maerrine

[maerrine]

Okay so I never posted when the new BSD chapter came out because I was over on my bsd multi / rp blog instead, but!!

THE CHAPTER WAS SO EXCITING...!! i'm so hyped to finally learn about Fyodor, you guys have no idea. And seeing Sigma again was such a good feeling after so long... I'm extremely excited about reading the new chapter next month!

#ooc #meri talks bsd. #bsd spoilers // #next time i'll post here straight away i promise ;ww; #but like. god. fyodor i love you sm #also considering the possibility that everyone in bsd had a past life (based off bram's flashback of his daughter) is really interesting... #it doesn't seem like super likely atm or anything but. it's in my brain now!!

[maerrine]

Hello all! It's been a while. I haven't been very active here for a good few months, mostly because I don't really know what to post about and have spending time on my RP blogs instead, but I'd really like to start being here more if possible.

So for my first topic of choice... surprising no-one, it's bsd related, but- I've been thinking about Akutagawa more lately, and he's been slowly rising up the ranks of my favorite BSD characters. But I want to understand him more!

So if any of you have any good meta on him that you happen to have on hand, or if you'd just like to talk about him in ims or wherever... feel free to let me know if you'd like! No pressure of course, but if you are interested, I'd be super happy to get my hands on anything tbh. Thank you!

#meri talks bsd. #also happy 2024 everyone!! ayyyyy <3 #I don't have many followers here atm but I hope you've all been having a fantastic year so far c:

[maerrine]

I SEE ASAGIRI HAS MENTIONED A NEW CHARACTER COMING (presumably soon...)

Is it bad that my first hope was that they're a woman. I'm so desperate for a new bsd girlfave.

#BUT EITHER WAY I'M EXCITED REGARDLESS!! #meri talks bsd. #i know 90% we're getting another guy and that's fine but I want to believe....................

[maerrine]

*gnawing at own forearm* do you ever think about the fact that the only time we clearly see oda in the main series is right when dazai's about to go on a speech that presents bsd's underlying philosophy & driving force for the agency?

"An ex-hitman has no right to turn good." ...do you really think that? That's utter nonsense.

of course it's nonsense – because turning good is what oda wanted for himself, even before he wanted it for dazai. oda didn't want to kill; he wanted to write. of course turning good is achievable – because that's what oda was trying to do. for dazai, that's proof enough that it's possible. he believes it because oda did.

and then!! he keeps going!!!

so you want to be good. you killed people and you want to be good and you don't think you can be, because of who you've been until now.

What should one do when what they want is at odds with reality?

you do what oda did, what the agency does: you fight for it, because that's all you can do.

What do we fight for? How should we live? Nobody can give us the answers to these questions – all we have is the right to agonize over them.

all you can do is try to make it happen, stumbling the entire way, getting lost trying to find your answers. recklessly dashing through the gutter, like stray dogs caked in mud.

this is what dazai believes, because he's seen it happen – with oda, and then with the agency. the ADA gives out second chances to anyone who's trying to be good, to fight to create meaning for themselves.

oda told dazai to be good, and the agency gave him the opportunity to act on it. so when he's trying to convince kyouka that she, too, can be good – that she can join the agency and leave the darkness she's been living in... of course he thinks of oda. of course.

#bungo stray dogs #;~~~; i WILL cry op

[maerrine]

Unimportant post but ngl I forgot how pretty Fyodor is in the manga. I'm very excited to be seeing him again, and I know we've got a while to go before the manga catches up with the anime, but I really hope we'll be getting more on him soon!

#meri talks bsd. #also is it just me or did he look disappointed when he talked about how he overestimated dazai?? #idk. i'm very interested to see his expressions in the upcoming chapters. #bsd spoilers //

[maerrine]

IT'S NOVEMBER FOUR PEOPLE SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR MURDER PRINCESS 🎉

#happy birthday!!!!!!!!! god i love kyouka sm ;www; #bungo stray dogs #kyouka izumi

[maerrine]

Thinking about Fyodor BSD again... so much of his character is shrouded in mystery, and it's impossible to tell where his arc will go, but I really do hope we get a redemption for him.

BSD strikes me as a very pro-redemption series in a lot of ways, and I feel like Fyodor's character could be really good for exploring how like, people can change and be better, and often how people who do bad (though it doesn't excuse their actions) are hurting too... Dazai also explores that theme, but he's already started his redemption by the start of the series. Of course, no-one should be obligated to reach out a hand to Fyodor for that reason alone, since they have the right to be angry & to protect themselves too, but it'd still be really nice to see the series show him some level of empathy, I think.

