tag an author, any author

[misheard]

PICK ONE AND I'LL START A THREAD OR JUST ASK FOR SOMEONE RANDOM
AKUTAGAWA RYUUNOSUKE kind of an airhead, but good-natured and charming could you stop smoking for one second though	DAZAI OSAMU should a narcissist really be that quick to want to die please leave Akutagawa alone	HAGIWARA SAKUTAROU there are important things besides poetry and being moody such as combing your hair
NAKAHARA CHUUYA picks drunken fights with everyone loses drunken fights with everyone	IZUMI KYOUKA you don't have to disinfect everything don't spray kouyou-sensei with windex either	NATSUME SOUSEKI a gentleman with a gentlemanly mustache having a sweet tooth is also very gentlemanly
MIYAZAWA KENJI a cute and sincere child maybe don't ask to see his picture books	TANIZAKI JUNICHIROU masochist with a foot fetish does being a great author really make up for that	NAGAI KAFUU a romantic traveler who still keeps a diary how much can you write about prostitutes
SHIMAZAKI TOUSON studying and writing about everything is great and all but no one is going to let the niece thing go	TAYAMA KATAI if you hit on less girls people would like you more also if you were less of a hipster	SHIGA NAOYA manly in that he will stick by people close to him an insensitive dickbag to everyone else
MORI OUGAI doctor doctor, give me the news what is someone actually responsible doing here	KITAHARA HAKUSHUU #aesthetic would be in the student council in a high school AU	MUROO SAISEI self-proclaimed wild child how many people sensitive about their height do we need
MUSHANOKOUJI SANEATSU sheltered noble chase your dreams! maybe learn to ride a bike!	OZAKI KOUYOU mama bear to his disciples the absolute pickiest eater	EDOGAWA RANPO hates the mainstream an eccentric entertainer, don't let him talk to you about eroguro
SATOU HARUO a rare practical person in a constant state of 'Dazai, why'	KOBAYASHI TAKIJI tortured to death for communism please hug him	YOKOMITSU RIICHI the most serious one "the thing I hate the most is literature"
ODA SAKUNOSUKE really, really Osakan cheerful and direct and pushes himself too hard	HORI TATSUO a sweet and attentive person canonly called "idol-esque", why wouldn't you tag him	NAKAJIMA ATSUSHI both split personalities are cute outside: shrinking violet, inside: FIGHT ME
MASAOKA SHIKI carefree, cheerful, and BASEBALL never going to get enough players for a game with these nerds	WAKAYAMA BOKUSUI drinks more sake than anyone else way easier to get along with than Chuuya	TAKAMURA KOUTAROU a gentle-natured artist is poetry/painting/wood carving a hat trick
ISHIKAWA TAKUBOKU owes everyone money survives by being charming and knowing where to hide	KUNIKIDA DOPPO mood swings all over the place straightforward and good at compliments	KOUDA ROHAN a hard worker, especially in housework would hate Tumblr's edgy headcanons
YOSHIKAWA EIJI probably has a gym membership probably can quote 50 different generals	NAKANO SHIGEHARU seems calm, filled with angst and passive-aggression	KIKUCHI KAN everyone's big brother exactly how much money have you given out, sir
MIYOSHI TATSUJI immature and rebellious a pure, if opinionated, boy	NIIMI NANKICHI pranked you while you were reading this you'll forgive him because he's so cute	TOKUDA SHUUSEI sour and pessimistic but still a hard, reliable worker
SAKAGUCHI ANGO the grand delinquent can you just clean your room instead of covering it with pesticide

Comments

[devilsboringness]

Well, you're not exactly wrong.

[Thirty writers in one place does make for a lot of talk about literature, and people writing and reading all the time. So it's not too far off.]

Heh, there's probably more writing going on than some of the actual retreats I've had. But if it's Odasaku and Dazai and me, I think we were doomed to do more drinking than writing from the very start.

[They're decadents.]

