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Fyodor Dostoevsky - Blog Posts
@fluff-cember : [Prompt 13] Fire and Ice
Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs
Ship: Fyodor x Dazai
FINALLY I FINISHED THIS DAMN FIC, DEAR LORD. I am not philosophical in the slightest so this was an absolute pain to write, but I somehow did it. I had made a post about this earlier, where Fyodor would talk about Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice with someone else, and I later chose that someone to be Dazai. Lemme know if they're in character. :') [btw they're in the prison here]
The day was as boring and dull as the previous, and probably the next. The only noise that could be heard in the space was the flipping of pages, and Dazai couldn't help but stare at Fyodor as the latter read some book.
He sat up in bed, eyeing the Russian’s figure curiously.
“What?” Came Fyodor’s amused voice, breaking him out of his trance.
“What’cha reading?” Dazai effortlessly shifted to his teasing tone of voice, leaning towards Fyodor’s cell.
Fyodor finally looked up from his book, giving Dazai an unimpressed look. “Poems.”
Dazai blinked, making a show of being repulsed. “Poems? Seriously?”
“Have you read poems by Robert Frost?” Fyodor asked, ignoring Dazai’s weird looks.
Dazai just hummed softly, glancing up at the ceiling in thought. “I've heard of the guy.”
Fyodor crossed his legs, corners of his lips turning up. “Fire and Ice.”
“That’s name of the poem?” Dazai whined. “Sounds so boring.”
Fyodor let out an irritated huff, bringing the book closer to his face to read out loud:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
“So philosophical,” Dazai remarked, amused at the seriousness in Fyodor’s voice.
“I'd say this poem stands to be quite relevant in our time.” Fyodor gazed up at Dazai, tilting his head.
Dazai maintained their eye contact, leaning back on the bed. “...Whether the world is to end by fire or ice, hmm?”
“Fire, or ice—desire, or hatred?”
“Do you have an opinion on this?”
Fyodor set the book on the table, crossing his arms. “Regardless of the path, it is quite obvious mankind will lead to the destruction of the world.”
Dazai followed his movements. “I guess you'd advocate hatred and selfishness to win instead of violence, right?”
He slightly smiled. “Both.”
Dazai blinked, then laughed out loud, dramatically wiping tears from his eyes. “I don't know why I expected any less from you.”
Fyodor hummed. “However… I'd consider the role of ice—apathy, greed, and selfishness, to be grander.”
Dazai tilted his head. “Isn't violence practically second nature to us?”
Fyodor's smile widened, shaking his head as he explained, “It is the nature of humans to be cold too. The tendency to remain selfish results in mankind being unable to work together—”
“We’re apathetic, you mean?” Dazai chimed in. “Too caught up with ourselves to worry about others?”
“You are starting to understand,” Fyodor remarked, slightly irritated at the interruption. “They are blinded by greed, losing the ability to care unless something concerns them directly.”
Dazai yawned. “Bla bla bla, and this somehow ties up with abilities, gotcha.”
Narrowing his eyes, Fyodor ignored him and continued, “This lack of unity, alongside violence and a sprinkle of human stupidity, results in war.”
“What, so you think we're naturally inclined to start wars?”
He nodded. “War can begin due to the lack of empathy and understanding... or simple greed and selfishness.”
“Ehh, I don't think that.” Watching Fyodor’s eyes widening slightly, Dazai snickered and explained, “Resource scarcity, ideological differences, etc., lead to war; apathy is just a fuel.”
“Again, lack of understanding.” Fyodor sighed. “Which is basically apathy.”
"Apathy isn't always negative—sometimes, it can lead to peaceful resolutions.” Laughing as he made Fyodor awe-struck for probably the second time, Dazai continued, “If people aren't invested enough to fight, they might end up avoiding conflict altogether—”
“...Because people who are apathetic tend to be more indifferent and less aggressive,” Fyodor mused.
Dazai hummed, amused. “I'd say that could actually prevent fights from breaking out in the first place.”