Or maybe it's like... because Fyodor is so focused on the idea of sin, and everyone is "bad by nature", I think it'd be a neat parallel if like... the series shows empathy to him despite him being someone who does bad, and also shows how he needs to learn empathy for people, despite them being capable of bad, at the same time. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right, but I just feel like it'd be neat.

I don't blame people who think Fyodor won't be getting redemption mind you, it's just the contrast between his awful actions and his - seemingly - genuine desire for a better world that makes him interesting to me, and that makes me feel that there's more to him than it seems. I get the impression that he's suffering a lot, too, and while again, that doesn't make what he's done any less awful, and I think those who can't sympathize with him are totally valid, it makes him compelling to me personally.

#meri talks bsd. #maybe i'm reading too far into what I want to be true about fyodor #but i'm having fun with it so tbh?? who cares! #personally i really want sigma to play a key part in fyodor's arc too but that's mostly because i just adore sigma so. :P #I'm not sure i've expressed my feelings right on my third paragraph here especially but i feel like there's something there. #I just gotta put my thoughts in words properly... #also ngl i see a character with potential religious trauma and i instantly go ''i love you.'' #listen. it's relatable okay. kasfjhgd

[maerrine]

she wants to keep it :3

#art. #kyouka Izumi #Bungo stray dogs #LET HER KEEP THE RABBIT!!! ;ww;

[maerrine]

What do you want to know? All of your secrets.

#bungo stray dogs #sigma bsd #fyodor dostoevsky #god i am SO in love with this moment. you all have no idea...

[maerrine]

what do you want to do to me?

#art. #ochako uraraka #himiko toga #my hero academia #<33333333

[maerrine]

Tokyo summer twilight

Print store

#art. #manjiro sano #draken #tokyo revengers

[maerrine]

#art. #sigma (bsd) #fyodor dostoevsky (bsd) #yesssssssssssss fyosig <33333 #i love them an unhealthy amount. please send help. #also sigma wearing fyodor's clothes is so cute ;w;

[maerrine]

Why in my humble opinion the episode brings the Mersault arc to a satisfying end regarding Fyodor, Dazai, Chuuya and the message it has

So, there's a lot of energy buzzing around in the fandom with the latest episode and I felt like some things have not been pointed out enough, therefore I'm gonna share my thoughts on the parts of Mersault. This is a thread that focuses on the conclusion of the Mersault arc as presented in the most recent episode of the anime in season 5 and I will elaborate on what I think the message of the Mersault arc is, what Fyodor's role in this arc is, I will comment on why I think he was defeated and why it fits the message and I will also go into more detail of how Chuuya and Dazai play into all of this and what I think happened in Mersault.

I'd like to start with these panels from the manga, chapter 77:

Together with this one from chapter 105:

I think these panels convey the core message of the Mersault arc very well and its goal: Everyone is just human, no matter how smart. And humans are capable of amazing things and even moreso if they come together. This is the greatest difference between Fyodor and Dazai who have been countless of times painted and stated as each other's equals - yes, they are intellectually of a level most can only dream of, only rivaled by Ranpo, but unlike Fyodor, Dazai has learnt to trust humans and understands their bonds to each other.

Fyodor doesn't.

It's a message that is heavily implied and then outright stated by Dazai in the last episode:

The reason why Fyodor fails is that he doesn't trust in people and because he doesn't understand humans in that regard - he thinks that he is above this concept, thinks he can manipulate them and that they're just pawns. It's shown in the way he talks about Sigma, it's shown in the fact that he chose to use Chuuya who is Dazai's partner against Dazai to dangle him in front of Dazai and it's shown when he mocks Dazai for not being "able" to use a "gravity manipulator" and drops the famous line of them having a "shallow bond".

Fyodor is arrogant and very confident in his own abilities, including the one to control those around him. That's what makes him slacking though, he can't comprehend that a plan that relies on a bond and trust would be able to deceive and defeat him and the closer he gets to his goal, the less he cares. That's why he allows Dazai this last speech in 109 too, he doesn't think anything can defeat him. Dazai is at his wit's end, Fyodor is the winner. There's no way that Dazai has a backup plan, Fyodor is a genius and he already thought of everything that could possibly be, so there's no way, right?

