#How to kill a Fyodor 101

[eloqiu]

How can we defeat Fyodor?

Contains spoilers for Bungou Stray Dog chapter 115 (114.5)

As we learned from the previous chapter: Fyodor becomes the person who kills him.

Now, with this information let's come up with possible ways we can kill him:

Dazai. He's the most obvious choice right now, he'll be able to cancel Fyodor s ability and will be able to kill him.

Suicide. This could lead to a Shibusawa incident 2.0. But it's also a way that we could kill him, after all, he can't take over the body that killed him, if the body is his... Right?

The Book. This could easily backfire, and make the writer of the book be taken over. But assuming that The Book grants you immunity to Fyodor's ability, you could easily just write in "Fyodor Dostovey never got his ability" if The Book doesn't grant you immunity you could easily write "(insert name here) is immune to Fyodor Dostovey's ability" and you can kill him.

Nature. If Fyodor dies in an earthquake or something, since there was no one trying to kill him, and because the vampire that killed him was seen more as a weapon leading him to take over Bram (ISTG IF YOU HURT MY SUBSTITUTE FATHER FIGURE... *ahem* anyways...) By being killed by nature, Fyodor's ability won't activate. (And let's face it, if it can activate and he becomes the whole ass Earth or something, I think we have bigger problems to worry about.)

Someone with no intentions or interest in killing him. This is extremely unlikely but, the vampire that killed Fyodor wasn't taken over because they were more similar to a "weapon" that killed him. The actual person who wanted to kill him was Bram. That's why he took over Bram. Well what if, there was someone who just stabbed him? No intent to kill, no orders to kill him, not even aware on what the just did, they just stabbed him for no reason. Would his ability affect them? (Probably)

Those are currently all my theories, the most probable ones are probably the Dazai, and Book one.

Also, I assume that Fyodor's probably immune to aging, because I'm 90% sure, that the person he used to be (before Bram) was the same guard who killed him almost 100 years ago.

[lyloneliness]

Okay, I'm frustrated that bones changed some details in the anime since it suppressed the proofs that Dazai is alive and I'm also tired of seeing this chaos... So I'm gonna share the complete explanation of how it is he survived and no one will be crying anymore!!!

So first of all, look closely at the bullet impacts on the wall.. ..... There are only three even though chuuya shot four times. There no impact behind dazai's head, when the bullet would normally go through dazai's head.

At this point of the reflexion, some think that it's a point blank bullet, which makes sound and all but doesn't kill. But I don't think it is cause :

When did chuuya put it in his gun? If it was really one, asagiri would show chuuya recharging

It would hurt dazai much more than that since the gun is literally ON his forehead, the impact itself greater than what we've seen

There is no shot sound for this shot if you look closely

BUT, there are three shot sound on the next panel, which means chuuya hurt dazai on the forehead with his ability somehow (I think since dazai isn't touching him directly he can still augment the mass of his gun and direct it forward in order to leave a round mark on his forehead), and THEN shot three times to fool Fyodor into thinking that the wound on dazai's forehead was made at that time and that he shot him in the head, shoulder and hip.

But then, where did the 'headshot' go? If you remember what dazai said just before the 'we're destined to-' speech, he screamed at chuuya saying "where the fuck are you aiming at, you lousy shooter ?! ". And we've seen when chuuya arrived that he can respond to dazai's provocation... Now, look at the first shot impact on the wall :

It's two times bigger than the others. And the first shot sound on this panel is different from the two that follow, meaning it hit something other than flesh. So I think chuuya made a Pinpoint shot in the first hole as an answer to dazai's provocation and to make Fyodor associate it with the head wound, and then shot two times to enforce the feeling of violence and comfort Fyodor into thinking he won.

Note that this theory is plausible because we've seen on the screens Fyodor is looking at that the camera is in chuuya's back, and that chuuya knows it since he was in the control room with Fyodor before coming here. Which means Fyodor cant see the moment of the impact on dazai's forehead, but only the three shots after and the wound on dazai's head.

Also note that none of dazai's injuries are dangerous for his life, none of them are situated on vital points or nerves and all. And since dazai is bleeding much more from the first wound than the two last, I think at that time chuuya hit his artery and that's why he complained... And chuuya ajusted after that.

Aaaand that's what everyone is saying so you probably already know it but, he COULDN'T speak if he were really shot in the head (which they suppressed in the anime to make it more realistic and leave the suspense) .

Also his 'last words' could be talking about how he waited for the proof chuuya was still on his side, and not about how he waited for death as a suicide maniac.

Let me also remind you that a vampire can chose to ignore the order to kill when it's someone important to them, like we've seen with aku. That doesn't keep them from hurting them (shots, atsushi's leg... AGAIN) but at least, they can chose not to kill them. Or even to sacrifice themselves, like akutagawa when he didn't activated his armor, willing to take atsushi's punch..

I'm sure most of you know that the 'goodbye' in chap 101 isn't just a farewell to chuuya but also the title of the last book of irl dazai. And we know from several fights that the tactics soukoku uses are named after the irl authors' book, meaning dazai said this code to tell chuuya that he wants to use that plan.

Also dazai's rambling about how many time he imagined this scene could also refer to that, but since he says he imagined it the other way around, the original 'goodbye plan' was probably more about chuuya playing dead and dazai saving the day, unlike how it happens here.

Alright! Hope you feel better after reading that and thanks for getting to the end! ✧(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

And if you like it and/or don't want ppl crying anymore please reblog this, we need the truth to come out!!! And I made it with all my heart (❀╹◡╹) ❀~

[lesbiankordian]

BSD 105.5 THOUGHTS + THEORIES

1. Dazai and Sigma:

I believe they'll be okay and Chuuya will help them, but I can't help and be a little scared. You know how irl Dazai's last work was titled "Goodbye", and ch 101 his last words to Chuuya weren't "sayonara" or sth, but "guddo bai". Also, irl Dazai killed himself by drowning with another woman, and now bsd Dazai is drowning with Sigma. After saying guddo bai.

2. Chuuya

We don't see his eyes throughout the whole chapter. This could mean he's not controlled by Fyodor anymore and that Dazai's speech in ch 101 really did give him his consciousness back. Additionally, he's holding his hat, which is a very Chuuya thing to do and he didn't do it in ch 101. So, there are two options: it's soukoku's secret plan or Chuuya is on Fyodor's side (since he's still helping him). I think the first option doesn't need much explaining (and is the one I believe in more). Also Fyodor's speech about how Dazai and Chuuya's bond is shallow is literally him begging to being proved wrong. The second option (from this post):

Also:

SIGMA LOOKS SO PRETTY I LOVE THEM!!!!! I loved how Dazai compared them to Kunikida (I hope the translation was correct 🙏🏻). The panel in which he grabbed Sigma's hair reminded me of this:

[mania-sama]

‘cause you and i (we were born to die)

Born To Die - Lana Del Rey

➼ information ❧ Bungou Stray Dogs ❧ Pairing: Dazai Osamu &/ Nakahara Chuuya, Fyodor Dostoevsky & Nakahara Chuuya ❧ Tags: ambiguous relationship, vampire! chuuya, chapter 101: sinking to the bottom, angst, drowning ❧ Summary: The one in which Chuuya, just for a moment, breaks free from the confines of the vampire hivemind upon nearing his very wet death. ❧ Word Count: 1,105 ❧ Cross-posted from Archive of Our Own ❧ Original post date: 5 March 2023

Author Note:

Written before the continuation of the manga past 101. I didn't know that Chuuya wasn't actually a vampire yet lmao

-

The last thing Chuuya could remember was talking to one of the Black Lizard members about the strange viral ‘ vampire’ outbreak in the Port Mafia ranks.

Now, he was drowning.

It wasn’t exactly clear what was going on, other than the fact that he was desperately kicking his legs and craning his neck to stay above the waterline. He wasn’t even sure of how he got there.

His entire world was blurred as though he was looking through a dirty glass window. His body was tingling and all noise coming through his ears was muffled, including the sound of his own ragged breathing.

Water splashed up his nose and trailed down into his mouth, trying to pry its way between his lips. Chuuya shook his head to fling the water away, then found comfort in the fact that he could still feel the familiar weight of his hat on his head. No matter whatever had transpired to get him to this point, he hadn’t lost everything.

Though if he couldn’t clear the fog in his head and figure a way out of the tight, flooding room he was in, he wouldn’t be able to find comfort in anything anymore.

Chuuya splashed the water, kicking higher as he tried to take in his surroundings. It was unbearably difficult—where his limbs were taking instinctive action to keep himself afloat, his head had to be forced to move. In the cramped space, it didn’t take the executive long to see a man drowning beside him.

His figure was hazy and undefined, but had long black hair and was in the same state as Chuuya. He was oddly familiar and could almost be mistaken for Dazai, if not for—

“Can you hear me, Dostoevsky?”

It was just right that his mind collapsed upon hearing Dazai (undeniably Dazai. It could be no other) utter that name. His arm was pressed against the ceiling when his consciousness came back, the searing pain in the back of his skull dully thudding with a repeating Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky. It was said in a voice that wasn’t his own.

Chuuya spat out another batch of water, the liquid feeling heavier than he remembered it to be. At this point, he couldn’t see much of anything outside of the vague outline of Fyodor staring angrily at the ceiling.

Why am I here? With him?

His memories were vague and scattered; it was impossible to pick out any details. What he could remember with clarity, however, was the feeling of total emptiness. Like he was an outsider watching what his body did rather than truly acting on his own free will.

“But I think your ability isn’t something that can break you out of this situation.”