Fyodor raised his eyebrows in interest.
“I assume you prefer fire, then?”
Dazai grinned. “As you had said earlier, fire and ice both will play a role.. because they are tied together.”
Fyodor quirked up a small smirk. “We can only tell as time passes, hm?”
“Seeing what the future has in store for us,” He murmured.
“Quite.”
Fyodor simply returned his attention back to the book, picking it up, as Dazai leaned back to have a shut-eye.
so I was reading through the fluffcember blog's prompt list and saw 'fire and ice' and OH MY GOD.
does anyone know that fire and ice poem by Robert Frost? im imagining fyodor having a discussion related to this with (insert character, literally can be any. Nikolai, dazai, maybe even fukuchi) and it basically being a character study about him and how he views the world
this is so niche I really doubt anyone knows what im talking about but PLEASE if anyone wants to write this im begging!!
I hate that I can’t be sad about the newest bsd chapter, because my stupid, logical brain decided that the prison break arc can’t end this soon, because it wouldn’t make sense. I just want to cry about Chuuya and Fyodor, damn it!
Throwback to Stormbringer really quick before I continue with the Prison Arc. With good reason too.
Referring to real-life Dostoevsky and Dazai.
Dostoevsky believed that suffering elevated, that it was essential for attaining true faith. Dazai feared God. He has only ever been able to believe in God's punishments due to the endless spiral of hopelessness and depression in his life. To him, suffering destroys.
Back to Bungo Stray Dogs.
Dazai made Chuuya suffer so that Chuuya could see that he isn't a monster. That I've known since I've written that portion. However, suffering destroys. He needed to destroy Chuuya's misconception of him not being human, and because to him suffering destroys, he believed Chuuya needed to suffer to break. So, no, Dazai didn't do it for shits and giggles.
Commission for @/bluerangoons on insta!🫶
Creantzy posts Fyolai again after quite literally a year can you believe it
Finally posted the animatic on my Tiktok!
CW: religious symbolism, mention of suicide, severed arm
[Read from left to right]
Speaking to the memory of him.
In the catzai au, is Fyodor an actual rat and Nikolai a dove?
perhaps
Doing my usual "lets go back and read random BSD chapters" and I can't help but notice how different Fyodor is now to when he was first introduced.
I've made a few posts pointing out how Fyodor and Dazai have similar panels, but I'm starting to think he's actually mimicking Dazai's mannerisms on purpose now.
I don't have a lot of canon proof other than, ~a feeling~, I get looking at him, so consider this a headcanon rather than a theory.
Warning Manga spoilers under the cut!
Like, Fyodor, why does this keep happening??? Fyodor's versions of these poses also all happen later in the manga than Dazai's versions.
Now, there's the argument that Fyodor wasn't there for half of these, but we do know he's a hacker and he was obsessed with Dazai for a time. I do believe he would just sit there watching Dazai's movements on cameras to learn his patterns and habits in the name of defeating him.
Compare how he holds himself now, to how he did when he was first introduced.
He's a shut in who bites his nails, doesn't take care of his posture or appearance. He's so used to being behind the curtains he's off putting to be directly around.
Whereas Dazai is a chameleon, he blends in anywhere he goes. If I was an immortal so out of touch with my own humanity and basic identity, I probably pick someone to mimic their behaviours too.
Ironic that he choose the man who doesn't consider himself human to learn from.
I'm also drawn to this panel specifically.
(Very suspicious choice of words there, considering the current manga arc, but I digress)
Typically when we think of vampires, we think of blood sucking immortals, but the vampire we have in BSD is based of Dracula. Dracula specifically poses the question of "What if vampires stole who you are as well?". The idea that you can't consume someone's very life without having their soul linger on with you.
The Count learns to blend in with modern society through Johnathan, from learning from him and by feeding off him. Mina, Renfield and Lucy all slowly lose who they are the more influence the Count has over them.
