I really like how the unwritten message of Beast is that anyone could become anyone given the circumstances they were put into. Atsushi could become a murderer, Akutagawa could learn to tame the beast inside of him when surrounded by good people. It questions the idea that people are innately good or innately evil. Because while yes, Atsushi is a murderer burdened by guilt and fear, and Akutagawa is a detective who lacks a drive for helping people and has no qualms resorting to...unsavory methods to get results, at the end, we see that despite Akutagawa being told he's meant to be evil, he STILL wants to try to learn. To learn how to live a good life, learn how to tame the beast. And at the end of the day, while Atsushi still wants to protect people, he learns to kill them without a moment's hesitation. The only person he can protect is Kyouka, and he is almost TOO protective of her. I just think it's really cool that you can take these characters, one who is "innately good" and one that's "innately evil" and switch their circumstances, and you can see how they'd really end up. How a good person can become a murderer when surrounded by evil, how a bad person can quench the thirst for vengeance inside of him when surrounded by good people.
Stuck on your WIP? Unsure of how a scene should go? Feel as though your story is lacking substance? Enduring with the frustrations of writer’s block?
Why not try throwing in a plot twist?
A messenger brings bad news
Something important is stolen
Someone vanishes without a trace
An important item is damaged
Protagonist recognizes a face in the crowd
Someone seems to intentionally fail
Protagonist finds an item thought lost
A charitable act has a harmful result
A cruel act has a beneficial outcome
Someone unexpectedly returns the favour
A raging storm moves across town
A gift makes a character the target of a murderer
A fallen enemy makes one last attack
Only one character in danger can be saved
An enemy saves the life of Protagonist’s friend
A will from a long-lost relative appears
A secret rival seeks to replace Protagonist
A thief makes Protagonist their next target
An obscure law suddenly becomes important
Strangers mistake Protagonist for a fugitive
A tool breaks when needed most
Something about how the "evil" half of double black are the ones who push it onto the next generation.
Mori decided to make Chuuya and Dazai work together because Natsume did for him and Fukuzawa.
Dazai forcing Akutagawa and Atsushi together.
You could attribute this to Mori and Dazai both being manipulators who are trying to utilize people for their benefit, but I think it's more than that. They know what it feels like to have that light in their lives. To partner up with "good" person. So much so that they want to push it onto the next generation, because they want the one they see themselves in to have that light in their life. Dazai wants Akutagawa to have Atsushi to temper that darkness. Mori wanted Chuuya for Dazai to give him a reason to live. Maybe one day Akutagawa will be pushing a different version of skk in some other lost soul he sees himself in, trying to save him in the only way he knows how. And the cycle will continue.
Chuuya can't tie a tie. This is canon, you won't convince me otherwise.
He grew up on the streets. When he was sixteen, he wore the usual Mafia getup, but no tie. In his usual outfit, he wears a bolo tie.
Therefore, it is scientifically proven that Chuuya cannot, in fact, tie a tie.
"What color would you compare yourself to?" "White, because my hair is white and it's also the furthest color from Akutagawa."
Man, I love this kid so much
What do you mean. What do you mean Akutagawa didn't know why Atsushi saved him. What do you mean Atsushi saw how Dazai treated Akutagawa, thus adding a new layer of understanding between them. What do you mean Akutagawa wanted to kill Atsushi for fear he would never be accepted "and then—" And then what, you fell in love??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN DAZAI WAS THE DIRECTOR BECAUSE ATSUSHI TOO HAS TO ACCEPT HIS PAST—
I know I already made a post about this, but I wanted to expound on it a bit, because I'm still obsessed with the idea of Dazai being a bad person on the good side, and Chuuya being a good person on the bad side.
Because in essence, the fact that Dazai's in the Agency helping people is because he's selfish, and Chuuya stayed with the Mafia because he's selfless. Contrary to what a lot of people say, Dazai didn't leave the Mafia for Odasaku. He never promised him, never said "I'll do it for you," never did it because Odasaku wanted him to be good. He did it for himself. Odasaku tells him that he'll always be alone, something Dazai fears and knows deep down, and asks what he's supposed to do now. Odasaku then gives him advice, tells him that being on the side that saves people will make his world a bit brighter, and so Dazai agrees to leave the Mafia for himself. And once Dazai agreed to this, then Odasaku says "Man lives to save himself..." Further cementing the idea that Dazai is doing this for his sake and his sake alone. He wants his own life to be better, and if helping people will make it a bit brighter, then he's willing to try doing that.
Chuuya, however, would never leave the Port Mafia because he's the opposite. He cares more about other people than he does his own self. From youth, he became the leader of a child gang in order to protect them, because he felt he was fulfilling his duty as someone with power to protect those who took him in. And even after they betray him, Chuuya still joins the Mafia in order to protect them. To protect the kids who just stabbed him in the back because he would never betray those who did good to him. And the Mafia did that. They took him in, gave him a place to live, a job, a purpose, a family. He actively seeks to make connections with those around him, and once they have his loyalty, it never leaves. In Stormbringer, the detective wanted him to betray the Mafia, and he wouldn't do it, yet later, when the detective dies, Chuuya mourns his death and the loss of opportunity for him to leave the Mafia. It shows that he did, in fact, wish to leave, but he never would. Because why would he hurt those around him who've done good to him? It's very obvious that he's selfless and self-sacrificial, as seen in Fifteen, Stormbringer (where he gave up ever knowing if he was human in order to protect the city), and Dead Apple where he risked his own life to protect the city. The fact that he's still with the Port Mafia, still actively being a bad person, is because he never would and never could leave them, and would do anything to protect them, no matter how bad they'd treat him. Because he cares more about others than his own happiness.
And it's because of that their dynamic is the way it is now. Dazai's one of "the good guys" and Chuuya's one of "the bad guys," but the lines become much more blurred when they're together. Who's the better person in the dynamic? Someone who's doing bad for others or doing good for himself? Either way, both are morally gray characters who blur the lines of morality when they're together.
Zenshu
no but in all honesty i fucking love how weird bsd gets it's never taken itself too seriously and the fact that it gets SO wild sometimes is just perfect for my brain. are there contradictions? yes. does it make zero sense at times? totally. do i have the most fun with it every single time? HELL FUCKING YEAH