Where was Dazai’s voice coming from? He wasn’t in the room with them, and he couldn’t make out any intercom devices in the ceiling. That really didn’t mean much, he supposed. He couldn’t see much of anything at all.

Chuuya bent his head forward, the water pushing him up closer to the ceiling.

He’d spent so long fighting, so long trying to survive. He couldn’t just drown. Why was Dazai letting him drown?

“That’s why I chose this trap,” Dazai said. Dazai put him here with Fyodor. Why? How did he even manage to wrangle Chuuya there in the first place?

He was missing too many memories for anything to make sense, and Dazai’s voice was the only lifeline he could cling to. Despite their years apart, the years they spent arguing and actively trying to kill each other, Chuuya had no reason to believe that Dazai would willingly put him in this trap.

Yet. “Chuuya.”

There was nowhere else to go. The water was lapping at his nose, so he repositioned to where the back of his head was resting against the water and his face was against the ceiling. Someone needed to turn the water off. Dazai needed to tell him what to do, because fuck he was going to drown and he really, really didn’t want to die.

He’d been fighting to survive for twenty-two years of his goddamn life. He couldn’t just die like this.

“This is farewell to you, too.”

Why did he sound forlorn?

Why wasn’t he telling Chuuya how to get the fuck out of this death trap? Chuuya went underwater, then forced his way up and hit his head against the ceiling. He gasped for air, subsequently taking in a cup’s worth of water.

“It’s a shame things turned out this way. Seven years since we met,” Dazai paused, and Chuuya thought he heard his muffled voice crack, “and we’ve done nothing but quarrel with each other.”

This couldn’t be it. Chuuya pressed his palms against the ceiling and used For the Tainted Sorrow, but the effect was nothing. No matter how much force he put behind his hands, the ceiling stubbornly refused to succumb to his ability. It remained entirely unaffected.

This can’t be it. Dazai couldn’t be killing him, couldn’t be giving in to whatever that demon Fyodor did. Their relationship was worth more than that. If Dazai wanted Chuuya dead, he would’ve killed him a long time ago. The same was vice versa.

They had never killed each other. Their early childhood quarrels were real, but they quickly became teasing. They didn’t hate each other.

Unless Chuuya was wrong.

Seven years. Seven fucking years. “Now that I think about it, there were some moments where we did connect.” There were several. Chuuya had let his life rest in Dazai’s hands more times than he could count. And he would’ve done it again, if not for the fact that Dazai was somewhere watching Chuuya drown and he’d been the one to put Chuuya there and for God’s sake he couldn’t breathe.

“Like that time—”

Chuuya’s head went underwater, and there was nowhere else to go but down. Nothing left to hear nor see.

Dazai’s breaking voice flooded into his lungs with the oddly heavy water.

Since the day that Mori formed Double Black, Chuuya learned that Dazai could be trusted.

He couldn’t be trusted to not cheat in black jack, and he couldn’t be trusted to be a delightful person to be around. But Chuuya trusted Dazai with his life, as both a partner and an old friend. He could always find a way to save Chuuya.

And perhaps, even now, he could still do so. Water stung Chuuya’s eyes closed, and the pain in his panicked heart spread through his veins. 

Fuck you, Dazai.

A bony hand grabbed his wrist, and his consciousness was lost to static. 

Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky.

[head-empty-just-sigma]

so y’all remember this post i made about skk

well i’m gonna expand on it a lil bit because i swear i learn new things every day and one of those things is that Chuuya really deserves a fucking break (…/hj)

okay but seriously, the more i think about all the other skk moments where Dazai makes these big brain plans that ensure that, while it’s most definitely still dangerous, both him and Chuuya will win the fight and walk away from it alive at the very least. but in chapter 101… Dazai made and executed a plan that he thought had a good likelihood of defeating the enemy. but, it also put Chuuya in a situation where he actually could have died. and now Dazai’s in a perilous situation with, as far as we know, no one to help him. and i just wanna explore some new context and expand on a lil theory i came up with as to why this arc is important for skk (plus bonus theory! Dazai really fucked up this time and now he has to find a way to not actually die. i have a few ideas)

🔺spoiler warning for chapters 95, 98, 101, 105.5, 106 and 106.5 and the end of Beast🔻

god this is so long im sorry **i added a tldr under the cut for those of you who just want my rambling ass to get straight to the point 😭

TLDR because this thing is so FREAKING LONG OH MY GAWD

So while Dazai was in the prison, based on his reaction to Chuuya’s arrival being more anger than shock and his instigation of ‘one of them dying’ (talking to Fyodor), there’s reason to believe that Dazai and Ango had set up a plan involving Chuuya somehow breaking Dazai out of the prison on the same day Nikolai arrived. On top of this, Dazai’s character development is finally coming to the forefront in trying to save Sigma and keep him alive, as well as the remorse for trapping Chuuya with Fyodor in the water in order to buy himself time to escape ahead of Fyodor (instead of killing him there, since he knew that wouldn’t be enough to kill Chuuya as Dazai would never do that even if it meant sabotaging his own plans). And at the very end of chapt 106.5, his fall to his death could be prevented by a number of things including Chuuya coming out of vampirism and saving him, but it would also be interesting to see how skk’s relationship changes now that Dazai has to save himself and has so clearly changed from the time when he worked with Chuuya and relied on him to save him from danger (see: Lovecraft fight, Dead Apple & DA prologue). It’s also possible that Sigma will be used as a distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while skk work their stuff and Dazai 100% still has the potential to win even in the bottom of the elevator shaft so long as he can get the antidote to the poison.

Starting in chapter 95, Dazai was the one who initially mentioned escaping (or dying). It was as if he knew something was going to happen soon that would lead to their eventual conflict to escape or at least some kind of confrontation that would end with one of their deaths. However, he is still caught off guard when Fyodor disappears from his cell first, and then was also surprised when the floor was literally opened up below him by Nikolai. Considering Fyodor didn’t seem to be planning an escape at the same time Dazai had mentioned it, if his reaction to Dazai is anything to go off of anyway, it’s clear that he had not planned for Nikolai to be there to bail him out of jail early. Therefore, it’s more likely that Dazai knew someone was on their way to break them out, and was planting the seed of the idea that one of them was going to die in the process.

It's also further proof that neither Dazai nor Fyodor had planned on Nikolai being there when they take a minute to assess the situation before Nikolai explains his 'Gogol Game', meaning they had to deduce what was happening in the moment instead of relying on a plan they already had laid out. Nikolai pretty much set into motion that one of them will, in fact, be dying at the end of this game if the poison is real and there truly is only one antidote. It doesn't matter who outsmarts who, because even Dazai could win at the bottom of the elevator so long as he can get his hands on the antidote (through Sigma or Chuuya, perhaps?).

Then we have his confession that he listens to the voices in his head him telling Sigma that there’s an “angel” talking to him in chapter 98. We already know that the “angel” is actually Ango, and the reason why I’m bringing it up is because of the context of the situation here.

Sigma and Dazai both hear loud noises coming from the prison floors above them. Dazai deduces that it’s not being caused by Nikolai, and not a result of Nikolai and Sigma breaking in, but before he even makes this analysis he says “It’s an intruder”. I find it odd that he would say this, considering there’s no way for them to know if there is a new intruder or if it’s the prison itself going into some kind of lockdown, or if it is in fact Nikolai causing chaos. Sigma calls this into question as well, asking how Dazai knows this, and the funny man says “an angel told him”. Without knowing Ango is communicating with him from the outside, this could have been taken as a typical Dazai one-off response deflecting the fact that he’s just stupidly smart, but it’s not. It’s referencing Ango giving him information. However, when did Ango communicate the situation to him then if it’s unfolding that very moment?

I think we can tell when if we look at this specific page here:

Right before they hear the loud noise, Dazai is being his usual goofy and mildly insane self, much to Sigma’s dismay, and then he suddenly just stops and turns around. Even for Dazai this behavior is odd, and what’s more, he randomly wants to now go to the employee service room when he literally had no concrete goal in mind just a few seconds ago when he was dancing around with Sigma and saying he wanted to go sightseeing (in hell). There’s even a panel of him looking like he just found something out or realized something, but it barely lasts more than a moment and Sigma doesn’t call attention to it. I believe that one panel signifies Dazai reacting to Ango sending him some last minute information on the situation at the prison, like he does every day, but this time it’s that there is an intruder in the prison. Or perhaps telling him that Chuuya arrived?

Considering they already know Nikolai and Sigma are there, this explains why Dazai would deduce that the commotion is caused by someone other than Nikolai getting bored waiting for the two stupid smart people to start drowning each other. He also says there’s only one possible answer to who that intruder is, which I’ll get to later so just hold on to that thought for now…

Chapter 101 is where it’s revealed that Dazai doesn’t have escape as his top priority right now, it’s actually to kill Fyodor while they’re still in the prison. He also explains how Ango is communicating to him with the time-stopping ability user. So with that information, and the fact that it seems like Dazai can request time to be stopped as well given he uses his advantage of being a walking anti-ability entity to waltz into the central command room and knock out all the guards while time is stopped for them, there’s good reason to believe that he had been planning something already with Ango to get him out of the prison prior to Nikolai's appearance.