This panel says he's soulless, he's 'empty', he's a vampire waiting to steal someone else's soul to fill him up. Now, that could be a hint at what his ability turned out to be, but it could also mean how he's mimicking Dazai.
But why mimic Dazai?
Well, simply put, he was the only one Fyodor saw as an equal and we know he wanted a companion who he considered to be his equal. So why not make himself more like the man he wants at his side. To obtain Dazai, he became Dazai.
Problem is Dazai hates himself, he also seems to dislike any character that's convinced they are the same. (Note: Not characters Dazai sees himself in, like Atsushi, but characters who insist to him that they are the same, like Mori and Fyodor)
It was a doomed plot from the start.
However, Dazai is no longer his goal. Atsushi is. Fyodor knows Atsushi greatly admires Dazai, so continuing to mimic Dazai's mannerisms to connect them together in Atsushi's mind could be part of his plan now.
Fyodor and the Devil: Analysis of Fyodor's motives and role in the narrative
Asagiri has stated that he based Fyodor not on Dostoyevsky the author but on a specific scene from one of his books The Brothers Karamazov where Ivan Karamazov confronts “the devil” in his room.
(It's a really good book, you should read it if you have time. Also. fun fact, Fyodor and the devil wear the same hat, “His soft fluffy white hat was out of keeping with the season.”)
Having read the book and gone over this scene, I realized that this could be used to find out a lot more about Fyodor as a character than we see in the story, including a potential glimpse at his real motivations.
A bit of context for the scene. Ivan Kramazov is a clever but deeply trouble man who has struggling with the concept of God and rationalising him with the cruelty of humanity, at one point while very sick, Ivan starts seeing a man in his room who claims to be “the devil”. Their conversation is a fascinating look at morality and why evil exists in the world, and if you look at it closely it reveals a lot about the role of a “villain” in a story.
This line from “the devil” is really interesting to me, and seems to explain a lot about Fyodor’s character, as well as align perfectly with how Asagiri has described Fyodor in interviews:
Before time was, by some decree which I could never make out, I
was predestined 'to deny' and yet I am genuinely good-hearted and not at all inclined to negation.
'No, you must go and deny, without denial there's no criticism and what would a journal be without a column of criticism?'
Without criticism it would be nothing but one 'hosannah.' But nothing but hosannah is not enough for life, the hosannah must be tried in the crucible of doubt and so on, in the same style. But I don't meddle in that, I didn't create it, I am not answerable for it. Well, they've chosen their scapegoat, they've made me write the column of criticism and so life was made possible.
Basically the devil is saying that he was created because without evil then good means nothing, if everything was perfect then nothing would happen or change, life couldn’t exist, so he was forced to be that evil even though he never wanted to be.
This is so similar to how Fyodor is described in the BSD exposition 2020:
Fyodor is the antagonist, he is the villain of the story, that is the role he plays. This explains why he chooses to commit so many atrocities in the name of “following God's plan”. It even connects to his line in The Dead Apple, and his ability name. He is both crime and punishment, as “crime” or sin originates with the devil, but it's also the devil who punishes sinners.
(I mean the title of the episode he is introduced in is literally “My Ill Deeds Are the Work of God” by committing evil acts he is fulfilling God's purpose for him.)
And if Fyodor is really based on “the devil” it's very likely he also either does or used to wish for release from this role that was assigned to him, but he knows that he cannot stray from his path or the story will cease to exist. My evidence for Fyodor wanting to be free of his mission is just one interaction, when he kills Karma.
Look at Fyodor's expression here, this is the only time in the entire series where we see him look truly sad. This isn't an act, there is no one there for him to trick, he simply says a quiet prayer for the life of a boy who's only purpose was to suffer and die.
This next part of “the devils” speech actually seems to fit very well for Dazai, it's interesting since he is the narrative foil to Fyodor and clearly is a very similar character.
We understand that comedy; I, for instance, simply ask for annihilation. No, live, I am told, for there'd be nothing without you.