Mersault always was about showing what humans are capable of and what they can achieve and that trusting in your allies, in your bonds with the people you love, makes you more capable and achieve higher goals. And it's exactly what happened.

Dazai states that he doesn't have control over all things, that he had a lot of uncertain cards. But he trusted in his allies and it pays off. He wins not because he has it all figured out from the start and a backup plan for the backup plan of the back-p plan, he did his part of the plan and adjusted to the scene and left the rest in full trust with his allies.

This pilot stabbing Fyodor worked because Dazai trusted in the agency and Ranpo and them taking over control the vampires in time. And the rest of the Mersault story before all this?

That brings me to my next point, actually. We learn in the episode that it was all a SKK scheme:

Now, some people were unsatisfied that a plan that simple couldn't fool Fyodor, but I think that is exactly the point of it. Chuuya is a great actor (in Stormbringer he fools with grief and shock Albatross in thinking he saved the in two halves separated Doc for example) and the simplicity of this plan is what makes it so good against Fyodor - why would he assume that the great Dazai, his intellectual equal, another genius, would go through with such a plan?

And it's even better because it isn't actually Dazai's! Now, I have seen a lot of people talking about this and I admit that I assumed the opposite originally as well, that this was all Dazai's scheme, but thanks to a moot I took a closer look on the story-telling and I realized something:

Dazai describes here the moment he realized that Chuuya is on his side in my opinion. This wasn't a "Dazai orchestrated the whole thing and sent Chuuya a text to haul his ass over to Mersault" because it doesn't fit with the storyline. Especially the speech in chapter 101 stands out here - a lot of people are making jokes about how weird and gay of a plan the speech is, but I actually think, based on the situation and the voice acting from Mamoru Miyano, that this goodbye speech is a genuine one.

The speech in 101 seems very genuine down to the point of his fake goodbye in the end, meanwhile the tone of a similar speech in 109 has completely shifted.

And what happened between 101 and 109? Exactly. The elevator.

So, what I'm thinking is this: Dazai saw that Fyodor had Chuuya under control and he knows his partner, he can't quite believe that Chuuya would get himself captured, it's gotta be a plan, right? Soukoku isn't actually the brains-and-brawn duo even though everyone thinks that, but Dazai knows how capable and smart Chuuya is. He hid Arahabaki from him and figured out Rimbaud after all.

But still, there is this bit of doubt nurtured by fear - he trusts Chuuya, but what if this isn't his Chuuya? So his goodbye speech is both:

An attempt to snap Chuuya out of it, an attempt to communicate with him, the hope that carries him because this is his partner, right? Stupid Chuuya that always fights and always clings to life and knows to appreciate it a lot more than Dazai.

But also a genuine goodbye, just... in case. Because he could never forgive himself if he doesn't say goodbye to Chuuya, JUST IN CASE. He trusts and believes in Chuuya, but he can't not say goodbye to him, just in case that Fyodor really got Chuuya.

And then the elevator scene happens and Dazai realizes: He only has one way of surviving, but he will not drag Sigma into this, not if he can help it. And he made a promise to him, after all. So, Dazai pushes Sigma out, makes sure that Sigma is alive like he promised. Then he keeps falling.

The only one that can save him now is Chuuya and Dazai decides to trust him. If this is his Chuuya, Chuuya will save him. Because that is what they do: Soukoku come to each other's call, they trust each other with their life and in return get that life saved by the other.

And if this isn't his Chuuya? Well, then Dazai died for the sake of the agency and he probably thinks that this is a good way to die, too.

But he doesn't die. He gets saved by Chuuya of course, how could he have ever considered something else? Chuuya came to his help and he has a plan. So, now all Dazai has to do is play along, just like in old times.

I wanna talk about this specific part of 109 too - I saw people arguing that the fact that Chuuya has been acting all the time made the scenes less impactful for the plot or their bond, but I actually would argue the opposite. Like I just laid out, in my opinion he only learnt just before this that Chuuya is on his side. That means, they don't have an actual plan that they discussed before, but they're good, they're Soukoku - we have seen in Dead Apple during the Dragonhead's Conflict and in the Dragon fight 6 years later what they are capable of without much communication.

But this is not only a way to show off their flawless communication and synchronization again, it also shows us something that we always knew but that is now plainly laid out: Dazai trusts Chuuya with his life. He trusts Chuuya to shoot, but not kill him.