[kanri]

[that name. two names. how could he sit and say that name without it poisoning his mouth? he needs paper, he needs to get out his pen, he needs the truth that will reveal who's put this man out here as the worst sort of joke. there's a possibility it's Dazai himself who engineered this - there's a possibility it's a warning. too many enemies, and too many reasons to behave.

but Ango laughs and smiles in a way that briefly shows his teeth.]

Are they friends you came into town with?

[how easy it is, when people talk and talk and don't even ask your name.]

[devilsboringness]

[Ango likes to talk about himself. That isn't new. And he isn't the kind of person who's had to be careful about what he says - or rather, he wouldn't survive long in that kind of life, because he refuses to censor himself one bit.]

Yep! It was their idea. Actually, the two of them decided the other one needed a break independently.

[They worry too much about each other. Not much about themselves.]

[kanri]

You're all kind, looking out for each other. [he stands up at that, pushing out his stool and casually getting up.] Excuse me.

[the actions of a man going to the bathroom, heading past this stranger in the correct direction, nothing amiss except -

except Ango makes himself stumble when he's close, making the motion when he flails out to recapture balance, fingertips brushing the faker's back in the process, seem natural. an accident, nothing more. he's done this a hundred times, and usually with bigger stakes.]

-Sorry, sorry, it's these shoes...

[before anything else, he pulls away for the bathroom, staying long enough to avoid suspicion. water on his face, and a reminder to stay focused. the truth will be revealed. anyway, he comes back, seemingly fine, before asking the bartender for another refill. for decadence, really.]

[devilsboringness]

[Ango's had drunk people do worse than stumble over him, so the other man's apologies get waved off.

Nothing amiss at all, except that the break in conversation lends a natural place to change the topic.]

I've been talking all about myself, and I don't even know your name!

[kanri]

It's not that I mind, I'm fine with listening. But I didn't say, really...

[now, he could lie, but a new idea occurs to him.]

Would you believe it if I said my name was Sakaguchi too?

[at this time, the new drink arrives, and Ango takes the napkin from underneath it, thinking about the pen in his pocket. all he needs to do is write the name, activate his ability, and the lie would be exposed.]

[devilsboringness]

Is that right? We could be related! But we're probably not.

[He never did think to find out whether he had any living descendants... But that would just be a pain, to bother your grandchildren when you should be dead. A pain for them and him. It's better not to know.]

[kanri]

Yeah...it'd be too much of a coincidence. But, just to be sure...

[Ango takes another drink, pulling out the pen and writing his - this imposter's - their name on the napkin.]

You write it with these characters, don't you?

[you're in public, caution hisses in his head. but the burn of the alcohol makes him want to be reckless again, old habits only fueled up by pain.

usually, he's more subtle than this. any mission, he'd be better than this, getting information and disappearing like a ghost. but this is personal, and he doesn't have anyone to pull him down or be worse than him as a counterbalance.

Discourse on Decadence. he activates the ability, not bothering for a reply.]

[devilsboringness]

[Birth name: Sakaguchi Heigo. More commonly known by his pen name, Sakaguchi Ango. Born October 20th, 1906. Died February 17th, 1955. Novelist and essayist, most famous for the essay "Discourse on Decadence".

Your ability could go on, Ango.]

[kanri]

[it could, it does, and Ango snaps it off before it goes too deep. his fingertips burn where they had touched the other, and it's only his own training that means he doesn't gape in shock and surprise, but keeps his cool demeanor.

inwardly, his mind is running through infinite possibilities, thinking about what ability could have caused this. the same name, the same birthday, things matching up in ways aside from time, aside from this trait of being a true writer, and nothing is making sense.

he waits for this stranger - Ango's answer. but he remembers a legend - if you meet your doppleganger, you will die. does it apply if someone is less that, more...other?]

[devilsboringness]

[If Ango were someone who could see the activation of Discourse on Decadence, maybe he'd have a different response. But he's not an ability user, he's an writer, even if a dead one.

But instead he just peers over at the name written on the napkin, and nods.] Got it in one.

[kanri]

[he's not getting it yet, which means he can take a second and breathe before he talks.]