If everything in the universe were sensible, nothing would happen. There would be no events without you, and there must be events. So against the grain I serve to produce events and do what's irrational because I am commanded to.
For all their indisputable intelligence,men take this farce as something serious, and that is their tragedy. They suffer, of course... but then they live, they live a real life, not a fantastic one, for suffering is life. Without suffering what would be the pleasure of it? It would be transformed into an endless church service; it would be holy, but tedious. But what about me? I suffer, but still, I don't live. I am x in an indeterminate equation. I am a sort of phantom in life who has lost all beginning and end, and who has even forgotten his own name.
This ties perfectly into Dazai and Fyodor’s debate on the nature of God in the sky casino arc.
Dazai here points out that it's not perfection and harmony that make the world move, it's the irrational, it's the foolishness and stupidity of humans who charges into life making a million mistakes but always finding ways to fight on through it. Here Dazai and Fyodor represent the conflicting sides of “the devil” with Fyodor embodying his mission to drive the world and Dazai embodying his secret love for, and wish to join, humanity.
“I love men genuinely, I've been greatly calumniated! Here when I stay withyou from time to time, my life gains a kind of reality and that's what I like most of all. Yousee, like you, I suffer from the fantastic and so I love the realism of earth. Here, with you, everything is circumscribed, here all is formulated and geometrical, while we have nothing but indeterminate equations! I wander about here dreaming. I like dreaming. Besides, on earth I become superstitious. Please don't laugh, that's just what I like, to become superstitious. I adopt all your habits here: I've grown fond of going to the public baths, would you believe it?
And I go and steam myself with merchants and priests. What I dream of is becoming incarnate once for all and irrevocably in the form of some merchant's wife weighing eighteen stone, and of believing all she believes. My ideal is to go to church and offer a candle in simple-hearted faith, upon my word it is. Then there would be an end to my sufferings.”
“"Why not, if I sometimes put on fleshly form? I put on fleshly form and I take the consequences. Satan sum et nihil humanum a me alienum puto."*
* I am Satan, and deem nothing human alien to me.”
This piece from the devil feels like it could be a description of Dazai’s character, his wish above all else to find happiness and love as a human despite believing he is a demon. Both Dazai and Fyodor have strong ties to the Devil, both of them are often described as demonic or inhuman, with emphasis placed on the darkness of their souls and the isolation they feel due to their minds.
But the difference between them is how they dealt with it, Fyodor chose to embrace it and fully commit to his role in the story as the ultimate evil for the greater good, but Dazai has always shown a fasciation with humans and has spent his life trying to connect to them and find meaning in his existence.
Finally, let's look at what we can learn about Fyodor’s motivation. Fyodor is the villain, he is the final obstacle the protagonist has to overcome, he is the driving force behind so much of Atsushi’s life and the reason so much of the series has played out at all. He sent Shibusawa to torture Atsushi as a child, he was an informant to the guild who put the bounty on Atsushi making the mafia turn on him, he was involved in the guild invasion, and obviously he was the master mind behind cannibalism and Decay of Angles.
If he is aware of his position as the antagonist, then he also is probably aware Atsushi is the protagonist, he knew he was the “envy of all ability users” after all, so he knows Atsushi has some significance to the world as a whole.
Atsushi is also the “guide to the book” which is seemingly Fyodor’s end goal, so even though Fyodor doesn’t seem to be focused on Atsushi, he has been indirectly influencing his whole journey up to this point. This also explains why Fyodor is only moving actively now, because the protagonist has appeared and his role as the villain can finally be fulfilled and he, like “the devil” can finally get the “annihilation” he asked for. Hence, Fyodor’s true goal is to erase himself from the narrative.
There is actually quite a lot of evidence for this. The obvious part is that Fyodor wants to rid the world of ability users while he himself is an ability user, he cannot exist in his perfect world.
Then there’s the fact that in the Dead Apple, Fyodor calls himself “crime” if Fyodor is “crime” or “sin” then a world free of sin would not contain him at all
Even when Fyodor talks about sin, he says how humans are easily manipulated into killing each other, while he constantly manipulates characters into killing each other, he is the cause of the sin he fights.
