The Update Was Amazing!!!!!! Your Writing Is Genuinely So Amazing,,, Dazais Slow Realization Is So Fun

double black, a rare moment of peace

your health family and work life come after your first priority which should always be 2 fictional characters fucking each other

Hello!! I have two questions about the story:

1) How big is Dazais ship and crew? I just can't imagine how big the ship would have to be for it to comfortably fit 40+ people (that estimated number comes from chapters 11-13)

2) In what part of the world does this story take place in (if there is a specific region)? I suppose they speak japanese in the story, which would mean somewhere around there?

(also I can't describe how excited I am about the next update sugsjvslbahaus)

Thank you!! 💙

Hi!! Happy to answer:

1.) The ship is on the larger side! I searched up a lot of ships while outlining the story but none of them fit the plot like I needed it to (yep, even the ship has lore!) until I eventually settled on a three-masted frigate. The crew is made up of about 50 members, which is a small number when compared to the size of the ship, a type which can hold crews about three-times the size. Btw I referenced this diagram (and then took a few creative liberties) with the structure of the boat:

For reference, here’s a few examples of frigates:

2.) The environmental setting is fictional with some real-world inspiration. They do speak Japanese but there’s also a monarchy which is loosely based on the English throne (hence the references to gold and red uniforms). But really, I won’t use any real-life names of countries or territories, every place they visit will only exist in their story so if you want to picture them in a specific region, go for it!

I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to come back but I will!! 💜

like falling asleep

if you don’t mind sharing, what are you studying?

I'm studying political science! It's very essay heavy (I've lost count of how many I've written this year alone ;-;) and there's a lot of reading theories and legal journals involved...BUT I wouldn't want to study anything else :D I find this field super interesting, even though I might lose sleep trying to get through my workload lol

🎶🏴‍☠️- Afterlife by Evanescence, Dazai pov!

Oh I love the energy of this song!!

Do you know around when the next update will be out?

Sooo I was planning to have it out by the end of this week (!!) but then I got ambushed by exams and reports that have sadly taken my free time away for the millionth time. I should have some breathing room after this week (let’s commence a prayer circle 🕯️) so maybe sometime next week? I’m aiming for a weekend update at least (not this weekend though 😔).

Sorry, I promise I’m trying to get my shit together. If anything, I might cut the chapter in half (since it’s a loooong one) and update that first!

Can you tell us some random fun facts about Dazai’s pirate crew? You don’t have to spoil anything, just whatever you’re comfortable with sharing! Missing the fic like a limb so it would be fun to have trivia to read while we wait!

Of course!! Here's a few:

Viko has everyone in the crew beat in terms of physical strength. However, despite being the tallest and broadest, he's not the best fighter among them. That title has been held by Dazai for quite some time.

No one in the crew has been able to beat Dazai in a duel, though this could change with the addition of the newest member.

Despite Dazai's sobriety, the ship has alcohol in its stores and the crew is free to consume it.

Chuuya was the first member of the crew to be personally invited to join by the captain since the initial crew was formed. Other members were added through a referral from an existing member and subjected to Dazai's scrutiny.

Poe and Ranpo knew each other before joining the crew and they form part of the original group. Although reluctant to allow animals on board, their refusal to join unless Karl came with them made Dazai relent.

There are two areas of the ship that houses the crew. One is in the back of the ship and has the rooms where Poe & Ranpo, Aku & Atsushi, and Gin & Yosano sleep and the other one is a broader area near the front of the ship where the rest stay.

Haru's full name is "Hikaru" but he chose to go by a shorter name to better suit his life as a pirate.

what’s your writing process like? (how do you plan, do you outline, etc.)

also, hope you’re feeling better soon!! :] 🫶

Hi!! Great question! Okay, I have a lot of thoughts but I’ll try to keep this short and coherent lol

So I start off with a scene or dialogue and think to myself how did this character get here and why? Everything that comes to mind I type into a doc, even if it’s just a word or two. Then that evolves into writing down what I would like to see play out like character interactions, certain settings, themes I’d like to explore, conflicts, etc. Once I have enough information down, I start piecing together a story and outlining it with bullet points of major plot points. I also make a chart with character information (their personalities, backstory, connections, etc.) Only after this is set up can I finally begin to write. (The brainstorming doc can get messy and I constantly add more things to it).

Sometimes a bullet point from the main outline can span a few chapters, so I break it up into more detailed sections and assign a chapter to it. Whenever I sit down to write a new chapter I make sure that I have at least a general outline for it and rough estimate of the word count. The next step is what takes me the most time because I tend to overthink a lot and end up rewriting scenes or deleting them altogether. However, it’s also the step I enjoy the most because even adding a sentence means I’m pushing the story forward! This is when the chapter outline comes in handy because if I ever get stuck on a scene or piece of dialogue, I can just skip ahead and come back to it later. My first drafts are always full of notes I leave as I write for future me to use as a reference for an unfinished scene.

I’d like to add that I also like listening to ambience music while I work but I always end up zoning it out or shutting it off when I get in the zone lol

Then comes the editing which I also love doing because it means I’m in the home stretch! By this point, if the chapter doesn’t already have a title, I make it a goal to come up with one as I read through it (this can be inspired by a scene or theme but it has to be important to the chapter. Oh and I also like to sneak in double meanings for them). After this is done comes the tedious part of converting everything into the format Ao3 uses, but again, doing this means I’m almost done :D and all that’s left is to copy it into the Archive and type up an author’s note (which by then it could be anywhere between 1am-3am because nothing beats late night writing!!).

Hitting the “Post” button never fails to make me nervous but it’s a feeling I look forward to!

As I went into the unknown, I found myself

And when the seas took me, I went down with the ship.