon of virtue, fiercely loyal to the crown, and good looking too: the perfect knight. To Amanda, he was an obedient lovesick puppy, too blind to see he’d been turned into a pawn…
They shattered the witch’s spell and with it, Ser Flag’s heart.
When Delphia first laid eyes on him, she knew he was the one. Silently trailing behind her father, standing tall and upright in his bright polished armour, dark soulful eyes that made her heart ache. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and smooth the creases in his forehead, ease the burden that weighed on his shoulders. Her legs had taken her towards him in purposeful strides long before she even realized she was walking. Her father greeted her with a smile, but her eyes were fixed on the knight behind him.
“Ser Flag…” she’d uttered his name breathlessly. He startled,
“Yes?”
She’d so anticipated his arrival, she nearly forgot he was a stranger. She blinked and shook her head with an awkward chuckle,
“Welcome!”
“Thank you.”, he nodded and caught himself, adding a quick your highness and polite head bow.
Amanda, from her usual vantage point right behind the king, observed their exchange like a cat might observe a mouse; calm, quiet, calculating.
The man beside her looked bewildered as the princess exchanged pleasantries with the old king. He leaned down to whisper,
“The princess knows my name.”
Amanda’s face betrayed no emotion, as unreadable as the stone walls around them,
“News travels fast around here.”
Try to keep up.
Though unspoken, Rick heard her loud and clear. She’d pulled a lot of strings to get him where he was and he was more than aware she held the shears to cut him loose. He was not immune to manipulation, he’d learned that the hard way and Rick Flag wasn’t the kind of man to make the same mistake twice.
His gaze wandered back to the royals in front of them, the princess’ eyes glued to his as if she saw something beautiful in his troubled soul and it made him feel fuzzy. She waved to him as she left, sunlight caught in her hair, a shade of red that reminded him of a hearth. A warm, inviting flame and he, the little moth, unaware that it would burn his delicate wings.
Rick Flag wasn’t the kind of man to make the same mistake thrice.
"When I Go" From WE AREN'T KIDS ANYMORE (Studio Cast Recording) Music & Lyrics by Drew Gasparini (2020)
Featuring Colton Ryan, Raymond J. Lee, Lilli Cooper, Nicholas Christopher, and Bonnie Milligan
“I'm living in what started out like a dream
I'm working for the thinkers on the scene
I'm fighting for the chance to be undefined
I'm leaving something behind
I'm waiting for this messy light to turn green
I'm hoping for the chance to wipe it clean
I'm dying for the ones who come to the show
I'm leaving something when I go
All I know, even when it's over
I'm leaving something when I go.”