A really strong bit of evidence is this interview with Asagiri and Harukawa
Not only does Asagiri reiterate Fyodors role as the person who moves the story, Harukawa specifically mentions that Fyodor might be trying to create a world without ability users because he thought it was a “bad thing to do” aka the action a villain would take that would lead to a hero stopping them.
“Dos-san is the biggest villain in the story so far, but I have continued to draw him with spaced out eyes that are neither righteous nor evil for a long time. The only time I drew his eyes completely white was when he said he would create a world without skill users. It was because, in reality, we would decide what is evil or not by our own scales, but I wasn't sure if he himself was doing it because he thought that was a bad thing to do.”
This also connects to how Fyodor was able to understand Gogol when no one else could, Gogol is chooses to fight against the way the world is to prove to himself that he truly is free. Fyodor, who is bound to play a part in a narrative, would understand that feeling and that longing to be truly free.
To be clear, I don’t think that Fyodor is really a good person whose just been trapped in an awful position against his will, we see many times that Fyodor revels in his cruelty and enjoys killing and torturing others. Its the same with “the devil” in the book, although he hates the job he was given, he tells Ivan stories of the people he’s corrupted and seems very proud of himself for it.
My personal interpretation is that the sadistic zelot personality Fyodor displays is a mixture of a mask and a coping mechanism, kind of similar to Yosano developing a sadistic side to help her deal with the guilt of half killing people in order to heal them. I think it makes sense that after centuries of cruelty and manipulation a person would become detached and stop really caring about the lives he destroys.
This analysis is partially unfinshed but I wanted to post it now and see what other people think of it.
Fyodor barely trying to hold it together after his perfectly crafted fake ability is dismantled in 2 seconds by Nikolai holding his hands.
It gets better when you realise Nikolai was trying to figure out what his ability actually was. He had him all figured out and tested it in a way Fyodor couldn’t stop him.
Right in front of Dazai and Sigma too.
No wonder man was annoyed.
Concept:
So my idea/theory that Fyodor’s going to cause Atsushi to lead him to the book is starting to feel a wee bit more plausible now.
Because while the page is gone the book is still out there.
And if defeating Gozen isn’t the answer to returning everyone then I’m pretty sure Atsushi will go hunt down the book in desperation.
I’ve always wondered if when the tiger seemingly chasing Atsushi to Yokohama in the beginning, it was because it was leading him to the book.
Which is in Yokohama.
That Atsushi might not know its location but the tiger does. And so maybe of Atsushi fully transforms he’ll be able to find it.
Unknowingly leading Fyodor to it.
And well…it does seem like it’s a full moon back there and we don’t know if All Men Are Equals can reach Atsushi now.
BSD ch. 121 spoilers undercut
The more Fyodor seems to very intentionally torture Atsushi the more certain I am that he's trying to push Atsushi into a certain psychological state of mind needed to act as the Bookmark. This one panel stood out to me cause it seemed like Fyodor was trying coax this specific reaction out of him. I don't think he's just taking immense pleasure from Atsushi's suffering for the fun of it, I think he wants him angry. He wants him broken. He wants...well something from Atsushi which is why he keeps pushing.
He's made sure that Atsushi bore witness to the deaths of everyone he cared about. He ripped up the hope of saving him right in his face. And in the very next scene he also commands Ame no Gozen to kill Akutagawa as well. He's very much trying to provoke something out of Atsushi. The tiger itself maybe?
After everything that happened in this arc, I think we can all agree that Fyodor is the BIGGEST Atsushi hater of all time
Divine Being Amenogozen and the horror of the wrath of God
I wanted to talk about the current main threat to the BSD cast because I feel like not many people talk about him and how terrifying he is and also what he symbolises.
