Extras

Smash hit at the fujo box office

so you want to see more, huh? i hate to say it, but Chuuya has very little screen time in BSD, and time for meaningful development with Dazai even less. you'll be hard pressed to even see them in the same manga volume. personally i blame the excessively large cast and sloppy seinen writing, but never fear. diligent fans are picking up the slack Asagiri left for us. canonical hurdles notwithstanding, Soukoku is the series' most popular pairing, prolific enough to justify countless official releases of fujo-bait art. ^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] to further illustrate, in Japan's 2018 poll for the all-time best 2D and 3D couples, Soukoku placed in 7th. ^[7]

in brief, they are in love. everyone can see it. as a result, the web is overflowing with Soukoku fanworks of all mediums, from written fiction to music videos. with so much to choose from, it can be a bit daunting to get started— even harder to wade through the mediocre content. in exchange for reading my manifesto, i will do the heavy lifting for you. below are my personal recommendations.

Writing

Fanfiction

behold: my top 3 favourite Soukoku fanfiction. i promise they are good! when you're as obsessed as i am, you learn to have exceptional taste. (that said, all three of them contain some level of explicit sexual content. view at your own discretion.)

1. gathers no moss by bigdamnhero

A god learns to leave his shrine.

i want this masterpiece printed and bound on my bookshelf. at 19,000 words (approx. 65 pages), it's somewhere between a short story and a novel anyway, and by God did i read the whole thing in one sitting. i persevered even as the tears obscured my vision. months later i am still thinking about this fic and i'm not sure it will ever leave me. would i even want it to?

bigdamnhero aptly describes her work as a love letter to Chuuya. i feel more like it's a love letter to me because it is everything i want (and deserve!!!) in a fanfiction. truth be told, i usually find AU stories boring or poorly characterised, but gathers no moss explores canon divergence with precision and care. it gives Chuuya the ending Asagiri is too cowardly to even contemplate.

even if you don't care for Chuuya or his pairing with Dazai, please, i am begging you... read this story. it does not disappoint.

2. Bain-Marie by Badwolf36

Chuuya is stress baking, sleep deprived, and in dire need of someone to take care of him. For better or worse, he gets Dazai.

this one hits so many sweet spots for me: an overwrought Chuuya, the king of self neglect, and a caretaking Dazai tumbling through mental gymnastics to justify the intimacy. it's just perfect. plus so many generic tropes that i love, like bathing each other; hair brushing; sleeping together (literally); and unresolved sexual tension...! ah, i'm so spoiled!

if this fic didn't exist, i'd have to write it myself. thankfully, Badwolf36 took care of it for me months before it was even an impulse on my synapses— with exceptional results. *chef's kiss* delicious.

3. Another Life by Leedarcy

Chuuya is surrounded by temptation, but there's only one person that makes him completely lose control.

this one could honestly be canon. it perfectly captures the tone of BSD: semi-violent, crafty, and not taking itself too seriously until a bomb drop of well-timed angst. Soukoku's dynamic is so good here, i can tell Leedarcy just gets it. there's even a fight scene! what more could i possibly ask for?

i recently reread this piece to help myself wake up and i fell in love with it all over again. i know that it's ranked third in this list, suggesting that it's of the least importance or the least quality... but it's so good. it's so good. all of these fics are so splendidly written— with their own niche appeal— that it's really hard to rank them at all.