You Know Somethings Wrong When Even 100 Calories For Breakfast Sets Off Alarm Bells For You.

*1:00 Am, Lupin Bar, Dark Era*

Dazai: are blind dates made for blind people?~

Oda:.......*stare*

Ango: of course not, Dazai. You know that already! It's for people who meet up without seeing or knowing each other

Dazai: is a group date considered an orgy?~

Oda:........*stare*

Ango: WTF. No. Why are you asking that? How much have you drunk?

Dazai: what about host clubs, are they a front for prosti---

Ango:-----not another word. What is wrong with you kid?

Oda:.........*stare*

Dazai: I thought I could ask you for romantic advice and some knowledge on the adult world~

Ango: these are not questions about romantic advice. Why are you asking us about it? And Oda are you gonna say anything or are you too drunk to?

Oda, dozing off:........

Dazai: I asked you two because you two are dating, right! Who else would I ask, except a couple in love~

Ango: WE ARE NOT DATING

Oda, opening his eyes:.........*stare*

Ango, massaging his temples: Oda don't stare at me like that and Dazai for the love of God stop laughing!!!!!

There's a huge difference between living and existing. If all you do is exist, when would you live?

~my biology teacher

I watched Persuasion (2022) and can't BELIEVE how terrible it was. Like I heard it was bad. But I never thought I would get so much cringe from a Jane Austen movie.....

As if writers actually think gen Z won't understand Jane Austen's writing.

The reason we read Jane Austen is to read lines like

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you"

Have I memorised that....YES!!!

Persuasion (2022) tried to be the next Emma (2020) but became Bridgerton.

"Even when the world ends, even when the artist is the last person alive on earth, even when there is no one else to give their work a recognition, the artist will still be crafting art, because thats what we do"

~from YouTube

When youtubers can give you more motivation than your family.

Oliver: there's someone I like, since years and I finally want to confess....

James: I love you too

Oliver: what?

James: you said you were confessing

Oliver: I was talking about confessing to Meredith

James: oh...okay *stares at Meredith* I hate you sooooo much, bitch.

BSD characters as iconic Kardashian moments:

************************************

Yosano: those are cute jeans

Ranpo: you're cute jeans

Yosano: those are mine?

Ranpo: no

Yosano: I thought you said your cute jeans. Those are mine?

Ranpo: nooo. YOU ARE CUTE JEANS

Yosano: huh? 😧

************************************

(During a meeting)

Dark era Dazai: why cuz Boss, just wants it in his schedule---

Mori: maybe if you had a fucking business you were passionate about, you'd know what it takes to run a fucking business, but you don't. So don't even act like you know what I am talking about.

************************************

*Dazai Chuuya 15*

Dazai: Chuuya has this ugly crying face that he makes

(Chuuya getting scolded by Koyo)

Chuuya: you are sitting there laughing, it's not funny, get out of here if you are gonna continue to laugh and make fun of me!

Dazai: (continues laughing)

************************************

Kenji(holding a piglet): Kyouka-chan to the foyer, I have a little surprise for you 😄

Kyouka: is that a chicckkeeenn? 😃😃

Atsushi: (she thinks that's a chicken? What kind of chicken looks like that)

************************************

(Dazai getting arrested for his multiple war crimes)

Fukuzawa: all of us are trying to be as cool as we can be for Dazai-----Yosano can you stop taking pictures of yourself, your co-worker is going to jail!

Yosano: I feel like I am gonna barf

Dazai: good, throw up....

************************************

(during a deadly mission)

Chuuya: my hat is gone! Omg I am gonna cry. My hat is gone.

Tachihara: Chuuya-san, there's people that are dying 🙄

************************************

Poe: Like, I feel like every year has a new energy, and I feel like this year is all about like, the year of realising stuff. And everyone around me, we're just like, realising things.

Lousia: what is he is talking about?

Mark: who knows

************************************

"That's the real sickness here, your righteousness and hypocrisy. It's the simple fact that you can't live by the rules you set, yet you still pretend. This is your world. You bulit this. If it's too strict, tear it the fuck down. But don't look at me. Don't take your hate out on me, I just got here. And I have no clue where to go, because from the moment I arrived, all I was ever given were orders. 'Smile. Open up. Cross your legs. Speak softer. Scream louder. Be quiet. Be confident. Be an angel. Be a whore. Be a princess. Be anything you want to be'...."

