#bsd chapter 105.5

[sskk-manifesto]

Okay. What the FUCK is the anime trying to do since they will basically be all caught up with the manga with the next episode

[sheepofstars]

I might be presumptuous but my take for BSD (which I haven't heard anyone speak of before) is that Fyodor totally has a weird psychosexual obsession with Dazai, like, hear me out. Fyodor is constantly trying to take the 'pawns' that Dazai has, literally trying to replace him in this honestly delusional way, (ex. chapter 105.5 where Fyodor implies that he knows Chuuya better than Dazai???) and now he is attempting to get Atsushi on his side by 'saving' him. I don't even ship Fyozai but from Fyodor's actions it feels like he wants to be Dazai in this weird way.

[tainted-virus]

Vi’s Thoughts on Today’s BSD Chapter (109) - A SKK Analysis

⚠️MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS (obviously)⚠️

I’m sobbing actually, aNyWaYs—

This post is basically just gonna be me talking abt Soukoku in this chapter bc wtf was THAT. Everything has gone to shit.

Let me preface by inserting my thoughts of 105.5 (months ago) bc I talk a LOT abt SKK in that as well.

“There is literally NO WAY Dazai & Sigma are gonna drown. Fyodor obv wont do shit but, even as a vampire, [I believe] Chuuya is still conscious & aware of what he’s doing. He knows Dazai could drown. But, i think bc of how bonded they are, he won’t let that happen. Dazai prob has a slight idea of how to get out, but even if he doesn’t, Chuuya will be there.

THEY CAN READ EACH OTHERS HEARTBEATS. They are literally spiritually connected. They hate each other but have shown time & time again that they DO care about the other. Dazai is the only partner Chuuya has ever had that hasn’t died & (assumingly) hasn’t betrayed him (I’m allowing myself to believe Dazai knew there was a way for Chuuya to escape b4 he’d drown) & is the only one to keep Chuuya ALIVE after he uses Corruption. And Chuuya is the only partner of Dazai’s that hasn’t (technically) died and IN THE LIGHT NOVELS, Dazai himself said Chuuya was the one that made him feel alive and like there was something to live FOR.

Asagiri (BSD Creator) said they were MADE FOR EACH OTHER. They were created in the series to BALANCE each other out. If one lives, the other HAS to be alive.”

Of course, now that we know Chuuya is still a vampire, whether or not his thoughts are jumbled is questionable. In the chapter where he and Fyodor could have drowned, it seemed like there were tears in his eyes after hearing Dazai say his goodbyes, but there’s always a chance it was for another reason or just from the water he was in.

I think Dazai tried to get through to Chuuya like he had when he left him and Fyodor to drown. But then Chuuya shot him in the head. Is it questionable that Dazai was still alive and talking after this? Absolutely. Could he be playing dead? Maybe.

But also, it would be poetic if the ONLY thing that could kill Dazai was the person that was literally made to be paired with him.

Now that it’s confirmed that Chuuya is still a vampire, I have no idea what to believe. It’s possible that they pull a whole “Soukoku prevails” thing or Dazai could ACTUALLY be dead and either 1) Chuuya dies too or 2) Chuuya SOMEHOW lives but has no reason to because the one guy that could nullify corruption and the one guy he trusted with his LIFE was killed by him. Since Asagiri made Chuuya FOR Dazai, I don’t think Chuuya would live very long if Dazai did die.

Idk, Asagiri worries me.

- Virus

[strink-family]

How are you doing have you seen bsd 109 I'm very upset so how are you taking it right now

Hello. I've not been doing the greatest, but my absence is mostly because I'm working on a large project.

I have not seen 109 and have deliberately been avoiding it (as I tend to do with new chapters ever since 105.5). I know whatever happened will make me sad. I've seen and heard snippets but for the most part I know nothing. All I know is something bad happened. But it's BSD so of course something bad happened.

I'm sorry you're not doing well because of it. Whatever happened, I really hope it gets resolved and it ends well and everything will be okay.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Chapter 105.5 Thoughts: Control, Manipulation and Partnership

Or, how Chuuya is actually the most qualified character to land a victory over Dostoevsky.

I just want to preface this with: I think Chuuya has woken from the brainwashing. We can't see his eyes, he's holding his hat again, and look at the progression of his face and expression from the last few chapters with him (these are in order btw from left to right).

I'm not completely sure how he did this, but I chalk a lot of it up to sheer stubborn determination on Chuuya's part, mostly because it's funny and he was clearly fighting back before Dazai's speech. However, I find it likely the speech did contain some kind of code - others have pointed out how "Goodbye!" might be a reference to the original author's last unfinished book and we know skk's codenames for things generally are based off their real counterparts' works so, maybe he'd already broken out of it, maybe there was something in there that gave him the final push - who knows at this point honestly? Either way, it means Chuuya had the capacity to break out of the vampire curse on his own and that's incredibly funny to me for many reasons but mostly:

Fyodor: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's ability can't overcome flooding."

Dazai: "Bold of you to assume Chuuya's personality can't overcome brainwashing."