Of course, Dazai is confident that they can beat Fyodor even though he has Chuuya under his ‘control’ (which is questionable at best at this point), because he’s been coming up with ways to kill Chuuya for seven years blah blah typical skk stuff… But it’s also interesting that Dazai would say this now, when in just a few minutes when he thinks he’s trapped Chuuya and Fyodor in a room to drown, he acts like he hates what he did. I also think this is why he’s being so overly goofy with Sigma, because it’s his default method of masking how he’s actually feeling. Whenever we see him not goofing off, his expression is usually partially hidden from view, and/or much more serious. Another thing of note is that while, yes he was probably apologizing for 'trapping' Chuuya like this, he was also apologizing because Dazai knew that if he failed to kill Fyodor here, he was going to be the one in a perilous situation. This is what is currently going on in chapter 106.5, as Fyodor sabotaged the elevator to fall and Dazai prioritized saving Sigma over himself not once, but twice in the span of a few pages.

And what is the other consistency we usually see with skk? Chuuya is there to bail Dazai out of these situations. This is what happened during their fight versus Lovecraft, where Dazai got hurt because nullification wouldn't work, and Chuuya had to get them out. This is also what happened in Dead Apple where Dazai was literally dead until Chuuya showed up and risked dying to save him, and even in Dead Apple’s prologue when he had to save Dazai from an enemy organization.

But now, Chuuya isn't there. He isn't there and Dazai is falling to his probable death.

The elevator trap was set up by Fyodor himself, which is why the water set itself on fire in 106... But besides that, it's clear that Dazai tampering with the electronics in the elevator was probably him locating the mechanisms to open the doors, therefore making it so that there are 'no traps', and would explain how he knew where to shoot in chapt 106.5 when he shot the mechanism keeping the door shut.

Fyodor's comment on skk having a shallow bond feels almost out of place for him. He's not usually one to brag, much less about how he can wield someone's boyfriend better than them. I also think his little monologue here was partially payback for Dazai's guy speech back in chapt 101. However, I think Fyodor is wrong to try and say Dazai didn't foresee Chuuya getting out of the situation, because he absolutely would have. I think trapping them in the room like that was less of a play to kill Fyodor and Chuuya together, but to buy time in order to reach the exit. There’s no way Dazai would be willing to actually kill Chuuya just to get rid of Fyodor if he can help it, meaning he’s probably buying time and waiting for the poison to kick in since Chuuya wouldn’t be effected by it. At the end of the day, the one who is going to win will be the one with the antidote from Nikolai, and that could still be Dazai.

This is probably the most serious we’ve ever seen Dazai for a prolonged period of time. And it’s not even because he’s focused on saving his own life in order to escape the prison.

It’s because he’s focused on saving Sigma.

I believe his plan here is to allow Sigma to be reunited with Fyodor and/or Nikolai, but now with the knowledge that they will most likely be planning to kill Sigma by the end of it so no one knows what happened to Dazai. However, the fact of the matter is that the two of them believe Sigma would not try to kill them first, and I don't think he's going to do something like that either. I think Dazai is most likely using Sigma as some kind of distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while Chuuya comes out of his vampirism. If Chuuya was conscious enough to understand Dazai’s speech in chapt 101, there’s no way he’d sit by while Dazai falls to his death. A lot of people have been pointing out this box in this official art:

Saying that the box looks a lot like the elevator:

Which is a vital component of the prison that Dazai or Fyodor would have to use in order to reach the exit, and the marking on it looks similar to the markings that appear on Chuuya during Corruption. This could be hinting towards Chuuya slowing or stopping the elevator somehow with Dazai inside of it, but I’m not sure how since Dazai would have to not be touching the elevator for that to work, but if the elevator stops while he’s floating in it, it would be no different than him hitting the ground… So I guess we’ll see what happens.

Moving on from the chapters, here’s my thoughts on Dazai’s reaction to Chuuya being at the prison: he’s not shocked, he’s angry. Why? Because he and Ango had probably been planning on how to get him out of the prison for a little while now in order to stop the vampires, and potentially nullify the effects of the page before Fukuchi can write on it a second time. Similar to Dead Apple, Ango probably called on Chuuya in order to do this since he’d be able to get to Meursault the fastest and would have the best chance at protecting himself from the vampires along the way. So then, how did he get infected? Well, we already know how loyal he is to the Mafia, so he could have been protecting Mori from the vampiric Mafia members and eventually got overwhelmed. As far as we know, there isn’t a single human member anymore (besides maybe Mori), meaning Chuuya would have had to fend off potentially hundreds upon hundreds of vampires dead set on biting Mori in order to cripple the Mafia entirely and remove the threat of Mori’s ability and intelligence coming to the aid of the ADA. Meaning instead of going to Meursault of his own will in order to nab Dazai and leave, he was forced to break in and aid Fyodor under the influence of the vampire virus. Another option was he was simply not working and had no idea the Mafia was infected, as he's not wearing his typical executive attire, he's in something similar to his 15 outfit, making me think he was either going to one of the Mafia's bunkers (Verlaine's, perhaps?) on Mori's orders because he is an executive, or he just was on his day off and suddenly found himself surrounded by familiar vampire faces.

This would explain why Dazai said there’s only one option in there being an intruder in the prison, because he was already waiting for Chuuya to arrive that day to initiate his escape. That is why he told Fyodor it’s about time to figure out which one of them is going to die, because it should have been Fyodor, meaning Fyodor would have been taken out of the ‘game’ while Dazai continued playing, but now alongside everyone else back in Japan. But this didn’t happen, and now Dazai has to change his entire plan on the fly just like Fyodor is doing, taking away any upper hand he would have had with Chuuya.

106.5 also isn’t the first time we’ve seen the words ‘I leave the rest to you’. We saw it in Dead Apple, for what it’s worth, coming from Ango when he sent Chuuya to his potential death to save Dazai. The second time we see it is in Beast, just before Dazai replicates the season 1 opening scene, those are his final words to Atsushi and Akutagawa, before he falls to his death. Does this foreshadow Dazai dying or being fatally injured? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Killing such a major character in this situation would be somewhat out of left field if it’s Dazai, since he seems to be getting some character development with Sigma in the prison. However, he has pretty limited options here:

Chuuya, if he is no longer under the vampire’s influence, could slow the elevator’s fall like a lot have been predicting because of the official art hint, and the trend of Chuuya bailing Dazai out of situations like this. Dazai might also be able to jump out of the elevator if the doors are still open enough and land on a floor like he pushed Sigma on to, or grab the rungs on the wall of the elevator shaft that some have pointed out. Another option, in my opinion, is to stay in the elevator, because as we saw set up at the beginning of the Gogol Game, the elevators only go between two levels, meaning he would only be falling down one level instead of four. Depending on how much space is between levels, he might be able to survive inside the elevator with minor injuries if he braces himself against the floor of the elevator and prays it doesn’t collapse in on him when it hits the bottom of the elevator shaft. I also toyed with the idea that he could shove the elevator using his body weight and tilt it in order to scrape against either side of the shaft and slow the fall, but given he pushes off the wall to save Sigma and it does nothing to the elevator itself, I’m going to assume the elevator is too heavy for him to tilt like that. However, Chuuya could accomplish a similar feat by hitting the outside of the elevator with the help of a little gravity manipulation, so it’s still possible he could save Dazai. However, what I’m more interested in seeing is how the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya changes after these events… With Dazai now really showing how much he’s changed and developed as a character, and what effect those developments will have on skk going forward.

Anyway, those are all of my current thoughts on the matter! Holy crap this post took forever to finish for some reason BUT it’s done now and until we get a new chapter (in like a week) I don’t have to make my brain hurt mulling over how elevator physics works :’)

[meezla212]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT PRISON ARC PLEASE HEAR ME OUT I THINK IT'S GOOD

Ok ok ok so Dazai was saying goodbye to Chuuya in chapter 101 right? Right. And this seemed genuine enough and probably was but then Dazai took it all back, said he didn't mean it and then said Goodbye!

Ok now this is important right because Dazai was saying to Chuuya how their hearts connected and all that gay jazz and then Chuuya's eyes turned normal and Dazai was probably like 'oh shit!' and took it all back.

But it's actually the way that Dazai said goodbye in Japanese is interesting. So the way Dazai said it is actually the title of Dazai's (the real ones) last book that was never published. Now we do know that things like corruption and the lines to activate it and soukoku silly mission names are named after actual things the real authors wrote.

So what if Dazai saying goodbye was a soukoku code? For like a mission. And when Dazai saw Chuuya's consciousness come back he told Chuuya the entire plan through that code name in complete soukoku logic.

The thing is, the reason why Goodbye was never published was actually because the author killed himself before it could be published.

So goodbye could actually be code for a plan that involved Dazai dying. So uh oh.

Also with the Fyodor thing I think there's definitely going to be a skk Vs Fyodor little fight scene.

Everytime some ever underestimated soukoku ever they totally thrashed them.

And Fyodor underestimated them really badly so this is a very big tell tale sign that soukoku is going to beat up Fyodor.

Also, I know thanks to the dragon head incident that Chuuya is very very confident in Dazai's brain and is also probably completely confident that Dazai will beat Fyodor in typical soukoku blind trust.

HAHAHA THATS IT SOUKOKU ALWAYS PREVAILS

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

So, after reading this post I noticed that the water motif always seems to pop up in Chuuya's character. The tank from SB, the ocean, him almost drowning, etc. WHAT IF, JUST TO PISS OFF ME SPECIFICALLY, DAZAI FUCKING DROWNED CHUUYA TO TRIGGER CRAZY PTSD FROM THE TUBE TO SNAP HIM OUT OF THE VAMPIRE THING. NOW, I KNOW THAT THIS IS PROBABLY NOT WHAT HAPPENED BUT. WHAT IF. IT WAS. WHAT BETTER WAY TO REMIND HIM OF HIS OWN AUTONOMY THAN TO MAKE HIM REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS HAVING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS ABOUT WHETHER HE'S A HUMAN BEING OR A FUCKING LAB-MADE CLONE. SEEMS LIKE A DAZAI THING TO DO.

