Dazai Has Autism - Tumblr Posts
I head cannon Dazai as autistic, and not in infantilizing way. As someone who is autistic, here’s why!
Even though Dazai has been in the mafia a long time (canonically he’s been with Mori since a suicide attempt at age 14, and since I haven’t read The Day I Picked Up Dazai, I’m not sure if we know anything before that), he’s showed a lot of signs of not socializing or not understanding socialization in the same way as other people.
He’s often confused by why and how other people feel the way they do. He can predict it, he calculates these things but he doesn’t feel them himself. Often times that’s a struggle I relate to, I feel emotions and so does he, but I often find myself not understanding why people feel things. Or even have trouble empathizing with them because I simply don’t understand emotions as well as others.
He’s shown to use a lot of masking, and not just masking his suicidal ideations and his intentions while planning, but covering up his emotions and intelligence as well. We can see during the age fifteen and dark era, while he still does mask at certain points and has this cheery attitude we often see current era Dazai using, most of the time he’s dropped that mask.
As much as people compare fifteen Dazai to a cat, it’s almost uncanny the relation between that behavior and autism. Though that may just be me self projecting, who knows.
Even once at the ADA, Dazai displays some level of autism with his mask. He won’t do paperwork, and while Kunikida and many in the office relate it to laziness, Ranpo does the same thing and many people say he has autism. Dazai actively doesn’t understand that getting himself hurt for the sake of a plan is not a good idea, and does it anyways.
Any plans he makes has to be followed, and he’ll give no reasons as to why. He simply manipulates the situation to be in his favor, and then all goes to his plans. As smart as that is, it feels almost catastrophic when things don’t go his way. Routine and being so entrenched in the habits that he’s had since a teenager and no interest in breaking them. Even when they’re detrimental to his wellbeing and health.
Personally I see Dazai as autistic, and I relate to him in more than one way.