Spin This Wheel Of ~300 AO3 Tags Three Times.

Note: ask dentists if they have teeth.

Rare pair:

Spanish(the language) x Japanese(the language).

I feel like they flow into each other really well.

If anyone, at all, can match even a 10th of my donation, I'd consider it a massive christmas gift.

Please, help my friend Mohammed. His family is cold, and hungry.

It would mean a great deal to me.

You can find his fundraiser here,

And you can see that it's been vetted by 90-Ghost here.

BSD Dead Apple: Nakahara Chuuya ♡

Let's talk about Coats in Bungou Stray Dogs, and what they mean

[i.e. a repost of perhaps my most famous BSD analysis ever]

Mild spoilers for Beast, Dark Era, and Dazai, Chuuya, 15 ahead! (I'm thinking of posting an explanation of how the Beast Universe works soon anyway... lmk if that's something you'd like!)

If you've come across this theory before (uve most likely seen me talk about it on tiktok or youtube), you've probably heard already that the coat or outerwear a character is wearing (especially if it's different from the rest of their outfit) is indicative of the persona that they're trying to project.

You may have noticed, for example, that the colour and the way that Dazai wears his coat changes depending on the organisation and universe he's in. Let's start by taking a look at his Port Mafia outfit from the Canon universe:

As you look, remember that Dazai joined the Port Mafia against his will. He only joins because Mori promises that if he's useful to him, he'll provide Dazai with a quick and painless way to die:

And now I want to get into why Dazai doesn't actually want to die, but that's a whole other post for a later time.

So, Dazai joins the Mafia, rather begrudgingly, and dons the relevant 'uniform' as he does. This is necessary to show Mori and he other members of the PM that he is committing to the role; it is necessary for survival.

The important thing to note here, however, is that he wears his coat off-the-shoulder. Of course, this could just be chalked up to the questionable fashion standards of teenage boys, but when we consider that the coat is like a representation of the Mafia's values... it becomes an indication that Dazai is putting on a persona; one that he's ready to throw away at the drop of a hat. The are three reasons I know this is how he feels for sure:

we saw the exact moment Mori recruited him, and how reluctant he was to join;

he actually did throw it all away the second he had the chance;

Beast. let me explain.

Have a look at Dazai's outfit in Beast, where he takes on the role of Mafia Boss:

There are several notable differences here, but for a moment I just want to focus on the fact that he's wearing his coat properly. That was the one thing that really struck me as significant the first time I read BEAST: in the world where Dazai has to fully commit to the role if he wants his plans to work out, he pushes himself to play the part, regardless of how he feels.

The next huge difference lies in the bandages: here, his left eye is covered, whereas in the Canon manga his right eye is covered. There are several theories we could derive from this: a popular one is that each eye represents light and dark, respectively. In the Canon universe, Dazai covered the eye that saw the light, so he could more easily resign himself to living in darkness. Then, Oda pulled the bandages away, and he found himself running towards the light. I could talk about this for hours, but for the sake of brevity... ouchies.

Moving on. Another thing to note is that, duh, there's a bigass scarf around his neck here. Why? How? It looks an awful lot like Mori's... which could mean nothing.

ANYWAY. Coats. Isn't it interesting that Akutagawa also properly wears his coat (a hand-me-down from Dazai, nonetheless) and spends a vast majority of his time trying to prove that he is worthy of being in such a high position within the PM? Isn't it interesting that his ability, the entire reason he became the Mafia's guard dog, relies on that very coat? His entire personality and reason for living becomes so entrapped within Rashoumon that the two are practically inseparable.

In Beast, when he's given a coat that echoes that of Oda's, he still uses it (via Rashoumon) like a shield, and like a weapon... but he tries to learn how to be more gentle. The beginnings and intentions are almost the same, but the outcomes are totally different. Which is very telling. I'll let you connect the remaining dots on that one.

Now, there is one more Mafioso character who wears his coat off-the-shoulder in Canon. But for some reason, in BEAST, he doesn't wear a coat at all... Strange, right?

I am, of course, talking about Chuuya. And the thing about Chuuya is that defining the representative idea of his coat is much more difficult than it was with Dazai, purely because there was so much going on at the time he joined the Mafia. He was betrayed by his closest family, while simultaneously feeling like he betrayed them. He had no choice but to accept Dazai's offer, which was actually Mori's offer. He'd been backed into this corner by Dazai, but also by the Sheep, and he'd lost everything, but was being offered all the things he used to pine after: answers, protection, relative safety. Maybe even family, something he could devote himself to- but all this lay in the hands of the organisation he'd promised to eradicate. He was going through it, as the poets say.

Personally, if I were to assign his coat with a specific ideal/persona, it would be this: acceptance of the Mafia, and hatred towards Dazai. Just like Dazai, wearing his coat off-the-shoulder indicates that he doesn't fully prescribe to their ideals... but in this instance, it also means that he doesn't truly hate Dazai like he claims.