Also, water=ocean=fish=mackerel=Dazai. Dazai is the water to Chuuya's fire. Like how he can "douse" Chuuya when his flames get a little too out of control, aka corruption. (Ouhghghghghghhg character foils and parallels.) Wait, since Fyodor is a greasy rat wouldn't he be like oil to Dazai's water?? Constantly at odds and literally impossible to combine??? Sus. Him using Chuuya, who's like fire. Using him to make him "stronger"????? Idk. Do with this what you will.

"WHAT IF, JUST TO PISS OFF ME SPECIFICALLY" <- Do you have ANY IDEA how hard I laughed at this?

Hello again, by the way.

Oh! That's @carrotkicks's Code 01 Stormbringer art! It's so good, huh? The tags on it got to me too.

I had been thinking along similar lines to you when I first read Chapter 101. See, I think I may have mentioned before, but that chapter was actually the first one I read when it came out - up until that point I had been frantically trying to catch up on everything I had missed. I think I had just finished Stormbringer maybe two days before? And then that happened. Yeah. :') (<- face of pain)

So, Stormbringer was still fresh in my memory when I read it and I instantly went "why would you drown him Asagiri??? why the hell would you do that to him?" And then I came to a similar conclusion. The last time Chuuya was entirely submerged was the lab tank, and that memory is distant, vague and associated with the violence of Corruption. So, that's what I seriously thought might happen, especially since Stormbringer all but confirmed Chuuya has PTSD, and trauma tends to activate fight or flight. Even more so because there was no way Dazai would just go "welp see ya Chuuya nice knowing you". Yeah, I really thought he was intentionally trying to piss him off (though I think the water trap was set in advance, before he knew Chuuya would be there).

I went online to see what people were saying and everyone was upset, and I was like "yeah! me too!" but then people were talking about how mad they were at Dazai for killing Chuuya and I was so confused because well. This is why I was upset.

Look at their faces! Both of them! They are both miserable.

Anyways, while I don't think the water was intentional on Dazai's part, I do think that whole "sorry there weren't any" with the big fake smile was done to make Chuuya angry enough to fight back and regain control. I'm pretty sure he's in control of himself now, but I'm not 100% certain how - Was it the water? Was it the words? Had it just finally been long enough for him to snap out of it himself? Had he secretly been in control the whole time (doubt it but don't want to rule out the possibility)? Guess we'll find out. Eventually.

Also WATER-OIL-FIRE galaxy brain! Nice nice nice! Water being our introduction to Dazai, the way it flows and can erode rock and soil, change the course of things. Oil being used to lubricate machinery, and power engines, so that every cog runs smoothly in Fyodor's plans. Wildfire that rages and burns and can go out of control but is also warm and protective for those in the night - the duality of Chuuya. Also with the idea of oil adding fuel to flames - I had just commented on how it seems likely Fyodor has something up his sleeve on the off-chance Chuuya shakes off the brainwashing; could be information on singularities, or skk's bond, or even Chuuya himself. It may even be part of the plan, honestly - he's seen how these two work before. For him to make the "mistake" of gloating to Dazai that he doesn't know how to "use" Chuuya's ability concerns me.

Hm. I will chew on this. Tasty.

[fyodcrs]

hi! fellow fyozai enjoyer, I saw your post about fyozai and how you disliked the finale, and I have thoughts about how I actually loved the finale for fyozai (I mean this /lh, it’s fully my opinion)

the basis of it is what Dazai tells Fyodor, and a theory I saw around chapter 101-ish of the manga.

Dazai tells Fyodor: “you don’t trust anything you can’t manipulate”

and the theory I saw had it’s basis centered around the fact that Chuuya was a wildcard for both Dazai and Fyodor. now, chapter 101, the fandom’s assumptions were a) Chuuya is actually a vampire, and b) Dazai just tried to kill Chuuya via drowning

the theory basically said, SKK have a strong bond right? an extremely popular theory around that time was that Dazai was trying to drag Chuuya out of the vampirism via his speech, possibly coded, and the water and drowning. so the theory said that what if Dazai was trying to use their bond, and Chuuya’s own willpower, to drag Chuuya out of vampirism and have him be an element of surprise against Fyodor - e.g. Chuuya is pulled out, recognizes Dazai’s plan, and plays along to eventually betray Fyodor, being the closest to him physically, and because Fyodor is already convinced of his control of Chuuya.

essentially, Dazai relies on his bond with Chuuya, his ally and human nature, while Fyodor is so focused on control that he is caught off guard because of Chuuya’s willpower

which is what happens in canon, sort of - Dazai relies on his allies and human nature, while Fyodor is so certain of his plan (he says it himself- his plan is perfect) that he doesn’t question Chuuya’s vampirism. he is so convinced that the vampirism is absolute that why would he need to check?

and then Dazai wins. and he tells Fyodor, “you don’t trust anything you can’t manipulate”

Dazai doesn’t either, or he didn’t, and here’s where I love the ending so much and what it means for fyozai - neither of them trust what they can’t manipulate. but Dazai did, has been doing since he joined the Agency, and that’s how he won - he grew out of this belief that Fyodor still currently has, also aligning with their fundamental differences in one belief, the value of human life + experiences

anyway. that’s my opinion on why I actually love the ending sm and don’t understand why so many people hate it. “how did Fyodor not notice Chuuya put on a Halloween costume” that’s the POINT - it highlights fyozai’s fundamental difference in belief, Dazai’s growth, how Dazai has pushed past that blockage that Fyodor still has and which is why he lost, ALSO highlighting how they are the same person expressed differently in one root belief. which makes them even CRUNCHIER in my opinion

ty for reading, you’re so correct that not enough people enjoy fyozai 😔✌️(and if any of this came off harsh please know I don’t mean it to be 😭)

Hi, fellow fyozai enjoyer! Thank you for sharing your perspective on the finale! I love hearing other people's opinions, so I appreciate you throwing your two cents in. And no worries, none of that came off harsh. 😆 I'm about to rant here, so I hope I don't come off as harsh!

I think you're spot on in what Asagiri/the anime writers were going for. However, there are several fundamental problems I have with it, from a character perspective and from a storytelling perspective. My issues with the finale really don't have anything to do with fyozai; my issues are with the writing, especially the writing of Fyodor's character. Because the thing is, it makes sense in theory, but it doesn't work the way they did it.

In theory, it makes perfect sense that Dazai "won" because he trusts his allies and Fyodor does not. It's even set up in these scenes:

In the first, Dazai and Fyodor are (quite hilariously) telling each other how they manipulate others. Dazai acts the fool, pretends to be lazy and unengaged so his "workers" have to step up and do something themselves. That's how he plays puppet master behind the scenes. Fyodor takes control of his pawns by leaving them no choice. That's how he plays puppet master behind the scenes. Dazai's method requires a lot less control and a lot more trust.

In the second, Dazai is saying that the world is chaotic and all of their "ingenious plans" don't amount to much (except when it's Dazai's "ingenious plan" to dress Chuuya up in a Halloween costume!), challenging Fyodor's idea that he can impose his own order on the world (which is exactly what Fyodor is trying to do, though he can't see that - he isn't doing God's will, he's only doing his own; the order he is trying to impose upon the world by using the Book is not God's, it is his own).

Personally, I think "Dazai wins because he has friends, Fyodor loses because he doesn't" is kind of a boring way to go with both Fyodor's character and with the conflict between him and Dazai. Considering this is BSD, where everyone and their boss gets a redemption arc of some sort, and considering this a character based (however loosely) off of Fyodor Dostoevsky, a man who wrote numerous novels exploring deeply complex philosophical and religious ideas about human nature and redemption, I had hoped that Fyodor's character would have a redemption arc of his own. I really hoped that he wouldn't end up being the one character in this series treated like a stereotypical villain. Alas, here we are...

But whatever, they set this up, and again, theoretically, it makes sense. It works for their characters, and I don't mind the idea that Fyodor loses to Dazai because of Dazai's trust in others - in theory. You are certainly right that it makes fyozai all the crunchier!

But it just doesn't work the way they did it. It doesn't work because Fyodor does not actually have any direct control over the vampires.

Unless I missed something about there being a line on the Page that says "the vampires shall obey Fukuchi Ouchi, Bram Stoker, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, and no one else", Fyodor does not control the vampires. Fukuchi does, because Fukuchi has control of Bram. Or Fukuchi is supposed to, because Fukuchi is supposed to have control of Bram. The only reason the vampires would obey Fyodor at all is because, presumably (though I don't think this is ever stated), Fukuchi ordered them to through Bram and Bram's Ability.

This means that in order for Fyodor to use any of the vampires, including Chuuya, as his pawns, he would need to have complete trust in Fukuchi. He would need to trust that Fukuchi hasn't fucked anything up, has not lost control of Bram, and that whatever Dazai was plotting with his buddies outside the prison has not caught up to Fukuchi and exposed him or taken him down. And Fyodor knows that Dazai is plotting, he knows that Dazai is in contact with the outside. He knows Ranpo is out there, and that Dazai is relying in particular on Ranpo.

And he was able to predict Ranpo's moves at least up to trying to intercept the One Order. So he also knew that Fukuchi had been/would be discovered and that the ADA were actively trying to thwart him. But he carried on his plan to use Chuuya, because he still trusted that Fukuchi had control of Bram.

In other words, he was trusting Fukuchi in exactly the same way Dazai was trusting Ranpo and the others.