I wrote down my own name.

[pause.]

Actually, I knew who you were from before I even walked in.

[devilsboringness]

[That does get a reaction of surprise- eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.]

That so?

[One he could maybe dismiss as a weird coincidence, maybe, but the second...]

Seems like I'd rather be listening to you talk.

[kanri]

You listen when someone tells you that someone's come into town, using your name.

[finally, the last piece of casual demeanor falls away, and Ango's eyes are sharp.]

Then when they start using the names of people you know.

[devilsboringness]

[Oh, so he's been putting up an act. Well, that's fine - Ango can get a little more serious if the situation calls.]

I've never heard of somebody else with my name before this. And I guarantee you your friends and my friends aren't the same.

[Not unless other-Ango's friends have been dead for decades.]

[kanri]

[your friends. it still stings deeply, and to cover it, Ango takes another drink.]

Dazai Osamu and Oda Sakunosuke. I guarantee you if I was to write the names out, they would be the same. I've never heard of someone with my name, much less someone with my name, my same birthday, and who knows people with the same name I do.

[inhale. this is getting more ludicrous by the minute.]

I came in here expecting to find someone who by some miracle had my name. What I didn't expect was you.

[devilsboringness]

That's a little much for a coincidence.

[Because yep, those are the names exactly. Even if you named your kids after famous people - and you'd have to have awful taste to pick Dazai - the exact names wouldn't be the same.]

Those two have been dead since the forties. Me, I kicked it in '55. We've only been alive again since a couple months ago.

[kanri]

So that suicide maniac finally got his wish.

[it's muttered, more to this Ango than that one.]

This isn't the best place to have this conversation, though.

[devilsboringness]

If you want a cheap hotel room... ahh, but those two being there might get awkward...

[If other-Ango's having issues talking to him, talking to him and two people who share his friends' names wouldn't be an improvement.]

[kanri]

I was thinking about an apartment.

[it's not about issues talking to him, it's the paranoid agent in him thinking that if someone's using rogue abilities, then it's best to be somewhere that he knows no one will be recording a conversation.

plus, he knows he can't look in the face of anyone named Odasaku. never.]

[devilsboringness]

Fine with me.

[He signals the bartender and pays for his drinks. Just because everything is suddenly much weirder doesn't mean you can go around stiffing people.]

[kanri]

[of course you don't. not if you want to ever come back.

Ango's place is within walking distance, not too far, and he doesn't say much on the way over apart from directions. he's thinking, the gears in his head turning exceptionally fast. trying to make sense of it, to put logic into it. none of his theories are working.

the apartment isn't anything special from the outside. which was exactly the point, Ango thought.]

If you've got any hopes for what my place is like, you might as well ditch them.

[it's something said for the sake of saying things, really.]

[devilsboringness]

[For his part, author-Ango's willing to be quiet while other-Ango's deep in thought. He's thinking too, but not coming up with much besides "?????" and "blame an alchemist??"

The comment about his apartment gets him to crack a grin.]

Don't worry, I'm not one for expensive furniture either.

[...or any furniture besides a futon and a table. This man lived out of a suitcase.]

[kanri]

[the apartment, despite how much he stays without roots, needing to travel and work in different places, is there all the same. one singular address to come back to, despite how it feels nothing like anything. not a home, not a house. a place.

it's ordinary, impersonal. simple, save for the shelves which are stuffed full of books in the living room. books on various subjects - history, philosophy, science, fiction - some old and some new. he reads so

Ango doesn't hesitate when he walks in, glancing back to his guest.]

Sit where you want.

[he should offer tea, he thinks, but given the way the night's already going, when he comes back from the kitchen, what he has instead is two glasses and a bottle of whiskey he's been sorely neglecting.]

[devilsboringness]

[Naturally, the seat Ango picks is the one nearest to a bookshelf. He picks out a book whose author he doesn't recognize and starts flipping through it.

Whiskey is a better choice than tea right now, no question.]

You're the type to live modestly, huh.