~Assassination nation, 2018.

I like friends to lovers more than enemies to lovers.....

I know it's a hot take but I absolutely love a good romance that starts off with a deep friendship between two people and then becomes more than that.

Enemies to lovers is like fast food, it's not good for you, it's toxic. It's delicious, but it's not the ideal meal you should have.

Friends to lovers is like a home cooked meal, it's wholesome, it's filling, loving and sweet.

And who says there's no tension? There is.

You love your best friend and are having a dinner with them, all you could think is how beautiful they are and how you wish it was a date.....and you stare at their eyes and they stare back at you and you both go on eating as if you didn't feel your ears heating.....cuz my ears are heating just by thinking about the amount of tension familiarity between two people can bring. Enemies to lovers is about attraction that stems from hatred and more often than not leaning more towards physical attraction. Friends to lovers is the culmination of knowing someone so long that you can't live without them.

The only friends to lovers I can't root for is when one has a crush on other and constantly keeps chasing them even after getting rejected and in the end they still somehow get together.

I would rather be in love with a friend that has been beside me when I needed them than an enemy trying to kill me whom I only like cuz they are hot.

(Also enemies to lovers CAN be done right, ex. Pride and Prejudice. But one has to make both the characters realise their enemy is a good person or has traits that they do like)

BSD and Shipping

Since Valentine's day was coming I was interested in discussing a huge part of the BSD fandom: Shipping

( ⚠️ RANT INCOMING. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED ABOUT OPINIONS ON SHIPPING. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS IN COMMENTS AND REBLOGS. ⚠️)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

So where to start?

For a long time I have been noticing one specific trend in the BSD subreddit. And that are posts that talk about unpopular opinions/Headcanons/fav or least fav ships etc.

What I find interesting about these posts is that one thing is always in the forefront, and it's the debates about the sexualities of the characters in BSD. While Headcanons can be annoying and some people do push their opinions on others, there is nuance that is lacking in the community when discussing some topics. Finding posts about Mori being a pedo and how Dazai is unlikable or overrated is very easy and the discussions surrounding topics like that are always the same. People would pick sides and end up writing a lot about what their opinion is and while that's valid, it also ends up in fandom wars where it's hard to like or dislike something without your head being in the chopping block.

Now let's go to the original topic: shipping. To examine the environment of shipping culture in BSD fandom we have to start with the headcanons that people have adopted for sexualities of the characters.

1. THE PROBLEM WITH HETRO-NORMATIVITY

Now, the posts about shipping often contain a lot of people writing paragraphs and paragraphs about what ships they like or dislike.

One of the ships that takes the most bullets for its existence and popularity is Soukoku or Shin Soukoku. There are lots of comments about these ships that "remind" us that canonically Dazai, Chuuya, Atsushi and Akutagawa are all straight. They should not be shipped with each other because they are straight.....

Dazai flirts with women and wants to commit a double suicide with a beautiful woman. Atsushi is very clearly set up to end up with Lucy. Akutagawa couldn't care less about romance as we see how dismissive he is with Higuchi. And Chuuya.......wears fashionable outfits and has a slutty waist, but we won't comment on that.

Dazai and Chuuya have a lot of queer subtext that anyone can see. Akutagawa and Atsushi are pointed out to complete each other and complement each other several times. These ships don't exist out of thin air.

Now there is nothing WRONG with anyone having the headcanon of any of these (or any other) characters to be straight, after all we are not given enough information about their sexualities. But by stating "Dazai is straight, he likes women" or "this ship doesn't make sense because they are not gay" not only does it imply that characters can't have other preferences but also that being straight is the default, which it isn't.

This is coming from a straight woman from a very conservative country where we don't have exposure to queer media. It took me a long time to stop being so heteronormative. I think assuming someone is straight until they prove to you or tell you directly is just as bad and as assuming someone is gay. I think we have come far along as a community to understand that it shouldn't be our first instinct to assume everything is heterosexual until we get some sort of proof or stamp of approval from its creator.