It doesn't matter if Fyodor and Fukuchi are "friends," or if they're real "allies" - the point is that Fyodor did not actually have any direct control over the vampires, or over Fukuchi. Fukuchi even says in the anime that he "sent him (Fyodor) to prison" to ensure that Fyodor could not interfere with his actual plan - which was, of course, not Fyodor's actual plan. But Fyodor trusted that things were still going according to his plan, even though he couldn't actually manipulate things directly from where he was. Exactly like Dazai.

I get the whole "Fyodor thinks his plan is perfect" thing, but in this plan, Fukuchi had all of the power over the vampires, not Fyodor. Sure, you can argue Fyodor thought he had Fukuchi under his thumb (which, by the way, I find very hard to believe, because from what Fukuchi tell Fukuzawa, Fyodor knew what Fukuchi really wanted, and made a deal with him to achieve that; therefore, he knew Fukuchi had his own motives), but that doesn't matter - what matters is that he placed control of the pawns he intended to use in the hands of someone else.

That ruins Dazai's whole "you don't trust anything you can't manipulate" - because he wasn't manipulating the vampires, and he couldn't manipulate Fukuchi from prison.

And he purposefully put himself in prison as part of his "perfect plan," so he intentionally put himself in a position where he could not directly manipulate his most important pawn: Fukuchi.

So the whole "Fyodor loses because he doesn't trust others" is bunk precisely because they used the vampires as the key to Fyodor's downfall. Fyodor literally cannot use the vampires as part of his plans without trusting an ally - Fukuchi. The idea behind Fyodor's downfall is fine. The execution is what doesn't make any goddamn sense.

It also doesn't work for me because this is Fyodor we're talking about here. Are you seriously telling me I should buy that Fyodor was fooled by contacts and fake fangs? Like for real? If it were anyone else, sure. But Fyodor? I wouldn't buy Dazai or Ranpo falling for that, either. I don't care how much Fyodor believes in his own perfect plan. He still should be able to tell the difference between someone who has been turned into a vampire and someone who has not. Especially since Dazai says he and Chuuya have pulled this kind of thing before. I'm expected to believe it never occurred to Fyodor they'd do something like that? Why, because he's not a soukoku shipper?

I wish we had gotten Dazai bringing Chuuya back to his senses through their bond, because that would make a whole hell of a lot more sense than this being an elaborate act - and it would actually give credence to the idea that Fyodor's desire for complete control is his undoing.

And while we're talking about the narrative problems, let's talk about that hand injury that's so important to all of this. I already talked about this in another post, but Fyodor deciding to let the vampires pilot the helicopter because his hand injury made it impossible for him to do so doesn't make sense to me, either, because the hand is clearly shown to still be mobile:

I know there's a big difference between piloting a helicopter and pressing a button or letting someone else hold your hand, but the hand is obviously not useless. Why would Fyodor be willing to put himself at the mercy of his pawns if he can still use his hand, wounded or not? Again, when he's not actually the one controlling them?

Obviously, this isn't going to be a plot point in the manga because Fyodor has no hand injury in the manga, but this was another thing that bothered the hell out of me. They really just had Fyodor act stupid all of a sudden so he could get himself killed.

Again I hope I'm not sounding too harsh! I'm not trying to attack you at all!! But do you see why I have such a problem with the finale? I get what it was trying to do, but the way it was done just doesn't make any sense, imho. Now, if they had done something with Sigma and Fyodor, like I thought was going to be the case...

I do really appreciate your opinion on the finale, and I don't want to suggest you're wrong or anything. I'm just saying that to me, there are massive issues with it. I just think it's really bad writing.

More than that, it felt so cheap to kill Fyodor off that way. It didn't feel like a big deal, it just felt rushed and - well, cheap. Fukuchi's death has the same problem, but at least with Fukuchi they took the time to flesh out his character, give us answers to the remaining questions about his past and his motives, and give him an emotional send-off. They just blew Fyodor up and went, "Well on to the next!"

But!! With time to reflect, I think the people saying that Fyodor isn't really dead at all are probably right. There are just too many unanswered questions; it doesn't make narrative sense to actually kill him off at this point.

And we don't know how the manga is going to go yet. If the manga does follow the anime, I think it's a pretty good bet that when Sigma wakes up, the secrets he learned about Fyodor will be revealed, and then - well, I guess we'll see.

In the meantime, though, I'm going to continue to (mostly) pretend the finale didn't happen sdfghjghj

Again, thank you for sharing! 💕💖 I think you made some good points, but I hope I was able to explain why I disliked the finale so much :/

*hugs* ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧˚ ♡♡

[artheresy]

Before we see like Chuuya as not a vampire anymore or at least like, before his vampirism is a topic moved on from, I need answers to multiple multiple factors of his vampire state and I hope we get them

Like um, HOW did he become a vampire? Was it via someone close to him having been turned? I saw someone bring up once, did he agree to become a vampire in order to save someone else playing into his sense of loyalty and care? Because it isn’t likely to have just been some random vampire attack, this is Chuuya we’re talking about after all so how the hell did he even become a vampire especially when you factor in the clothes he’s wearing which don’t suggest that he was on duty given his more casual wear

It’s weird and I need to know how he was transformed and its driving me crazy, I WANNA KNOWWW 😭

Also I wanna know why his vampire state is so different to others. Others appear stronger after they turn into vampires, they accept it pretty well also. But like, Chuuya looks exhausted and overexerted and like his body is actively rejecting the vampirism. Could it be a product of being merged with Arahabaki? That resistance to an attempt to control him? I don’t know and I want to know so bad because then if Chuuya’s body is already struggling against the vampirism and attempting to fight against the control, the idea that Chuuya could be broken out of that state makes a lot more sense and makes the lack of vampiric features in him while he’s drowning in 101 and the face that we don’t see his face or see the same certain mannerisms as when he was a vampire also makes a lot more sense

But I dont,,, I don’t know and I want to know and the suspense is killing me internally.

Also if Chuuya isn’t a vampire anymore, I think Fyodor would 100% know. And I think, if we look at it through the lens of Chuuya isn’t a vampire anymore and Fyodor knows, then it makes me rethink the fact that Fyodor specifically was the one to kill that catlady ability user unlike having Chuuya do it like with the guards earlier and makes me think about whether or not the speech he gives Dazai in which he multiple times dehumanizes Chuuya flat out could be something to purposefully see if Chuuya breaks and reacts

Because again, if there is a chance Chuuya isn’t a vampire anymore and is silently playing pretend, there’s No way Fyodor doesn’t already know.

I dunno anymore, I’m just having major Chuuya vampire brainrot, my list of questions keeps growing and there are so answers in sight

[popopretty]

Hello Popo, I hope you are very well, first I want to thank you for your great work with the translations, and your other contributions to the BSD community. Well now if I explain to you, chapter 105.5 has several points that cause me a lot of uncertainty. The first is why didn't the Woman stop time when Fyodor was going to kill her? She could have taken the gun from him and attacked him with it. And second, if the door is not fully closed and there was an opening the water could leak in, why did the room fill with water and almost completely cover them in chapter 101? If they were able to get out through said crack, it means it's big enough for the water to come out in large quantities, how come Dazai who was in the control room didn't notice through the cameras that the door wasn't closed properly and probably was there a water leak? Also, in chapter 101, when Chuuya punches at the door, it is seen to be locked tight. I would like to know what your opinion or point of view is about what I have just told you or if it is the case that I misinterpreted or overlooked something that explains it, you can remind me. Now yes, sorry for so much text and cause maybe there's any mistake (English is not my native language) and thank you very much for answering, I really appreciate any contribution from you ❤️❤️

Hi, thanks for the question. Your English is neater than mine, so no worries at all lol.

About your questions, well, personally I think that probably, all the details that led to your uncertainties is either caused by the fact that Asagiri didn't think it through, or there are some gaps between what Asagiri has in his head and what Harukawa actually drew, which happened a lot when the author and the artist are 2 different people (Asagiri once talked about how he gave Harukawa just very short and simple instructions on what to draw).

But I'm still gonna try and explain them in my own understanding. I don't do this a lot because, as I said above, I don't look too much into details in BSD cuz there are a lot of holes, so I don't know if its gonna be any of use to you, but I'm gonna try.

You made a great point about the catwoman not stopping time when Fyodor was going to kill her. I honestly didn't realize she had that option. For this one, what I could come up with is that it has something to do with Fyodor's ability that we haven't known of. He was touching her when holding her down so his ability might have done st that prevents her from activating her ability. Another possibility is that she normally cannot use her ability freely in captive. Mersault is a top-class prison, so I'm pretty sure they are aware of her ability, and might have put some restriction on her. She could use her ability to stop time and help Dazai, probably because she had a deal with Ango, and Ango had done something in the back to help her regain the control of her ability for a specific amount of time etc.

About the gate, well, I cannot come up with any convincing explanation, but there must be a lot of doors and the control room's camera cannot show them all at the same time, and Dazai was focusing on the room with Fyodor and Chuuya, so that's why he might have missed it. When the water was filling it became harder to see the gate too. About the room being filled with water despite the waterleak, if the speed of water pouring in is larger than the speed of it leaking out, the room will be filled at some point anyway. And isn't that what Fyodor was waiting for so that Dazai would not be able to see him sneak through the door and escape?

The part when Chuuya punched the door in Chapter 101... well, let's pretend he was punching the wall instead XDD

[francforever]

Ok I really have the feeling that the upcoming manga chapters will finally give us some more information about this vampire ability, specifically how the ability can be disabled.