Truly, you could say:

"The core characterization of Dazai and Chuuya's partnership is based on pure trust where both of them are capable of leaving each other's life on the other's hand without a second thought or doubt." - from the Dead Apple guide book

Chuuya acting from the very beginning as vampire and Dazai finding out along with a leap of faith and them proving once again the close bond they share is exactly the way this arc was supposed to go and the fact that it was predictable in that sense doesn't make it bad writing, in contrary. Asagiri set up and delivered the message of the arc extremely well, the arc had a clear red string following through all of it.

And this is why, in my opinion, this arc was actually written very well and why Fyodor's defeat is actually a good break for his character arc (because I don't believe he is dead, but this here is already way too long and many others have pointed plenty why he probably isn't dead) and why I really like the message of the Mersault arc.

#bsd spoilers #bsd meta #100% agreed!! this is a very good meta #and I agree; I love the message about not underestimating what ordinary people can do and the need to rely on/have allies you can trust. #dazai trusts people; even those who aren't ''geniuses'' like him. he has allies he places his faith in. and that's why he won. #admittedly we don't know for sure when dazai figures out chuuya was acting but I think that after the elevator crash is pretty likely #because it explains why he encouraged sigma to go after fyodor just before it. if it had all been going according to his plan; he would've #needlessly been putting sigma in danger; but if he hadn't known/been sure; then it makes sense. #people aren't giving chuuya enough credit for how good an actor he is; i think. #and as much as i'd love to see some more angst material for chuuya at some point; there's still plenty of time for that to come! #this just didn't happen to be that time. #I suppose you could argue chuuya doesn't have agency since he's acting on mori's orders again #(theoretically; it could've been chuuya's plan for all we know) #but I don't think that means he's lacking agency per se? #I think a lot of people wanted to see him come up with his own plan/show off his intelligence separate from dazai and mori #which I would adore too and can understand completely; but he still did great here; and that very much might come later. #I understand the frustration with dazai winning yet another game of wits too (I would like to see him fail at some point honestly) but #he deserved this win and it was narratively important imo; again to reward him for trusting others and to punish fyodor for not doing that. #the difference in their perspectives was foreshadowed too. #anyway i started rambling at some point i'm so sorry lol #I think the only thing that's a little bit of a stretch is that the contacts were good enough to make chuuya look like the other vampires #but it's not that much of a stretch for me; honestly. the port mafia knows what they're doing!

[maerrine]

so a while ago i read a theory on reddit (can't recall the user, sorry) that said that asagiri purposely shortened the manga chapters after season 4 was released so that the anime adaptation caught up to the manga. if you are a manga reader, you already know this is true and that season 5 episode 11 goes in fact beyond the manga plot.

this reddit user gave various reasons for this. one (and perhaps the most plausible one) said that it was to force manga readers to watch the season 5 finale. but i think i recall that another option may have been to tie up the manga and the anime, since parallel worlds have a special and pivotal role in bsd (we literally have the beast universe there) and therefore asagiri would be treating the manga and anime storylines as parallel worlds/universes.

and i can't help but worry because i was so relieved when dazai and fukuzawa came out of the conflict alright and everyone started to wake up. we got the detectives back, the hunting dogs (except for yosano, tachihara and jouno) and some port mafia members such as akutagawa and chuuya. both enemies (fyodor and fukuchi) were defeated AND killed. this puts the entirety of the fandom at ease.

the last few seconds of the episode show atsushi and akutagawa fighting against an ame-no-gozen wielder, who has fukuchi's scars and is also wearing a mask similar to the one he's wearing in an official art. so it's HEAVILY hinted that it's him.

now, the thing is, what if the manga takes another direction? what if that fukuchi is there because in the manga the ada loses and fukuchi/fyodor uses the book to jump into the reality where they don't win, which is the anime?

like now we manga readers are sort of relieved because the anime showed us how the arc ends, right? we just watched it. we will read that in the october chapter, right?

but what if

#bsd spoilers #while I'm not sure how likely this is to actually happen and part of me would prefer it didn't #I have considered this possibility and the other part of me thinks this would be the coolest shit ever. like. #i'm keeping my eyes peeled for the next chapter; juuuust in case........

[maerrine]

Fyodor Will Be Fine

Back to writin' this. Assuming that the anime is following hte manga's path (likely), Fyodor's gonna be fine y'all. Eventually.

I mean, first and most obviously, we still don't know Fyodor's ability. That's kinda important lol and set up as a major mystery.