Asagiri isn't going to stand up in a stage in front of the world and say "yeah Dazai and Chuuya have gay feelings for eachother" because the manga is from Japan. If there were explicit queer characters then BSD would no longer get the label of being universal because of certain censorship laws. Even if it's getting more acceptable in Japan to show queer characters in manga and anime, BSD isn't a romance or slice of life story. It's a seinen, not a BL/GL. Besides, Asagiri shows little to no interest in romantic relationships in his story.

So by saying "______ character is straight because we don't have any other information proving otherwise " isn't a valid excuse to tell shippers not to ship certain characters, it's making it seem like heterosexuality is the default state of being.

That also doesn't mean you can say "Dazai is gay, don't ship him with women" because that's the same thing. If you think Dazai is gay/bi/pan/etc. then that's your opinion, pushing that on others only worsens the rep of skk shippers especially.

You have the right to like or dislike certain ships or have your own Headcanons. This is why even feminising certain characters also isn't as problematic as people call it. It's just a different take on a character (but that time people were correcting those who called Sigma a "he" instead of "they" was genuinely wrong). Headcanons of some random online stranger doesn't make anything canon. So if you find yourself around annoying people like that, just leave the conversation.

2. WHY SUBTEXT MATTERS

Subtext is really important when discussing media; in case of BSD whether it is the anime, manga, anthologies or LNs. BSD is not new to subtext, even from the start of the story there is a lot of queer subtext that people can figure out easily.

When we are introduced to Dazai and Chuuya's partnership in the first season, it's clear as day to see the dynamic and its underlying tension. We can see how close those two are that their relationship can't be explained just as simple partners turned enemies. Time and time again we get so much queer subtext between Skk's interactions. The entire 15 arc and well as Stormbringer shows us the bond and trust between the two as well as the intense amount of gay scenes. At this point I am sure Hoshikawa is a hardcore skk shipper. All of their official art is also gay (that could be queerbating though). Asagiri must know what the public thinks about Skk and still writes subtext about them. It makes sense why this would be a popular ship; it's not made out of thin air with no context (*ahem* Kousano *ahem*) but has actual roots and the proof to back it up too.

SSKK is a similar story, it's not my favourite but it has been growing on me ever since S5. Similar to skk, we get a lot of subtext and homoerotic moments between Aku and Atsushi. They are yin and yang. They are enemies that sought to kill eachother but still team up to fight together. Atsushi is literally the centre of Akutagawa's life since the beginning. Atsushi and Akutagawa grow together as characters and as different as they appear are similarly looking for one thing: validation and acceptance. Their relationship is so compelling in so many levels that it too makes sense why their ship is as popular as it is (especially regarding recent events in the story)

Ranpoe.....let's be real, those two got married a long time ago. They are the definition of "be gay, solve crimes". They are undeniably a cute ship regardless of whether it's one sided or not. Fyolai as well makes complete sense with the context behind Fyodor and Nikolai's relationship, while I also consider it quite one-sided as it's mostly Nikolai that is fascinated by Fyodor (and wants to kiss kill him) Fukumori isn't my cup of tea but it too has enough subtext to back it up, same with FukuFuku.

While I would love to talk about other ships, I wanted to show the reasoning behind the most popular pairings.

Personally, as a multishipper, it's very fun for me to have so many characters to examine and spend time obsessing over.

Now, there are straight ships that I like too as well as ships I don't ship for myself.

The reason I don't like Yosano and Ranpo together is because I see them in the same position as Kyouka and Atsushi. The scene of Ranpo recruiting Yosano (who worked with Mori) into the ADA parallels Atsushi saving Kyouka (who also worked with Mori). I consider them siblings and like how they are platonic instead of it being the typical "a boy and girl can't be besties". Another ship I love and cherish is AtsuLucy because it's so adorable, Lucy is my fav Guild member and her and Atsushi are "Girlboss and Malewife". I ship Tachihara with Gin, Higuchi and Gin as well as Kunikida with Yosano (surprisingly I don't find the appeal of Kunizai; though I still like that ship from time to time, just don't ship it actively). I prefer not to ship Sigma with anyone (he is still a baby to me)

So it's not that BSD doesn't have straight ships, when you make a majority male cast and have them be rivals or enemies, obviously people will ship m/m more. Especially if there is more subtext and tension behind the male characters and they have little to no interactions with women.