And I really think this is going to be done through Chuuya and Akutagawa

So obviously with Chuuya, there have been a lot of theories after he (finally) made a reappearance in chapter 105.5. People were quick to point out that at the end of chapter 101, Chuuya’s eyes looked human. Whether that’s because he was on the verge of drowning or because of Dazai’s speech is unclear.

And then in his reappearance, Asagiri makes a point of purposely not showing us his eyes. The whole chapter, his eyes are covered. There are also other signs that Chuuya has regained his humanity

And the most recent chapter (107) sees Dazai getting severely injured after sacrificing himself to save Sigma

After he begs Fyodor to kill him and end the pain, Fyodor sends Chuuya so he can kill Dazai

If Chuuya is really human again, it would be in his best interest to help Dazai (shipping aside) because they share a common enemy and the PM is currently struggling through the vampire infection. More importantly, it could give us information about how the vampires under the ability could break out of it just like Chuuya did

On the other hand, we have Akutagawa. this next part may be pure delusion on my part but hear me out

From what we know, Aku has died in the fight with Fukuchi and was then turned into a vampire

But in the last chapter, we find out that vampires don’t need to defend themselves during a fight because they just regenerate

WHAT IF

Aku was on the verge of death but didn’t actually die? This would mean that getting turned into a vampire saved his life and that if Atsushi is somehow able to disable the ability (by giving him a long speech perhaps? Or trying to drown him? Lol), Aku will be ok

But yea I’m reaching here 🧍‍♀️

Don’t come at me if I end up being completely wrong about everything I said here and the next chapters end up being some random pov switch that is unrelated

[larathia]

the time stopper

...Huh. Possibly, beautifully done.

Okay. So I'm sure Chuuya's fans have reread chapter 101 over and over and over. But even so, there's a question that should be answered given 105.5.

Dazai posits that Fyodor had a vampire in the control room prior to all of this starting. That the vampire's death, when Dazai took over the control room, let Fyodor know that that was happening. Fyodor, at that time, was faux-trapped in the flooding room.

Dazai tells Sigma about both the time stopper and Ango during this chapter. According to Dazai, at this point the control room should be full of only corpses, because he's already taken it over during a timestop.

Yet, in 105.5, Fyodor knows about the time stopper, and kills her.

First question: how did he know about the time stopper's involvement? He was busy himself at the time Dazai mentioned this. And his vampire plant in the control room should have been dead.

Second question: Is Ango compromised too now?

Third question: Why kill the time stopper at all?

Look, I should explain that third question.

Dazai's said (and one should always take into account that he might've been lying) that the time stopper was Ango's way of relaying information back to Dazai. But when you think about what else is going on...taking her out doesn't actually change anything about Dazai's mission. Dazai is halfway around the world. He's not going to get to the airport in Japan from Europe in time to do anything useful to the current situation. The only thing Dazai can do to help is send information.

And he can still do that, as long as Ango's on the board.

So...why kill the time stopper? I mean, if Fyodor had left her alive, she could've relayed to Dazai the increasing desperation of the ADA. Which at least had a chance of putting Dazai off his game. Now he's got no distractions from the orders he's been acting on. AND Dazai now knows Fyodor has some way to observe/listen in on his conversations. It's...giving away info. And now Dazai can at least send a warning to Ango that he may well be compromised, whereas if Fyodor hadn't killed the time stopper, Dazai wouldn't know that.

Honestly, 105.5 feels like Fyodor is actually losing his cool. Actually getting angry and giving away more than he intends to. This more than anything else makes me think this cat and mouse game between the two is coming to an end soon.

[2day4u-2morrow4me]

Your post about Chuuya falling for Rampo’s bait? I can totally relate. Chuuya is my favorite character, and I have been pretty sad with the way Asagiri keeps portraying Chuuya, there is an inconsistence in how he treats his character that annoys me to no end, Chuuya don’t deserve a half assed baked plot, he is smart, the most powerful character, and Asagiri keeps nerfing him in the most ridiculous ways possible, making him look like he is dumb and that the only times that he can or not shine is when he is with Dazai, and this makes me extremely angry, because Chuuya is one, if not the most, complex character in the series, hell, he has two novels to himself! But just because he is a “villain” and not the protagonist you have to keep ruining his image just because of the plot? Even when there were other ways? If you read the manga, you know that Asagiri again did this kind of think with Chuuya and oh boy, I’m at my limit, if you create a character as powerful as Chuuya, you must know how to deal with him without killing his history, personality and core. Sorry if there are any mistakes, english is not my first language and this topic makes me really frustrated, because I really, really love Chuuya.

****warning vague manga spoilers ahead. I tried to keep it fairly lowkey****

Finally I'm reaching my people. Knew I wasn't the only one who is fed up with this (pardon my language) bullshit (sorry if the swearing makes u uncomfortable I have no filter I try but it helps me get my point across)

You are absolutely right my man. Asagiri pulls that shit where he has Dazai walk all over him in the Lovecraft fight, have them share a touching trust moment, then Dazai ditches him. Then pulls a complete 180 and writes Stormbringer detailing this epic backstory about how powerful he is and all the people he meets and loses and the battles he overcomes and then fucking chapter 101 happens and Chuuya is apparently weak and just a tool in that Dazai bullshit.

I truly don't think Asagiri has a lot of villain/hero stuff because the "villains" are also compelling and loyal and the "heroes" have complicated pasts and aren't complete saints(and for that Asagiri will be a fantastic author) But if that is the case then why is Asagiri always putting Chuuya down. I have no idea what Asagiri is doing with Chuuya. I have in fact read the manga and I hate hate hate hate how it is going. fingers crossed that Asagiri/Dazai have an actual plan to fix that nonsense.

All in all Asagiri wrote a really compelling character with a fanastic backstory, incredible power, and a personality people can relate with(who me?). I have connected with Chuuya a lot(ask me about the ways I relate to him istg. if I tried to list them all right now this would definitely be rambling.) I just wish I could see the character more, especially in a more flattering light, instead of put next to people like Dazai and Fyodor(cough cough literal fucking geniuses cough) so that he looks stupid.

There aren't any mistakes I don't think. You probably speak English better than I can and it is the only language I speak lol. I will rant to you all day long about Chuuya and how my boi deserves better. thank u for the ask, I love an excuse to rant(with that being said sorry for all that ranting. I can be extra my bad.)

[thepiratearcinhamlet]

To all my fellow BSD fans currently freaking out over Chapter 101:

My first reaction was sheer panic, and the urge to sob my guts out throw my phone, freak out, etc.

And then I stepped back and did some thinking:

1. Asagiri has no reason to kill Chuuya. Or even Dazai for that matter. No logical reason = he won't do it. He NEVER does something mindlessly. The vampires, Akutagawa, now Chuuya... it's going to get fixed in the end. (Remember the Cannibalism arc?)

2. In the Stormbringer postscript, Asagiri specifically states that Chuuya has a long journey ahead of him. In other words, don't worry, he will be okay. :) He can't be on a long journey with a specific (and as of yet unspecified) destination if he randomly drowns in prison.

3. Dazai pretends he doesn't care about Chuuya, but it's always so obvious that he does, even when he says he doesn't. (Just looks at the flashbacks he has, and his posture.) He has to kill Fyodor, but Chuuya will survive. He wouldn't make a plan like this if Chuuya were to die.

4. Consider how many characters have "died" in this arc: Sigma, Tachihara, Jouno, Akutagawa, Fukuchi... Asagiri does not really kill main characters except in /prequels/, (i.e. Oda, The Flags.) Chuuya will be fine.

So... have a good cry if you need it, eat some mochi ice cream, process All The Feels ... and be patient. Asagiri is a brilliant author, even if he likes inflicting pain. Everything will be okay. May the next chapter come swiftly. <3

[vampireonastick]

BSD Theory: Dazai’s Drowning of Fyodor and Chuuya Is Just A Ploy to Manipulate Sigma

(Spoilers up until chapter 101 of the manga)

Personally I think the entirety of chapter 101 was framed as a misdirect, in order to draw our attention away from Dazai and Sigma’s interactions, and instead focus on all the new information we received as well as the cliffhanger of what will happen to Fyodor and Chuuya.

So, for this theory I want to do a thorough analysis of Dazai and Sigma’s interactions, both in this chapter, as well as previous chapters. Because in my opinion, Dazai’s interest in Sigma is very apparent, and quite suspicious. 

Dazai’s Plan

Firstly, I want to address why I think Dazai feels the need to manipulate Sigma in the first place:

I believe that Dazai has plans for Sigma, and in order for Dazai to enact these plans, he needs Sigma to come back with him to the agency. But in order for this to happen, sticking with Dazai after this prison situation is over has to be something that Sigma actively wants. Dazai can’t force Sigma to join his side, all he can do is spend the little time he has alone with Sigma trying to convince him that Dazai is not only a better option than staying with Fyodor, but is also a better option than taking his chances of being alone in the world again.

For this theory, I will be working under the assumption that this whole ‘water trap’ that Fyodor and Chuuya are stuck in is just a manipulation tactic set up by Dazai to make himself look more intelligent than Fyodor in Sigma’s eyes. And because of this, Dazai never actually planned to kill Fyodor or Chuuya here, and has a plan to save them both. 

With my thoughts on that matter stated, here is my analysis of Sigma and Dazai’s interactions so far.

(’m going to stick to chronological order for this in order to keep things simple).

Chapter 95.5/97: An Empty Port Part V & VI

Summary: The first chapter picks up just after Fyodor and Dazai fall through the floors of their cells and into the room with Nikolai and Sigma. The following chapter is where Nikolai fully fleshes out the rules of his game and ends with Dazai choosing Sigma as his tool to help him win the game.