I know, fork in the kitchen. But I also want to point out something that helps drive this perspective home for me: whenever they fight together, as Soukoku, Chuuya takes his coat off. He has a lot of fighting quirks, actually- he always keeps his hands in his pockets (something that is echoed by Dazai ohmygod I cry whenever I think about it), takes his hat off for Corruption (this is discussed in-depth in Storm Bringer), takes off his gloves when he wants to ramp up Tainted Sorrow. But, just like the coat, this only happens whenever Dazai is around. Chuuya literally and figuratively bares himself to Dazai, which can be read as something necessary for him to be saved by No Longer Human, yes, but it would be remis of anyone to ignore the fact of their trust in one another.

There's one more reason that I think these two ideals are so intertwined: it is, you guessed it, Beast!

The interesting thing is that here, where you'd almost expect him to wear something similar, Chuuya simply doesn't have a coat at all. Why is that?

If we follow the same logic that we did for Dazai, we can assume immediately that Chuuya doesn't want to hide behind a facade here. He has no facade to consider hiding behind. He's honest about his work with the PM, and open about his complex feelings towards Dazai- mostly his hatred, though that manifests purely because he's frustrated; a part of him knows Dazai can be doing better, or working differently, but he can't understand why. Or maybe he does understand why, and this frustrates him even more.

It's extremely complicated, and I feel like the way I've said things makes no sense, but I hope it's at least got you thinking. What does this truly mean for Chuuya? What does it mean for Atsushi, who doesn't wear a coat in canon, but does in Beast?

(I already have a post delving into Atsushi's character design, which I think is genuinely one of the coolest things ever!! I don't discuss Beast in it, but it's a great starting point if you're interested <3)

I feel like I've rambled on too much, but I'm fighting brain fog rn so this is as coherent as it gets. I hope this has helped you learn something, or made you interested in delving deeper into costume design in BSD as a whole. I kiss you mwah!!!

I am currently making a fanfiction where a random person(identity will be revealed later) is reincarnated into Dazai Osamu's body on the night he meets Mori. They're unhappy at first until they realize they can make their favorite ship canon(Dazai x Chuuya). And so the story follows them trying to make that happen. Including finding out why they were brought there, who keeps sending them texts from their old phone that reincarnated with them, and what is trying to kill them. 

Click the link if you're interested. I update once a month.

My favorite activity is bleeding!

Am I...a prophet?

My fellow bsd-analysers! I need help getting a reliable source for info I found!

I've been doing some research on the dragon's head conflict, and, naturally, looked into the wiki-fandom page first thing. That's when I found some interesting information that I've never seen before, nor have I found anyone mention. The information is as following:

(After Chuuya punched Dazai in the manga):

Later, Shibusawa reappears, noting the streets are more populated than normal considering the ongoing war. He approaches a florist, asking her for a bouquet of white flowers, but the woman reveals a gun. The woman, alongside all the other 'citizens', is part of a faction Dazai leads. Dazai confronts Shibusawa himself, bluntly telling him he won't hesitate in killing him, and that, no matter how powerful the ability, a "one-man army" stands no chance against a juggernaut faction of ability users like the Port Mafia. This concept interests Shibusawa, who asks Dazai if "power in numbers" is why Dazai joined the Port Mafia, to which Dazai confirms. Their conversation continues, and in the end, Dazai states that while he can let go of the death of 'Colonel', he is not kind enough to leave Shibusawa alive. Shibusawa approves of Dazai's resolve, urging him and the Port Mafia to show no remorse. He states the conflict will not end until he is defeated. Dazai argues it will only end after everyone dies, and claims to know a way to end everything. To which, Shibusawa suggests "more conflict". Shibusawa compares the Dragon's Head Conflict to a conflagration - a large, destructive fire - and the only way to end it is to extinguish its flames with an even larger, greater explosion. A massive explosion goes off, much to Dazai's (rare) shock. Shibusawa explains he's arranged a war between the Port Mafia and all the opposing organisations combined and intends to destroy their headquarters. Dazai cannot believe Shibusawa arrived here, prepared to die, but Shibusawa informs him he made two miscalculations. 1- Shibusawa knew of the ambush. 2- Assuming Shibusawa belongs to no organisation. An array of different abilities attack, slaughtering the gunmen. Shibusawa confirms Dazai's claim: that the power of an organisation is incredible, as he found his way into one out of sheer boredom. Another assault hails down on the Port Mafia's headquarters. Oddly impressed with the 'White Giraffe', Dazai learns Shibusawa's name - and as such, the head of the Dragon's Head Conflict. A Mafia building crashes into the plaza, along with many other buildings belonging to different organisations. Despite all the organisations now participating in a single war, Dazai goes missing.

When did all of this happen?? The article provides no source for this section. I checked the manga, the dead apple lightnovel, even the dark era ln, and none mentioned anything about Dazai's confrontation with Shibusawa when he was 16. All of them cut from Chuuya punching Dazai straight to seeing Dazai captured and waiting to be rescued.

It still seems too detailed to be something fanon, so what's the source, exactly? And where can I find it?

Re: Guidebook Tenkaroku. You can only see them in a couple of frames, but the avatars from the arcade cabinets selection menu are all based on the ada members. Here they are as displayed in the guidebook!! (It's simple photos, so keep in mind that proportions may be a bit off)

By the way, Dazai picked demon schoolgirl Naomi to defeat Chuuya's martial artist cyborg Tanizaki. You can even read the avatars' names “Oni” (demon) and “Cyborg” on the cabinet display ( ˶ˆoˆ˵)