But really, this highlights something interesting here, both in what Chuuya's role is ultimately intended to be in this arc, and in the way Fyodor and Dazai manipulate and value others in very different ways.

I've said it before but it bears repeating: we already know that Fyodor is an excellent long-term planner, while Dazai is effectively able to counter him because Dazai shifts into thinking like his opponent. They're foil characters for a reason; they're both highly intelligent, manipulative, and willing to play the long game for the sake of winning against their opponent.

Thing is, I also stand by the idea that personality-wise, they're not similar at all - and that has serious implications for the people they are connected with. The build-up to the prison escape arc really highlights this. Some examples:

Chapter 46: Fyodor believes that all people are sinful and foolish and that his goal is to remove sin. Dazai believes that all people are sinful and foolish but asks what's so wrong with that.

Chapter 64: They decide to have a "super-happy chit-chat" about their problems. Dazai's solution to Fyodor's issue with his lazy subordinates is to get them to think lazing around is a bad thing so they will put in effort of their own. Fyodor's solution to Dazai being unable to woo the waitress is to isolate her from her job, house and family so that she can only rely on Dazai.

Chapter 77: Fyodor believes god is perfection and harmony, and thus that the people capable of change are the superior ones with most control. Dazai believes god is the accidental and illogical and believes it is the ordinary people who fight and live in that uncertainty who create the greatest change.

So, what's happening here? Fyodor's manipulation is shown to be very exacting and direct. He leaves no room for error and regards people on a hierarchy - God above all, himself as a servant of God's will, and the sinful and foolish humans he has little regard for. Dazai's manipulation involves manipulation of the situation, and is often indirect. It involves people coming to the conclusion he intends for them to on their own. And from his later dialogue with Sigma, we see he doesn't regard the world in that same kind of hierarchy.

Now, look at the way Fyodor picks an item and Dazai picks a person when starting the game. Look at the way Fyodor refers to Chuuya respectfully but brainwashes him entirely and mocks Dazai for not being worthy of "using" his ability. Look at the way Dazai is a complete ass to Chuuya but ultimately lets him make his own choices (begging people to take note of that moment in Stormbringer where Dazai cuts himself off to correct his referring to Corruption as Arahabaki's true power to Chuuya's true power).

So, the actual strength Dazai has over Dostoevsky then, is not really his strength at all, it's the strength of others and their choice and willpower to act in the way they believe is best. It's the only means of getting a leg up on Dostoevsky, otherwise they will continue to go around and around in circles forever.

And Chuuya is the best candidate for finally throwing Fyodor off his game.

Firstly, let's just establish something: no matter how mad he is at Dazai, he's not going to side with Fyodor, not willingly. Fyodor threatened the Mafia in the Cannibalism arc by attacking Mori, first of all. I doubt he's forgiven him for that. Secondly, Fyodor embodies everything Chuuya can't stand about Dazai, at the very least, younger Dazai - the manipulation, the lack of consideration and connection with others, the callousness and lack of regard for life.

Well, perhaps he's not quite as irritating. +1 point for Dostoevsky I guess?

But lastly, it is more advantageous for Chuuya at this point to help fight against Fyodor, especially since most of the Mafia has been vampirized by his organization. Helping the Agency stop the terrorist plot will help the Mafia by extension by undoing that. And we know from Stormbringer that no matter how much Chuuya is personally hurt, he considers taking out the threat to his people a higher priority. Always.

(You could make the argument that he was told whatever Teruko told Atsushi and decided to join, but not only do I find this wildly out of character, but if that was the case then there would've been no reason to brainwash him.)

That said, I don't think this was preemptive "Dazai's master plan #3057", and in fact, I stand by the idea that Dazai had no idea Chuuya was going to be in the prison. It is very, very important to me that for the rest of this arc, no matter what Chuuya does, that his actions are his own. Not Fyodor's, not Dazai's, but his. And not just because I hate that he's being controlled right now and that freedom of choice has always been important for Chuuya.

But because it makes narrative sense.

The vampires are a bit silly, yes, but they represent the way Fyodor and Fukuchi think - humanity will commit atrocities. They cannot be trusted to make their own decisions. They want to make a world that is free by... mind-controlling people so their plans work without a hitch. In short, they choose, on behalf of others, to sacrifice human autonomy for peace. So, if we are going to turn this arc around, we need to have characters breaking out of that control and thinking for themselves, in spite of the uncertainty of the outcome.

We already see this with Atsushi in the last chapter! He finally takes initiative and makes that choice to leave the room when he doesn't exactly know what the right thing to do is. And this is also why I don't think Teruko is wholly convinced by the DoA either - she lets him go. She gives him the freedom to choose what he does with that information.

Another one of the focus characters here is Sigma. Sigma is a guy who has no past, whose humanity is questioned, who keeps being used by organizations for his valuable ability, who has no home but desperately wants one... oh wait. Remind you of anyone's younger self? This could go one of two ways: Chuuya fails to assert his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from that failure, or, Chuuya succeeds in asserting his autonomy, leaving Sigma to learn from his success.