His creation/abilities:
So Divine Being Amenogozen was created via the 'Tripolar singularity' - a combination of 3 abilities/ability infused items. These are the Amenogozen sword (or the Space-Time sword), The Holy Sword Soluz Levni and Fukuchi's ability Mirror Lion. In short, Amenogozen can stab/move through space and time, the Holy Sword can infuse people's abilities into their bodies, and Mirror Lion strengthens any weapon by 100 times.
In terms of skills, Divine Being Amenogozen (who I will now refer to as Gozen) possesses the abilities of the Space-Time sword (liquification/absorption of people/abilities and energy blasts), as well as superhuman speed/swordsmanship, Levitation, self-healing and the ability to generate blades from himself to match his sword. He's already a powerhouse of an oppenent with just these skills that makes him an insane enemy for the characters to fight, but it's some of his other skills I want to draw attention to - mainly, spatial manipulation and his higher-dimensional existence (although I may bring mention to the others too).
As opposed to the others, I single out spatial manipulation as it is one of the things that makes him most intimidating alongside his physical appearance/actions. He's able to disappear and reappear in various places in the blink of an eye, something which really adds to the general horrifying nature of him as an antagonist.
The main aspect I want to talk about is him existing on a higher dimension than every other character in the series. Fyodor specifically says that Gozen is a fourth-dimensional being, whereas the rest of them are third-dimensional, and that Gozen's form is simply a shadow of his true self. Essentially, Gozen exists at a higher level of existence that is inconceivable to the rest of the cast, operating at this higher level not only in consciousness but also in ability/skill. It is why all of his skills are so heightened that they surpassed perhaps every single character in the current BSD canon.
To simplify the idea of dimensions, i'm pretty sure that a three-dimensional object is something that can be specifically located via 3 units (or dimensions) - usually this is the scales of height, width and depth in a physical space. A four-dimensional object also adds another variable scale (usually time I think) that you can see. In essence, Gozen is able to perceive the scales of height, width, depth and time (which implies that he can see through time itself).
[I want to clarify that this is not a topic I am very knowledgeable on, and I am kind of teaching myself the basics as I write this. So please feel free to correct me if I've got this wrong.]
So Gozen is able to travel across space and time, as well as manifest himself in multiple places at one via the past and present versions of himself (as if writing with two hands on a piece of paper, as Fyodor describes it). Fyodor describes Minkowski Space as part of his skills, a concept that I can't quite figure out how to explain so I recommend you give it a bit of research tbh). And Fyodor uses that to essentially kill the ability users that stand in his path and intimidate Atsushi into leading him to the book. It's also important to note that Fyodor, due to the seal marked on his hand from the Holy Sword, has seemingly complete control over the actions and abilities of Gozen. It is interesting to combine these concepts of Gozen's character with the general ruthlessness of his actions because it to me acts as a visualisation of the wrath of God.
Religious connotations and the wrath of God
Fyodor as a character has always been associated with religious imagery from his introduction. I don't know what specific sect of religion he's usually associated with, but for the sake of this post I'll talk about Gozen and his links to Christian imagery (since Christianity is the religion i'm most familiar with).
[My understanding is also quite limited so please don't take what i say is complete fact in case i'm completely wrong 😭]
Gozen as a higher-dimensional being to me brings associations with the concept of God and his omnipotent power. God is often said to know all, see all and have immense power (enough to create, for example, worldwide flooding). Gozen also exhibits similar concept:
- when he faces kunikida he is aware of his previous injuries (his hands being destroyed by the explosion in escape from the Hunting Dogs), despite not having been known to exist until much later.
- Gozen uses huge blades to chop down any buildings in a large area around the airport, showing he has power on a huge scale.
- Since he can present in multiple places at the same time (by manifesting past and present versions of himself at the same time) he can perceive through time.
Now, Gozen is not specifically like the Christian God. The christian God is said to have created the world we know and have complete control over it. Gozen doesn't show any evidence of this. Gozen seems more similar to a God present in a religion with multiple Gods that are worshipped by different people for different purposes. I seem to bring this towards the Christian God because often I know more about it (Christian primary school core) and see many depictions of the Christian God as one who is surprisingly ruthless - weather it be in stories surrounding Adam and Eve or The Great Flood for example. It's the inherent horror associated with this wrath (great anger and/or a desire to punish) that I bring to attention.