And I might get some heat for saying this:

It is okay for most of the BSD characters to be considered queer because if comp het is so normal in anime/manga then why can't the opposite be the case? We already have enough series with little to no representation, so why can't we have a bunch of queer characters?

3. TOXIC SHIPPERS AND THE FALL OF FANDOM CULTURE

I have been raving for the past two sections and defending the shipping community. But it isn't a conversation with nuance if I don't address the problem of a small group of people that take shipping too seriously. The reason why fandom itself gets a bad rep is because of shipping more often than not. I will admit, it's not all sunshine and rainbows when people argue about their fav ships. And a lot of the aforementioned ships are to a point, toxic. Yes, some shippers are annoying and ruin everyone else's fun. There are ships that don't make sense at all.

But that doesn't mean that a small part of people should represent others who are just having harmless fun and don't even believe their ships to ever become canon. Let's be real it's highly unlikely we will have any couples by the end of the show (the closest could be AtsuLucy). Sometimes people are too intense about ships and that goes for both antis and pros. Both of the extreme are toxic. And instead of shoving down our opinions down other people's throats, we should be celebrating the very story that brought us together in the first place.

Yeah it can be hard for those who don't like shipping at all to enjoy the story and have discussions. But we have to remember the roots of fandom culture start with shipping. It's always been the case and it's always been the most popular way to discuss one's favourite fictional work. From Sherlock to Genshin to boy bands to streamers, everything has been shipped and will always be. There is a reason why AO3 works so well.

4. SO WHAT?

The ships are what brought me to BSD in the first place. I wanted to explore the world of BSD because of its characters and their dynamics. And a lot of other people have gotten into this fandom for the exact same reason. While there are unflattering moments in our fandom, that doesn't mean it's not a place for people to come together and have some fun. Whether you ship or not. Whether you like fanfictions or not. We have to accept that there are a lot of pros to shipping too. It brings our ideas together, makes us feel giddy inside or tears our heart apart, it produces beautiful fanarts and fanfictions, it makes us analyse characters, it makes us look deeper into the story....and it makes us wait for what's next to come.

And I want nothing more than to be able to enjoy shipping without the guilt that comes with it.

Shipping isn't free from its flaws, but it is not defined only by its flaws. It might not be for everyone, but it is someone's everything. So even if you don't like it in particular, let's not spoil other people's fun. One's trash is another's treasure.

~Peace out 🕊️✌️

Dazai: psk psk...Atsushi-kun....show me your paper

Atsushi: I can't! I don't want to get caught!

Dazai: oh come on! I don't even know these squiggly lines, is this English? Who the fuck uses cursive?

Ranpo: I am not even answering these questions, I am too smart for this

Yosano: if you are not answering, whom will I copy from?

Dazai: Can anyone help me? I don't even know what subject this is!

Akutagawa: I'll help you Dazai-san, take my paper

Dazai: NOT YOU Akutagawa!

Akutagawa: *sad Akutagawa noises*

Higuchi: don't worry, Akutagawa Senpai! I will look at your answers!

Akutagawa: NOT YOU Higuchi

Higuchi: *sad Higuchi noises*

Gin: those are some nice drawings Tachihara!

Tachihara: thanks, I can't write answers, might as well doodle

Chuuya, diligently writing answers: CAN YOU ALL SHUT THE FUCK UP?

Kunikida, hitting Chuuya with a duster: Negative five points to Nakahara for cheating

Chuuya: WTF I WASN'T EVEN----

Kunikida: make it ten

Dazai: *laughing in the back*

Kunikida: and a Negative 100 for Dazai

Atsushi: that means he will get a 0?

Ranpo: looking at his answers, he is probably gonna get a -110, ten marks cut for bad handwriting

(I thought of this headcanon last night, Kunikida, as a former teacher gives the ADA and PM joint night tutoring classes. I didn't add the Tanazaki's cuz since they are highschoolers, they haven't missed basic education, hopefully)

(yes, Yosano is a Dr. and all, but is she a medical professional for real or they call her that because she is a healer? IDK?)