Fyodor as Jesus

Fyodor's last words are "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" aka Jesus' last words (or among his last words). I mean, think about what happens after Jesus dies. It's kinda the whole basis of Christianity.

But there's another layer to the whole Fyodor=Jesus thing. Actually, a couple layers. See, Dostoyevsky was himself very Christian, as much theologian as novelist. So the comparison very much makes sense.

Jesus is the Son of God in Christianity... and Fyodor? He's also the son of God.

God is a Character

This God figure Fyodor references is probably an actual person, and God is probably Tolstoy. I'm sorry but there is 0 chance we are getting Dostoyevsky and a whole host of Russian novelists but not Tolstoy who could have "War and Peace" as his ability. Not to mention... the set up is kinda perfect?

Tolstoy's three novels are War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and... Resurrection. Gee I wonder what his ability might be and how that ties into Fyodor (it's also surely not unheard of for Asagiri to use multiple literary references in an ability).

What is Tolstoy's relationship with Fyodor? Probably a parent-child one. I'd say it's extremely obvious, actually, that parent/child relationships are a main theme of this arc, even if the parental-child relationships are not actual flesh and blood.

Gogol-Fyodor parallel Chuuya-Dazai, Kunikida-Dazai, Tecchou-Jouno, and Atsushi-Akutagawa. All of these pairings also have parental figures (Mori, Fukuzawa, Fukichi, Dazai) except Gogol-Fyodor, who are themselves parental figures to Sigma. I highly doubt Fyogol is the exception, though.

If there is no god, then I am god

Anyways if Tolstoy is introduced, it would kinda be perfect to have him thematically in this role of family. Because the real life Tolstoy was actually terrible to his family despite his altruistic, idealistic pacifism that directly influenced Gandhi (with whom he corresponded). And also because he wrote one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature which would kinda sorta address all the pseudo-parental relationships in the entire story:

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way

It fits super perfectly.

#bsd spoilers #100% agreed and cosigned!! guys i promise you that fyodor's story is not over. i am so sure about this i'm not even afraid for him. #but ooooooooh i didn't know about tolstoy and that would be so interesting if true... #i'm so excited to find out more about fyodor. fingers crossed we don't have to wait too long!

[maerrine]

man i am a little bummed about how this means that all this time we thought dazai was struggling for the first time was actually all just faked though. i hope we get to see dazai out of his depth at least once before the end of the series.

#bsd spoilers // #i want to see him show emotion... i wanna see him shocked and desperate... i want him to actually like. Genuinely Struggle for once!! #i'm not too down about it though since we've still got plenty of the manga left and therefore plenty of time for that to happen though. #and every time i think about how we're getting closer to finally finding out about fyodor and how sigma and him are clearly going to keep #being relevant going forward i'm like. :D #i am very easily pleased LMAO #but okay coming back to add more thoughts now that time has passed #don't kill me but i do still struggle with dazai feeling too perfect sometimes. #he does everything right and his actual flaws never lead to anything going wrong/any consequences #and he's always treated as right... i'm like. i want to see this man's flaws. give them to me asagiri!! #luckily it doesn't ruin the series for me and i think the fact that other people are essential in his plans does help with that a bit maybe #but it's my main bsd complaint atm. #...negativity aside though there's still time for asagiri to fix it... i want to believe... #now back to thinking about how much i love sigma <3333333 #god when did i become so attached to bsd's cast. asagiri thank u for my life ;w;

[maerrine]

thoughts on the new ep will come soon!! but for now i still need to process everything, so i'll just say (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOWING)

whether or not this direction for the story is "good" or "bad" to me entirely depends on what happens next and where it goes in the future. i could end up loving or hating it, but at the very least, i sure did have a good time watching the ep!!

(everything working out so perfectly for dazai is a little forced for me, but I do like that it's due to the "trust" and allies he has that fyodor lacked. plus it's bsd so i'm used to contrived shit like this. also also fyodor isn't dead, you heard it here first-)

#bsd spoilers #this would be a shitty conclusion to fyodor's arc if this is the last we get of him but i'm like basically 100% sure it won't be #especially since sigma is still unconscious; we don't know what he learned; and his ability is still a mystery... #god i do feel bad for sigma who was (seemingly) put at severe risk by dazai's plan though. i'm not blaming dazai since he's up against #fyodor of all people but i do wonder if that'll have any consequences for him?? #hmm... #ALSO AKUTAGAWA LOOKING GOOD I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH HIM AAAAAAAAA