Rimlaine

"I would gladly walk through any hell for my partner's sake. So long as there is a god in the heavens, this bond in my heart, and a future within reach."

- Rimbaud writing about his bond with Verlaine in his journal.

Rimlaine is the slash ship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine from the Bungou Stray Dogs fandom.

Canon
Rimbaud and Verlaine were once partners. Verlaine was known as Black No 12., having no name. Rimbaud was the one who gave him a name, donning “Black No 12” as Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud’s actual birth name.

Given the limited on-screen appearances of both characters, it is entirely unknown what their relationship would have been like prior to Fifteen's plot or how they met. However, in both the light novel and the anime, Rimbaud alludes to Verlaine. Rimbaud mentions that Verlaine was his teammate during his mission of espionage and infiltration of the Japanese ministry's laboratories in order to capture Arahabaki. Rimbaud also mentions, during his fight against Chūya and Dazai, that Verlaine in addition to being his teammate was also very close to him. Although the two of them had lost contact after the Arahabaki incident.

The fight ends with Rimbaud’s murder at the hands of Dazai and Chūya. The impact of the blow gave the ex-spy a few seconds of lucidity in which he was able to recall more accurately the details of the incident after his amnesia. With Arthur's words before he died, apparently during his escape eight years ago, Verlaine ended up betraying him. After his betrayal of Rimbaud, Verlaine seemed to be deeply in denial over his feelings towards him, claiming he was glad his partner was dead.

However, after the incident with Guivre was resolved, the ex-spy reveals that his goal after that fight was to absorb Chūya's ability in order to recreate his memories of that fateful night when Arahabaki went out of control, a night that culminated in Verlaine’s disappearance and Rimbaud’s amnesia. Rimbaud explains that in that way he would be able to understand the events of that night and would be able to know Verlaine’s current state. And, had he survived, to be reunited with him. At this point, Verlaine admitted he cared about Rimbaud and was extremely remorseful for his actions, apologizing over and over again. After that, Verlaine allowed himself to be detained by the mafia, having nowhere he wanted to go and no one he wanted to see besides Arthur, who was now dead.

"How strange... I'm not cold in the least. The world that should have been so cold... Paul, you also... felt this warmth... in the... end."

- Rimbaud’s last words.

Some time after Rimbaud’s death, in the additional document of Fifteen it is narrated that Verlaine infiltrated the Port Mafia base. After cold-bloodedly murdering some guards and reading the documents written by his deceased ex-partner, Verlaine takes the hat that once belonged to Verlaine and disappears among the buildings of Yokohama.

After the self-contradicting singularity activates in Stormbringer, Rimbaud greets Verlaine a happy birthday, glad that Verlaine had been born and that he had the honor of meeting him. The subspace condenses until it is sucked into Verlaine's heart, soon vanishing along with Rimbaud himself

Fanon
is not a popular ship within the Bungou Stray Dogs fandom. This is due to the fact that the anime adaptation did not show all the development their relationship had, contrast to the light novel. And also due to the fact that they are not main characters in the light novels. Fans of the ship often see a link between their real-life counterparts who had a toxic romance, and wish the possibly romantic part of Rimlaine’s relationship could've been explored. The ship currently has 150+ works on AO3.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, the real-life poets which both characters are based on, were lovers in real life.
 * Paul Verlaine, in real life, collected Rimbaud's poems. In fact it was he who published "Illuminations", a book that compiles a large number of poems written by the young poet throughout his life. Curiously enough, Rimbaud's ability in Bungou Stray Dogs is based on this book and is called "Illuminations".
 * Arthur Rimbaud's hat was actually Paul Verlaine's.