In these two chapters, a lot of parallels are present between Dazai and Fyodor in terms of their behaviour and reactions to Nikolai explaining his game. They agree with each other, and show similar posturing and facial expressions. For us as the reader, this is not uncommon. Dazai and Fyodor have been shown to be very similar characters already, many panels feature their faces drawn similarly and that whole ‘communicating through secret code’ thing just shows how in sync they are. 

But for Sigma, this is his first ever introduction to Dazai. He has never met Dazai before and knows nothing about him. So for Sigma, his first impression of Dazai, (made before the two of them have even interacted one on one), is that Dazai is very similar to Fyodor (a person Sigma is intimidated by and currently very fearful of). 

Look at Sigma’s facial expression in this panel. He looks unsettled and confused at Dazai and Fyodor’s behaviour. He doesn’t understand them or what they could possibly be planning.

Now, I like to think that Dazai was fully aware of the comparison Sigma was making in his mind between Dazai and Fyodor, and that Dazai was actually purposefully playing into these similarities between him and Fyodor to encourage Sigma drawing parallels between them. 

It could be possible Dazai wanted to do this so that he could subvert Sigma’s expectations later on. Sort of like ‘ah yes, look how similar I am to Fyodor, except, I am kinder and more intelligent. Wouldn’t it be nice if Fyodor were more like me?’ 

Chapter 98: Pier in the Sky, Part VII

Summary: This chapter picks up with Dazai and Sigma walking alone in the halls of Meursault, right after Dazai picked Sigma to be his aid in winning Nikolai’s game.

Now that they finally have a chance to talk one on one, what is the very first thing Dazai does when he and Sigma are alone together? 

He teases him relentlessly. He dodges Sigma’s questions, he grabs Sigma and dances with him (I adore that scene so much, by the way), and generally, he treats the situation they are in as if it were a big joke, and not a life or death scenario. In short, Dazai does everything he can to get a reaction out of Sigma. Why?

In my opinion, it’s because this is the easiest way Dazai can figure out a person's character. He’s pushing Sigma’s buttons intentionally because he wants to see how Sigma reacts when he is put under a bit of stress. What sort of actions does he take when he is irritated? How does he react to being ignored?

So, what is the reaction that Sigma gives Dazai as a result of all this teasing?

Dazai pisses him off enough to where Sigma threatens to go off on his own, saying that there is no way Dazai can defeat Fyodor, and then we get this panel:

This little bit of poking and prodding on Dazai’s part has rewarded him with a large amount of information on Sigma and his character without Sigma even realizing it.

Dazai spent a couple minutes being an annoying brat, and because of that, he now knows that Sigma would rather face the horrors of this prison alone and unarmed than lose this game, he believes Fyodor is untouchable in terms of intelligence and strategy, and that he has personal motivations for wanting to win this game. All of this can be used to further manipulate Sigma for his own benefit. 

And how does Dazai react immediately following Sigma’s outburst?

He acknowledges Sigma, which is something he hasn’t done so far. Every time Sigma speaks to Dazai up until this point he is ignored. He also calls him interesting, and promises Sigma his safety.

(Also, look at Dazai’s body language here. Look at how casually he is acting around him, as if the two of them have been friends for ages.)

Dazai’s Switch in Behaviour

The reason why I think Dazai was purposefully antagonizing Sigma in order to get a reaction out of him is because after the above panel where Dazai promises to get Sigma out of the prison alive, Dazai stops screwing around and actually gets started on putting his plan into action.

He got what he wanted, so he changed his behaviour, no longer having a reason to annoy Sigma.

But something that is super interesting is that it seems like this shift in Dazai’s mood is hidden in the manga’s narrative. Right after the above panel is where they first hear Chuuya banging around and Dazai acts more serious as he explains to Sigma how dangerous Chuuya is. And that’s where the chapter ends, and then we get two chapters of airport shenanigans before we are back with Dazai and Sigma in the prison. 

When we pick back up with Dazai and Sigma, Dazai’s mood is lighthearted and nonchalant, but unlike the first few panels where he and Sigma were alone together, Dazai has now fully dropped his ‘idiot persona’. He isn’t trying to dance with Sigma, and instead of ignoring Sigma’s questions he is answering them quickly and earnestly. 

Now it would make sense to attribute this shift in Dazai’s behaviour to Chuuya’s arrival. Since Chuuya is now here, the game can truly start which means Dazai needs to get moving. But I can’t shake the feeling that Chuuya’s introduction was placed right after the panel above for a specific reason, with that reason being an attempt to hide the fact that Dazai had no plans on further messing with Sigma after he got the reaction he was looking for. 

If we aren’t supposed to know that Dazai is manipulating Sigma, or at least, not to its full extent, then directing our attention away from their interactions like this would be the best move.

This is a tactic that is also heavily present in chapter 101.

Manipulation; Fyodor vs Dazai

For this section, I’ll be referring to this amazing post by @blackandwhitemusician​ analyzing the differences in how both Fyodor and Dazai manipulate people (I highly recommend reading it, it’s short and completely blows my mind). 

OP explains that Fyodor manipulates people by treating them like pawns, by finding their weak points and exploiting them through blackmail, threats, and pretty promises. 

While Dazai also manipulates people, he is much more focused on encouraging his pawns to act within their own free will. He wants them to make choices in accordance with their own personal codes of conduct. 

To add my own little analogy based on this analysis (please know this is in no way a perfect analogy, more a loosely related example to understand the general idea of what I am trying to say):

Fyodor views the people he manipulates as his own personal collection of action figures. He moves their limbs how he wants, controlling their every movement, and placing them exactly where he wants them.

Dazai, on the other hand, views the people he manipulates as ants in his ant farm. He still thinks of them as ‘his’ ants, but he also recognizes them as individuals, every ant has their own name and personality. He lets them do their thing, admiring them from afar, and every now and then, he’ll release them into a maze he created and watch to see how they’ll get out on their own.

Dazai’s Manipulation of Sigma

Sigma says himself that he knows Dazai is manipulating him. The kind of manipulation I think Dazai is using on Sigma here, is designed to increase Sigma’s self-esteem and sense of agency. 

Sigma has a tragic background of being used and abused for as long as he can remember. He is missing his past, he is missing a home, he has no friends or family, and he now believes Fyodor wants to kill him. He has built Fyodor up in his head to be this all powerful monster he has no chance of ever standing on equal ground with.

When Sigma first shows up in the prison with Nikolai, he looks extremely uncomfortable. He obviously didn’t want to be there. When Dazai picks him for his team, he wants to speed through the prison and win as quickly as possible, even though he truly believes deep down that there is no point in trying to win against Fyodor, since he has no faith in Dazai winning.

Keeping Sigma’s current view of Fyodor in mind, if Fyodor had walked up to Sigma in those first couple minutes of their reunion and told Sigma ‘I am going to kill you now’, would Sigma have tried to fight back? If Fyodor had instead said to him ‘I am giving you another chance, join my side again’, would Sigma have said no?

Personally I don’t think Sigma would have defied Fyodor at this point. I think his self-worth was too low and he was in too dark of a place after just losing the home he had longed for all of these years.

So, if Dazai can discern these feelings, fears, and insecurities Sigma has, and if he wants Sigma to come join his side willingly instead of returning to Fyodor, what would Dazai need to do in order to insure this happens?

In my eyes, Dazai has three main goals in his manipulation of Sigma;

He needs to get Sigma to raise his self-esteem and self-confidence 

He needs Sigma to stop viewing Fyodor as some unstoppable force of evil no-one can defeat

He needs to build Sigma’s trust in him and his skills/plans (basically convince Sigma that he can, and will, beat Fyodor)

If Dazai's desired outcome from his manipulation of Sigma is to convince Sigma that sticking with him is the better option than crawling back to Fyodor, or facing the world on his own, then these ‘three goals of manipulation’ will help him achieve it.

The focus of all of these goals is to positively change Sigma’s current mindset and view of himself, gain Sigma’s trust and admiration, and to help Sigma build a sense of agency, so that when the time comes, and Sigma has to make a choice between going with either Dazai or Fyodor, he’ll pick Dazai.

(For this next section, I’ll be talking about chapter 101 in chronological order for simplicity. I’ll refer back to these ‘three goals of manipulation’ as I see them occur throughout the chapter)

Chapter 101: Sinking to the Bottom

Since I think manipulating Sigma is Dazai’s main goal right now, I believe that this whole ‘trap’ for Fyodor that Dazai has orchestrated is just a way for him to impress Sigma. In other words, Dazai isn’t actually planning to kill Fyodor and Chuuya here, and he already has a plan to have them live that just hasn’t been revealed yet.

So keeping this in mind, how exactly does chapter 101 play out if we are analyzing it through the lens of Dazai manipulating Sigma and the ‘trap’ being a lie?

________

Firstly, the chapter begins with Sigma asking Dazai if they will really be alright now that Chuuya is here since he is so powerful. Dazai immediately brushes Sigma’s concerns off, and tells him that he’ll have no problem handling Chuuya. 

By building Chuuya up in a previous chapter and not being worried at all about Chuuya in this chapter, Dazai is setting himself up in Sigma’s eyes as someone competent that has the situation under control.

(This will only actually pay off if Dazai can carry through on his talk and actually defeat Chuuya though. Hence why he had to take his act of drowning them so far.)

________

Next, Dazai prompts Sigma to ask questions about how Dazai is receiving intel. He does this by dropping the word “angel”, which triggers a memory in Sigma’s mind of Dazai saying earlier that an “angel” whispered something to him. 