I think it, by necessity, has to be the latter. Sigma's at a tipping point right now, and I think seeing someone try to assert their freedom only to fail would damage him greatly. And I think it's a waste of Chuuya's character honestly.

Chuuya needs to assert his autonomy in this arc. Not just for thematic reasons but because I can think of no one else who can effectively break the "super-genius stalemate".

I keep hearing "Dazai knows Chuuya" in response to Fyodor calling their bond shallow, and that is absolutely true! But Chuuya also knows Dazai. Incredibly well. Odasaku knew Dazai's soul, but Chuuya knows Dazai's mind, knows his strategies and ways of thinking without even needing words. What's more, Chuuya has thrown off Dazai before and done what he didn't expect him to.

Which is nifty, because Dazai and Fyodor think a lot alike. Chuuya is in a unique position to thwart Dostoevsky because he may actually be able to predict him to a degree. Chuuya can absolutely land a victory against him, and it's excellent because it would be completely unexpected to Fyodor, who apparently thinks Chuuya's strength lies only in what his ability has to offer and not much else.

But listen. This also can't be skk's plan. I need Chuuya to sideline both of them. Both for the sweet, sweet catharsis of putting those two idiot geniuses in their places and also because I need Dazai to have screwed up. He wasn't wrong about people making their own choices in uncertainty. People need to assert their autonomy to create change. Dazai can't be wrong in this regard.

But with going ahead with the trap to drown Fyodor despite also having to drown Chuuya when he promised not to let him get killed... this needs to have been a mistake, otherwise the value of Dazai's emotional speech to him is diminished.

I want Dazai to try to laugh it off. I want him to say he always knew Chuuya would escape and then for Chuuya to deck him because "no, the fuck you didn't".

I really think Dazai hoped Chuuya would make it. Do remember that Chuuya was one of the first reasons young Dazai decided to try giving life a chance. The fact that he flashbacked to all his key memories with Chuuya says a lot. But his survival was no guarantee and it seemed very unlikely.

So, Chuuya is faced with the fact that Dazai nearly sacrificed him to kill Dostoevsky and save his new Agency friends.

And I hope he finally gets mad. I hope he finally expresses hurt on his own behalf for once. I hope they are forced to break their status quo that they have carefully maintained by not talking about anything ever. I hope they are pushed to uncomfortable places and that it is Chuuya who finally spurs this development.

Let Chuuya break the stalemate between Dazai and Dostoevsky. Let him shatter the status quo that him and Dazai have kept going for year after year.

Autonomous action in the face of uncertainty is necessary for change.

[dazaistabletop]

I can't read Japanese but I'm pretty sure that's what he said

[sunsetsushiii]

Distracting myself from the new chapter

[im-still-watching-anime]

😔

[shadowmoonarts]

*Inhale*

HE’S ALIVEEEEEE

(Also rip catgirl, you will be missed 😔)

Fyodor really said “alright now it’s your turn 🥰”

[vypridae]

[the-armed-detective-gaygency]

Incorrect BSD-2 (ch-106 spoilers)

Fyodor: So, in revenge I WILL KILL BY DROWNING Dazai who has been trying to kill himself all this time: YOU WILL?!?

[oddquake]

i’m immensely grateful for chuuya being back and alive in the manga but we’d better get some dead apple-level gay shit soon to make up for however many fuckin years we were deprived or so help me god

[pleasegivejinlingabreak]

Chuuya saying the reason why we dont get to see his face

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

“Dazai’s a better partner for Chuuya” “Fyodor’s a better partner for Chuuya” “He’s working with Dazai!” “He’s working with Fyodor!”

No. Ditch them both, take Sigma, and get the fuck out of there, please Chuuya I believe in you

[applepi00]

Okay okay so y’all.

Chuuya’s alive! Yay! We all knew it was going to be true because seriously? Our boy wasn’t gonna die that easy.

But what the hell is up with the vampirism? Like when he showed up at Mersault he was clearly turned (and it made me very angry but that’s a different diatribe) but then in 103 as the water came up his eyes were normal again? And this chapter we didn’t even get to see his face, not clearly but what’s there to hide if he’s a vampire? And if he isn’t, how exactly did that work is vampirism just… reversible here? It’s not undeath, it’s not permanent? Or is it something specific to Chuuya? Like between Arahabaki and the Super Special Ability-Controlling hat there’s factors at play that may help shake off possession or mind control I think.

But then if vampirism is no longer a factor somehow (and I don’t think our boy is still vampy, because of the above, and would a mindless vampire clutch at his hat?) why is a Chuuya helping Fyodor? There’s a reason, some kind of plan or something because our boy is smart okay, maybe not as smart as all the fucking genius jackasses in the series but he’s smart and he’s loyal and I cannot believe he’s be going along with Fyodor if there wasn’t a plan at play, or some kind of REALLY convincing speeches but I really doubt the latter.

Anyway. Happy BSD day guys, as usual I’m just being insane about Chuuya.

[doves-fandomstuff]

❗️Spoilers for chapter 88 and 105.5

~~~~

translation

In my opinion, it makes sense if things go that way 🤔👀 Or it's just a random vampire? How did he manage to hide him though? Anways my other theory here