It is the inherently horror of being punished by someone of a higher existence and power that I focus on. I can see how Fyodor summoning Gozen to rid of his enemies here and his plan to unite humanity via the removal of the 'curse' of ability users can feel similar to the concept of Judgement day, where God is to come down and judge humanity for their actions and send them either to heaven or to hell. Fyodor however is more about force and violence in his methods, suggesting that he has perhaps invoked the more violent aspects of Gozen's wrath.
And there's a huge element of horror in fighting against a being who exceeds you in every single aspect and is at a completely inconceivable level and has so far basically killed anyone it has come in contact with before you but yet it decides to spare you and intimidate you instead because you serve, in its opinion, a greater purpose. Because that's what Atsushi is facing. Gozen is drawn in such an intimidating way at many points when facing atsushi too - I'm adding some because I think his design is so interesting too (might make a separate post on that because this is getting long).
Essentially, Gozen is terrifying because he is above and beyond everything any of these characters have ever known and possibly will ever know. He is a godly being who is ruthless in his directed pursuits and operates with such an intimidating air because of his inherent power and higher-dimensional existence. He is terrifying because he is so inconceivable and invincible in the eyes of the characters in universe, and to them Fyodor has essentially invoked the wrath of a God upon them for the 'crime' of being ability users that dare oppose him.
[This post started to fall apart towards the end because I only have a limited understanding of God's presentation in Christianity but I wanted an excuse to talk about how interesting and terrifying Gozen is as a character concept... I kind of love him as an antagonist despite him being so overpowered.Sorry that this became a bit of a mess towards the end but feel free to add anything to this idea - whether corrections or new ideas!]
You know, for as much as bsd has spiraled, I don't think Fyodor's motivations have really changed all that much since we first met him.
He's always hated ability users. A fact which I think a lot of people tend to forget is that most regular people don't know that much about them, except that they were part of the war. They know they exist, but in contexts like the Port Mafia and vaguely aware of the Agency's existence. They're not people who are liked, they have to be watched by the government, and Fyodor's always hated them.
He wants to rid the world of ability users, because he believes they are a sin (despite him being one himself). We don't know why, and I don't want that Tragic Backstory™ because I'm happy hating him as he his now, but that's been the case ever since he tried to have the Agency and Mafia defeat each other. Ever since the movie where he was willing to team up and cause a Gifted Genocide via Gifted Suicide. Also, he's kinda right about Fukuchi's plan being flawed like...yeah, world domination has never worked out well in the past. So him wanting a war against all Gifteds and manipulating Fukuchi to do it actually makes tons of sense, considering what we know about him. He thinks that peace will come as soon as the Gifteds are done with.
Fyodor doesn’t call Atsushi by his name. It’s “innocent beast”, “he who houses the bookmark”, “the tiger” or simply “you.” And as far as I can recall it’s always been like that.
Atsushi’s always been the tiger/the weretiger. The bounty on his head was for the tiger, it wasn’t for a boy or even an ability user.
And I think it all ties into how Fyodor doesn’t see Atsushi as human. He has no interest in him. The only thing that Fyodor cares about is the tiger.
Names are an important thing in this series. Often used to reaffirm someone’s humanity, for characters like Paul Verlaine, Chuuya Nakahara, Sigma etc a name is so much more than simply a name.
Atsushi knows Fyodor’s name but Fyodor never bothers to use his.
Because it means nothing to him. Because Atsushi’s humanity is a hindrance to him and his goals. We know that Fyodor doesn’t see people as allies but pawns to do with as he wishes.
And the way he treats Atsushi feels very much in line with how he treated Chuuya in Mersault Arc.
Fyodor only used Chuuya’s name once and it was as a show of power to Dazai. It was when he tells Chuuya to go and finish Dazai off.
