#buraiha

Dazai, Oda

cathedrals of melancholy crumble by dangerouswoman (Oda & Dazai, Not Rated, ~2,7k words)

There was no hand brushing his shoulder, nor apparition of Odasaku telling Dazai that he was proud of the man he had become. All he had was the warmth in heart, and the lightness of his mind for the first time in a very long time. Or, Dazai grieves his departed friend, but finds he has room in his heart to love some more.

I've read this many more times than I can count. I like the portrayal of grief, and how the ADA is more than willing to support Dazai. It's not Buraiha-per se, but one of my favourite exchanges here is how Kunikida tells him "Because you never genuinely try [to kill yourself], Dazai. For whatever reason, I think a part of you still wants to be here." Really sums up Dazai.

Ride Or Die by Scarlet_Nin (Oda & Dazai, Not Rated ~3,6k words)

"Odasaku! Don't go!" But he keeps walking. Farther and farther out of Dazai’s reach. Arm falling back to his side, he watches in a muted kind of horror as his friend walks away, without glancing back. He’s being left behind; he realizes and the thoughts makes his throat tighten. Left behind by his only friend. If Oda leaves now, if he goes, Dazai would have nothing left. He cannot let that happen. “If you leave now, I’ll…” He fumbles with his words, trying to think of something that would make Oda stay and reconsider. His panic speaks for him, words rushing out faster than he can think them through. “…I’ll kill myself!” Oda stops walking.

Simply amazing. By the second half of the fic I was frantically scrolling up again to see if I had missed a "Major Character Death" tag, only to realize it was under "Creator Choose Not To Warn", which only made the ambiguity better. The arguments this fic makes are pretty compelling, and it really impressed me.

d. c. al coda by al_coda (oceanblue) (Oda & Dazai, AU, Rated T, ~13,7k words)

Four years after Dazai—the music industry's favourite prodigy—disappears, Oda bumps into him busking next to a traffic light. And perhaps this is a chance for them to begin again, turning music from something they monetised into something they owned.

A very interesting AU with very little recognition in my opinion! Maybe I'm just biased because I love idol/music settings, but it was very fun to imagine Dazai as an artist, with none other than Odasaku as his writer.

words that can't be said by torasame (Oda/Dazai, Rated T, ~2,8k words)

He regards Oda meekly. There’s movement behind his eyes - words he wishes he could say but can’t quite articulate. His cheeks are sunken, skin pale in the shadows of the evening. His gaze feels like a rubber band that’s been stretched out for so long and it makes Oda wonder how much it hurt when it had snapped. Dazai looks like he wants to tell him - he just can’t. So instead, Oda tries to fill in the blanks.

I love Hurt/Comfort, if you couldn't tell by all the previous recs... The author did a very good job at portraying how Odasaku cares for Dazai in his own way, which turns out to be just exactly the way Dazai needs to be taken care of.

Read For Me, Scream For Me by YukiSkyes (Dazai/Oda, Rated E, NSFW, ~1,9k words)

Oda was way too distracted by his new book when there were much better things Dazai could offer than ink on paper. He's more than happy to show him.

And lastly, a guilty pleasure fic (lol.) Please do mind the Dazai/Oda ship order, which isn't the usual but it just as good and made me reconsider my own order preferences.

Oda, Ango

This Ink Runs Red by eternal_plague (Oda & Ango, AU, Rated G, ~1,8k words)

Ango is reunited with a friend who helps him realize he’s pushing himself too far for his job, but at what cost?

Set in an AU but still follows the same emotional context as the canon. I simply love the concept of Ango being so tired and exhausted he starts seeing Odasaku, which has been done in various fics before but I feel like this one takes the cake.

a dead writer's pen by Lua (Oda/Ango, Rated G, ~1k words)

It's his birthday but there is nothing out of the ordinary waiting for him.  No party, no friends, no lover.  Not anymore.

I like the (under explored) uses of Ango's ability, and this fic is all about it! All in all very bittersweet but it really drives the feeling home.

deep down i know this never works, but you can lay with me so it doesn't hurt by Anonymous (Oda/Ango, Rated E, NSFW, ~2,5k words)

This was a side of Ango that Oda alone had permission to see. To someone so guarded, so wholly untrusting of the world at large because of how much that world had hurt him—Oda swallowed back a sudden tightness in his throat at the absolute trust that Ango had put in him. "... What are you staring at?" Ango finally said, voice playing at a soft, mock annoyance. Oda couldn't help smiling before leaning forward to give him a peck on the nose, making his face scrunch up endearingly. "You." "You're so corny I can't stand you sometimes," Ango huffed, but his lips turning upwards indicated otherwise. "Good thing you can most of the time," Oda reached up to brush a piece of hair out of Ango's eyes, watching as he looked to the side bashfully. He was breathtaking.

Very well written, and the ending and final author's note broke my heart into a million pieces... I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since I read it.

one rainy night in yokohama by SerpentineJ (Rated E, NSFW, ~1k words)

Ango shakes in his arms, knees pressing into Oda's side. The light in the room is dim, and the walls muffle the soft sounds of their panted breaths, and, Oda thinks, this must be more than one man can stand.

Another sadder one, following the canon around Ango's betrayal to the Port Mafia. I feel like all I have here is depressing, but hope it's good nonetheless (lol). Also, if you like Soukoku, there's a parallel fic to this one with the two of them which I also enjoyed, but is out of scope for these recommendations.

Ango, Dazai

two and a half glasses by planet_B612 (Ango & Dazai, Rated T, ~1,5k words)

"So you found me," Dazai acknowledges. "And? You'll tell me about your day, I'll tell you about mine, and we'll drink to friendship? "I'm not so naive," Ango says, shoulders tense. "No? You thought there might come a day when we could all sit and have a drink together again," Dazai says, soft and gentle and purposefully kind, wondering how far he can dig the blade into Ango's skin. "I suppose you aren't wrong. We're here, aren't we?" Dazai, Ango, and the fragile threads of friendship. Set after the battle with the Guild

Boy do I love Dazai being bitter towards Ango yet unable to hate him completely... The dialogue in this one felt straight out of the manga.

sky awash in wanting light by mrityurrichchha (Ango & Dazai, Rated G, ~6,5k words)

The act of ‘going home’ is an eerie one. If you don’t ‘go home,’ you avoid the sadness and regret. If you do, there is no escaping them, even if no mother, wife, or child awaits. Going home means you’ll be haunted by thoughts of what might have been. So, to escape these regrets and the sadness, all you really have to do is not go home. Just keep plowing ahead. Dazai leaves Yokohama. Ango doesn't. Neither of them go home.

I love when people try to fill in the details between events in canon, and the time right after Odasaku's death but before Dazai joining the ADA is particularly interesting to me... I also appreciate the reference to IRL Ango Sakaguchi's A Personal View on Japanese Culture, which appears in the summary and in the fic itself.

don't you chase me by nemui (ribbonelle) (Ango & Dazai, Rated G, ~500 words)

No one else would understand this feeling.

I love the tension here... This one is more between the gap of platonic and romantic so thread carefully, but it's tagged with the & so I respected that.

Sadly, I haven't found any romantic Dazai/Ango fic that I like, so if anyone knows any, feel free to send it my way through the askbox or replies. I apologise for not including any here!