𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨: an exclusive, private and selective multi-fandom, multi-muse blog, as adored by vic. writing muses from: bungo stray dogs, black clover, my hero academia, and more. [ on a permanent mental health semi-hiatus. ] read all pages before interacting. personals do not interact.
also going to be slowly shifting this blog to plot based only, and only offering pre-plotted starters. so if you’d like to jump the gun and start developing a relationship, give this a like! i’ll come to you with some ideas.
this is gonna be a weird ask , but can you elaborate on the image you reblogged for akutagwa. the dog biting the man's hand ? i have theories to why you would put these two things together but it really just struck me and i thought it was really neat :D.
oh absolutely!! his is gonna turn into a meta so stay tuned under the cut.
typically in literature, dogs have many symbolic meanings. for the sake of akutagawa, i usually play on the following:
dogs as symbols of death
dogs as symbols of vigilance
dogs as symbols of loyalty
it’s not a secret akutagawa has a lot of dog related motifs to him. most notably being a couple alias’ he is called in the manga. [ black-fanged hell hound, ] in my portrayal and visions, serves to signify dogs as symbols of death. [ silent mad dog, ] serves to signify dogs as both symbols of vigilance and loyalty. i’ll go into more detail, now, below.
DOGS AS SYMBOLS OF DEATH.
it’s no secret that in many classical mythologies, death and canines go hand in hand. i think it’s important to note that dogs have two rolls in death: serving as death omens while simultaneously showcasing the journey from the land of the living to the land of the dead. [ for example: ] cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld in greek mythology --- this also has ties to dogs as symbols of vigilance. anubis, the god of death from egyptian myth, had the head of a jackal. BLACK DOGS, ESPECIALLY, SEEM TO BE VERY SYMBOLIC OF DEATH. black dogs are thought, in some traditions, to be denizens of the underworld. akutagawa is surely no stranger to death, as a dying man himself with the blood of countless others on his hands. a manga panel is pictured below with a quote i find very relative to this.
DOGS AS SYMBOLS OF VIGILANCE AND LOYALTY.
piggybacking off the previous image, akutagawa ryunosuke is loyal to a fault. and thus, the port mafia’s silent mad dog was created. one of the most notable classical uses of a dog’s loyalty i can think of occurs in greek myth, that being odysseus’s arrival to his homeland after his wanderings, and meeting his old dog Argos, the only one who recognized him. to put it shortly, akutagawa took to dazai osamu like a dog sitting at the grave of it’s long since passed owner. [ i recommend reading greyfriars bobby by eleanor atkinson for more on the imagery of a dog sitting at a grave! ] and in doing so, abandoned his sense of self worth. not only does akutagawa serve as a watch dog for the port mafia, his loyalty and need to prove himself leave him and his ability to be easily used for the benefit of others, and to his own demise. pictured again below.
LASTLY, BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU.
akutagawa’s plot revolves around coming to terms with himself. in order to do that, akutagawa has to remove himself of dazai completely. AKUTAGAWA HAS TO BITE THE HAND THAT FED HIM IN ORDER TO LIVE. the more akutagawa begins to think for himself, the more he finds confidence in himself: growing to believe that he himself has worth outside of his special ability. he has a long way to go, but i think one day, akutagawa will finally take his leash off. or die trying.