Dazai drops hints that he is getting intel, obvious enough for Sigma to pick up on and ask him about. He’s guiding Sigma to be the one who takes the conversation in the direction Dazai wants it to go. And when Sigma asks him if he’s getting “intel from an ally on the outside”, Dazai compliments him, telling him he’s “pretty sharp for someone who’s three years old”.

This is one of the instances where Dazai is trying to build Sigma’s confidence (goal 1). He’s letting Sigma talk, listening to his questions, and rewards him with praise and compliments his intelligence.

________

Then, Dazai tells Sigma how he is in contact with Ango, and that he sends information to Ango via his own heartbeat. Sigma tells him that can’t be the entire truth, because that doesn’t account for how Dazai can get messages from Ango.

Dazai looks surprised that Sigma noticed he was leaving out information, which I think was a fake reaction on his part, since the way Dazai explained his methods of communication makes the fact that it is only one-sided very obvious.

Again, I see this as one of Dazai’s methods to help build Sigma’s confidence (goal 1). As after Sigma is done explaining how Dazai must be leaving out information, Dazai smiles and tells him he makes a “good point”. Again, he is encouraging Sigma to voice his thoughts and rewarding him with praise.

________

Directly after that, we get this:

This is one of the most interesting examples in my opinion, as it touches on all three of Dazai’s “three goals of manipulation”. 

“If you can get it, it means you’re smarter than Dostoevsky.”

Here, Dazai is simultaneously raising Sigma’s self-esteem (goal 1), makes Fyodor seem less impressive (goal 2), and is also insinuating that he himself is more intelligent than Fyodor, for coming up with a method of communication that Fyodor couldn’t sense (goal 3).

Whether or not Sigma is able to guess Dazai’s method of communicating with Ango doesn’t actually matter, the only thing that matters is that Sigma now knows Fyodor doesn’t know either.

Before coming to Meursault, Fyodor likely had an unmatchable level of intelligence in Sigma’s eyes. Someone untouchable and cruel. Someone that held his life in his hands and wasn’t afraid to crush him when he lost his usefulness. To ever think of himself as being on even ground as Fyodor has likely never crossed Sigma’s mind before this point. But now he can see that at least in this one aspect, they are equals in their ignorance.

________

Next we have Sigma trying to figure out how Ango is sending messages to Dazai, and we get this panel:

(ugh Sigma is so adorable in this panel and I can’t handle it)

This isn’t directly related to Dazai’s “three goals of manipulation”, but I thought his thoughts here are interesting when reading this chapter from the perspective of ‘Dazai manipulating Sigma’.

Here, Dazai has drawn a comparison between Sigma and Atsushi. This is good for him, it means that moving forward, the most likely method to get Sigma to think and act the way Dazai wants him to is to treat him in a similar way he would treat Atsushi. 

________

Next, Sigma gives up his thinking and instead yells at Dazai as they don’t have time to waste with all of this chatting, and that they need to focus on escaping. Dazai tells Sigma he isn’t planning to escape, and is instead going to kill Fyodor.

By targeting Fyodor directly, Dazai is again putting himself above Fyodor (goal 3), seeing him as nothing he needs to be worried about.

He also uses the phrase “we’ll kill Fyodor”, including Sigma in the plan.

________

Dazai spends the walk to the security room explaining to Sigma why Meursault’s walls will prevent Chuuya from breaking out, opens the security doors to reveal all of the guards are already defeated, and tells Sigma about how he’s been receiving intel via the ‘time-stopping’ ability.

At this point, Dazai is trying to flaunt his intelligence and meticulous strategic planning to Sigma as much as possible. This is in an attempt to aid goal 3, which involves Dazai wanting Sigma to build trust in Dazai’s skills and competencies.

I’d say this plan of ‘info-dumping to impress Sigma’ worked quite well, as look at what Sigma’s internal thoughts were like after Dazai finished his explanation of his trap for Fyodor:

“This means that from the start, Dostoevsky had no chance.”

“Against these two overpowered opponents Dazai on his own…”

This is exactly the kind of reaction I believe Dazai wanted Sigma to have. Dazai’s talk about how easy it will be for him to kill Fyodor and Chuuya doesn’t actually mean anything until he can show Sigma proof. With this trap, Dazai has proved his competence to Sigma. 

As a result, Sigma is now starting to see Dazai as someone who can be relied on. Someone who has treated him kindly and has destroyed Fyodor, his personal monster, without even breaking a sweat.

Chapter 101′s Purpose

Look at how drastically Sigma’s view of Dazai changed in such a short amount of time. Because keep in mind, their first interaction to now has all happened in less than a half an hour. 

I personally find Sigma’s changing view of Dazai much more important than Fyodor and Chuuya’s drowning, which is why I believe this chapter may have been left on a cliffhanger on purpose. The need to know what happens to Fyodor and Chuuya distracts from Dazai and Sigma’s interactions. Plus all of the knowledge we receive from Dazai about his plan, including the ‘time-stopping’ ability user, is quite distracting as well.

Could I be completely wrong about this, and about Dazai’s tactics of manipulating Sigma as a whole? Yes, absolutely. I wouldn’t be surprised lmao. But overall, I still think it’s interesting to think about, and to bring attention to.

Now, to end this theory off,

Predictions For Fyodor and Chuuya

Keeping in mind everything I have said so far, I can only really see Fyodor and Chuuya being saved by a third party. 

If someone else comes in and saves Chuuya and Fyodor, that wouldn’t be Dazai’s fault. His plan still technically ‘worked’, so Sigma’s trust in Dazai wouldn’t be negatively affected, as not even Dazai could account for an external variable coming into play.

This way, Chuuya and Fyodor can both live without us losing any progress between Dazai and Sigma’s relationship.

If either Chuuya or Fyodor use their powers to free themselves, then Dazai would have made a ‘mistake’. His confidence in his own plan would have been unfounded, which would damage Sigma’s brand new trust in Dazai and his capabilities. 

I’d say the most likely option is that Nikolai comes in to save both Fyodor and Chuuya, as his ability would allow him to bypass the locked doors entirely and would only take a couple of seconds. (Also if this does happen, then I’ll almost be entirely convinced that Dazai and Nikolai have actually been working together this entire time. But I’ll expand on that in another post, this one is long enough already).

------

Alright I’m cutting myself off here for this theory (I have around four other theories that all interconnect with this one that I’m currently working on, but if I put them all in one post that would be wayyyyy too long lmao). I’m hoping I explained my thought process well enough. As always, please feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts!! 

All of the manga panels used here were taken from fan translations, so thank you to everyone who does fan translation!!!

[videogamelover99]

I Had a Realization About Ch.101 and No One's Talking About It

I had assumed that Dazai has the option to stop the flooding procedure in the Control Room but now that I think about it that is most likely not the case.

Dazai presents to Sigma a sequence of events that differs from what might actually be happening, timeline-wise. Dazai reveals information to Sigma in a way that makes us think every new step in Ch.101 that he reveals is a re-concieved way to defeat the new two-vs-two teamup of Dostoyevsky and Chuuya. But if you look at the events as they are happening in real time, that does not make any sense.

What's actually happening, in sequence:

Sometime before Sigma sees the Control Room, Dazai's cat lady stops time so Dazai can kill all the guards and set up his trap to kill Dostoyevsky.

We don't know exactly when this happens. It could have been before Gogol even showed up. It could have been when Gogol was explaning the rules. All we know is, it had to have been before Fyodor falls for the trap. So lets set it aside for now.

Other than that, what happens?

CH.98, after Dazai picks Sigma. Dazai dances around with Sigma some, seemingly wasting time.

Then this happens?

And Dazai abruptly switches to heading directly toward the Control Room. Which is interesting, because Sigma doesn't notice anything. This is most likely when the cat lady stopped time and Dazai was able to set up his trap. Because now that everything's in play, he can see it laid out for him with Sigma.

It's right after that we get the first signs of an intruder.

Dazai most likely knew Fyodor was going to pick a pawn to help him escape. What he didn't know, I'm sure, was that it was Chuuya.

Not only cause Dazai's entire demeanor changes when he realizes this, but because Dazai only says "I see" when a genuine realization comes to him, often times too late.

After this, Dazai sets up the "two vs. two" battle strategy for Sigma. Except here's the thing. That doesn't make sense if the trap is already in play. There is no battle! It's already decided!

This panel happens after the locking mechanism on Fyodor's side breaks, meaning that Dazai is stating this when his plan is already in motion. Dazai is explaining how they're going to beat Chuuya and Dostoyevsky as if he hadn't already set up the trap, so that Sigma thinks all of this is happening in real time.

Here's the important part Dazai mentions: Once closed, the walls will never open again and there's no way to stop the flooding. The walls will never open again implies that it's impossible for anyone to open them, including the people at the control terminal. "No way to stop the flooding" is also very specific. Dazai doesn't say that it's impossible for Dostoyevsky to stop the flooding, but impossible in general. (Interesting also how Fyodor says that Dazai got the circuit already as if he predicted the locking mechanism would blow up, just not this soon).

After his little explanation to Sigma, Dazai doesn't seem to do much except turn on the mic to the flooded room.

Dazai presents the facts to Sigma as if every action he took in the past he is taking due to the circumstances of the two-vs-two, but that's not the case, because Dazai has set up the trap in advance, most likely before he even knew Chuuya was the pawn. And it is a trap he himself cannot stop once it's triggered. Meaning that, unless a new factor comes into play, Dazai literally cannot do anything at this point except watch Chuuya drown. Dazai created the perfect plan, one that he himself cannot reverse. It's not about Dazai letting Chuuya die, it's about if he can stop his own plan in the first place.