🍀 21 Plot Twist Ideas 🍀

One of my favourite things about Bungou Stray Dogs is how Asagiri manages to capture the many colors and facets of human relationships. There is friendship, camaraderie, brotherhood, respect, awe, and then there is jealousy, inferiority, grudges, distrust. There are bonds forged between people who suffered the same pain and end up on the same boat. There are blends of respect and fascination formed among those who thrive in the dark but yearn to keep the light. There is deep affection and empathy between people who are used to solitude and sorrow, but found themselves helping each other up on their feet. There are those who took the responsibility upon themselves to raise a child in such a way that their own childhood should not be repeated, or simply to be at peace with themselves. There are words spoken in remembrance of a good friend, and words that are left unspoken. There are mistakes that can’t be remedied, cracks that cannot be mended, and actions that cannot be undone.

There is also guilt, grief, distrust, suspicion, resentment, hatred. There is friendship built like a castle of glass, on shyness and comfort, pride and consideration, and then there is guilt and regret when the castle shattered to pieces. There are broken bonds that crawl back to form insurmountable walls between those who used to be friends. There is mutual suspicion between those who are too sharp, too perceptive for their own good. There are people who started on the same boat, but are as careful as they are manipulative around each other. There are relationships that form out of convenience and necessity, and there are those that continue to develop into something almost familial. There are those brought together in battles, and those that thrive in peace. People who started out being wary of each other can learn to earn each other’s trust, and those who started in the same place may slowly grow apart as their paths point to different directions. There are relationships sprouting from guilt and an attempt at redemption. There is friendship that could have been if not for feelings of jealousy and inferiority. There are selfish, misdirected emotions that seek to appease one’s thirst for recognition and fear of abandonment, at the expense of one’s own self confidence and respect. 

And of course, there is growth. Mutual growth happens when people not only understand and empathize with each other, but also possess the courage and strength needed to pull themselves and their companion out of the dark waters. This growth is precisely why their relationships are so satisfying to observe and appreciate.

Sometimes, I wonder if Atsushi ever thinks about what might have happened had he saved a McDonald's employee from drowning instead.

The first time I heard that Asagiri said Dazai and Chuuya were the same soul in two bodies, I was a little confused. I mean, I love them too, but they're so different.

But now...

They both were forced to grow up too fast. They're both geniuses who can't relate to the world around them, yet at the same time, they both desire human connection. Both need to fight of nihilism, that feeling that life isn't worth it--even Chuuya, in Stormbringer, really struggled with the purpose of his own life. They both live for others and desire their connection, but the world doesn't let them have it.

And the loneliness.

The feeling of being a monster, a god of destruction. That they're bad, evil, inhuman. That they will never get they want, are forced to struggle for eternity, that there is no place in this world for two lonely demons like them who want nothing more than to be human...

Except for the arcade, where the two of them can just be teenaged boys for a moment. The same soul in two bodies reaching out for each other so they can be alone together.

I'm trying to prove a point.

Look. I'm sure Dazai acts like the most annoying person alive to everyone he works with so they'll push him away and hate him, but he also flat out admitted to Sigma that he just likes doing strange and annoying things to get a rise out of people. It's not that it's a dysfunctional defense mechanism, it's because he has a dysfunctional personality.

I still think about the fact that when Dazai got captured by the Port Mafia, not only did no one in the Agency worry about him, Kunikida made him write a report on it when he got back.

Which only makes me wonder how often this happens that it's become standard procedure to write reports after returning from being captured by the enemy.

Sometimes, I wonder what the Agency's actual job is.

Every so often Ashihara makes it abundantly obvious that Borders fighting force is purely made up of teenagers and young adults. And I Love It.

They're all so goofy...

i’m very biased but people acting like atsushi is somehow a bland or unimpressive mc will always be crazy to me because he’s just??? so fucking excellent. i will never get over the way he subverts the classic good guy protagonist trope. his morals being guided not by what society deems right and wrong but by what makes him feel like a good person, and even that can be overridden by his natural inclination to prioritize himself. and we see this from the first chapter. like. hi, my name is atsushi. i love chazuke. i’m going to attack and rob the next person i see, because i’m so hungry. i saved a man from drowning in the river, why isn’t he thanking me? i’ll join his heroic organization even though i don’t want to, because it’s the only way to keep a roof over my head. my two favorite people are ex-mafia members who’ve taken countless lives. my least favorite person is also a mafia member who’s taken countless lives, but it’s different because he’s an asshole to me and my friends. i need kyouka to stay safe, because i care about her, but also because she’s proof that i can help people and that i’m good. today i found out that i killed someone when i was younger, but what did he expect? he hurt me. he deserved it. the man who abused me in childhood died too. he was hit by a truck. it doesn’t matter what his intentions were, because he hurt me. he deserved it. why can’t i stop crying?

I would like to make my contribution to the Chuuya has reading glasses headcanon:

Chuuya calls Ango "Doc glasses." This started when he just got reading glasses, and was insensitive about needing them.

But one day, there's a joined meeting between the division and Ango sees Chuuya with reading glasses—

He opens his mouth to speak. Chuuya sees him, realizes the situation, and before Ango can attempt to tell him that he no longer has the right to call him "Doc glasses," Chuuya very calmly looks down at what he's reading, glasses remaining, and says, "if you make one single comment, then you won't need glasses anymore." He looked Ango in the eyes. "Ever again. Got it, Doc Glasses?"

Ango has enough self-preservation to agree. And thus, the nickname remained.

I see you your Dazai and Chuuya and raise you Beast Dazai to Beast Odasaku if he chose to stay.

Would You Fall in Love With Me Again from Epic the Musical but instead of Odysseus and Penelope, it's Dazai and Chuuya

okay I'm out