Every other time Chuuya is simply the gravity manipulator. Fyodor doesn’t call the bond Dazai and Chuuya have shallow. He calls Dazai’s bond with the gravity manipulator shallow.
Meanwhile Dazai this whole escape arc only ever refers to Chuuya by name.
Both Atsushi and Chuuya have been dehumanised for their abilities. Both of them have been made to feel less than human. They are both the only people to be referred to by their ability capabilities.
And their both people Fyodor saw as nothing at pawns. So why would he ever bother using their names.
Asagiri loves fake out deaths so much that both Yosano and Fyodor's abilities are, LITERALLY, fake out deaths.
Someone please give Atsushi a break, because he won't be okay after all of this.
Like, you know a chapter isn't going to be good when these are the first panels
As expected, that Tanizaki really was a illusion of his ability, which he apparently activated when Kunikida was attacked by the divine being last chapter.
Even though this is a really popular theory in the fandom i didn't expect it to be real (i always thought they were weird due to some childhood trauma or something like that), nor that it would be revealed at a time like this, but is good to know that they weren't actually incestuous.
The Tanizaki siblings have always been characters that intrigued me, and i really hope their story can be explored further after the end of this arc. Apparently, not even Naomi herself knows about her own origin, considering that Tanizaki wrote a note about it and left it well hidden, and now he asked Atsushi to pick it up and, from what the manga implied, give it to Naomi, so she could knew about his family in case he died there. Which makes me wonder how important or dangerous her real family might be, and that maybe that's the reason why Tanizaki has always been so overprotective of her, along with his somewhat violent personality.
I haven't read The Makioka Sisters and Naomi, so I won't comment too much because I'll end up saying something that doesn't make any sense at all.
I REFUSE TO COMMENT ABOUT HIS DEATH. No, no, no, i won't talk about it.
I know that these death will probably be undone, and that they are happening more to show how a real battlefield is, even with ability users, to make Atsushi feel completely alone again, until Akutagawa finally arrive and the two fight against Ame-no-gozen, but it doesn't change the fact that characters i like a lot are being turned into BUBBLES AND EATEN BY THIS ELDRITCH GOD!!
We got Kenji and Tetchou back but at what cost.
Kenji is just so happy to be able to help his friends. He doesn't even care if he's going to die, because Atsushi is going to live, and that's enough for him. He tells Atsushi to move on while he dies, beacuse he knew Atsushi needed to go somewhere safe!! THIS IS A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD TEENAGER, HE SHOULD BE AT SCHOOL, NOT AT WAR!!
And Atsushi is so desesperate due to the fear of the divine being and the pain of seeing his friends diyng in front of him that i want to give him a hug.
Literally the only good thing in this chapter was finding out that Lucy and Kyouka are fine, traped, but fine. At least they're not dead.
THE AUDACITY.
YOU JUST KILLED THREE OF HIS FRIENDS, OF COURSE HE'S NOT ALRIGHT??
Leaving the negative feelings aside, we FINALLY had an interaction between Fyodor and Atsushi! If we don't have explanations about Atsushi's past and powers in the next chapters I'm going to go crazy. I know this will be traumatic for Atsushi, but Fyodor knows more about his powers than Atsushi himself, and I think it's time we know more about him, especially the connection between him and the book.
i may be unable to hold a conversation but i can sit a hyper focus on dead authors for hours at a time… so at least i have that
they need to invent the opposite of an nda called an fda where u have to tell everyone everything
wait,wait,wait.Hold on.So Fyodor was around from the time of the crusaders and we've pretty much all agreed he's 'immortal' but like.....what abt his cameo in season 4 in untold origins,like.He looks like a kid to me in that one,no?Can he repeat his lives or whatever (timeloop-ish kinda situation)?Or is he some shapeshifter or smthg? I don't know what I'm saying anymore
day at the museum
insp. // it’s so fyodor coded i had to draw it
it was funnier in my head
