YES!! I SAY THIS EVERY DAY

My hopes for next chapter

I am so sorry I haven’t been on this account since July 😭

Anyway I got a job, I work at a library now

it’s lit them

BSD Chapter 113 Historical Analysis

Basically, I can put my History and Religious Studies Degree and put that shit to use and do some good for society

Essentially, I think chapter 113 left us clues for hinting at the bigger themes of Bungo Stray Dogs and possibly some insight into Fyodor's motivation for being caught by Bram. This might get long so buckle up bitch.

OH AND I THINK I FIGURED OUT THE EXACT YEAR THE DUNGEON MEMORY TAKES PLACE

Okay, so the first thing to understand is the contemporary events mentioned in Chapter 113. The guards and Bram mention King Matthias, the Sultan, and the Holy Crusaders.

The Crusades, for those of you who don't know, are a series of so-called Holy Wars whose main objective was the "reclamation" of the Holy Land. However, not all crusades had this objective. There were several crusades within Europe itself. These wars, like the Cathar Crusade, were aimed at driving out paganism or "heretical” sects of Christianity. While the main Crusades happened centuries before the Dungeon scene took place (the first official Crusade happening in 1095) there existed later Crusades that often sought to limit the authority and scope of the Ottoman Empire. Which is also mentioned in the chapter with "Sultan"

Now the Sultan mentioned is Mehemed II, often referred to as the Father of Conquest. He was in power when King Matthias (Matthias was the King of Hungary and Croatia) ruled and often fought to expand Ottoman territory into the lands Matthias ruled.

Now, you know who else was a contemporary ruler? Our boy Vlad Dracul, the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Now, Vlad Dracul was the ruler of Wallachia, which is basically Romania today. Now it is my belief that Bram Stoker. like a lot of characters in BSD, is inspired by the tale of Dracula and not the actual Bram Stoker. But, I think instead of using the character of Dracula, Asagiri is using Vlad Dracul (also known as Vlad Tepes) as Bram's inspiration. This is for two reasons. 1. The castle depicted in the manga is the same castle Vlad ruled from 2. Bram states that he wants Fyodor skewed like a little shrimpy on the grill. Vlad Dracul got his bloodthirsty reputation by impaling his enemies and leaving their heads on pikes outside his castle for several months at a time. In fact, I forget the exact quote, but a visitor of the castle during Vlad's reign said you could smell the decaying rotten flesh for miles before arriving at the castle. This is why Bram Stoker wrote Dracula based on Vlad Dracul.

Now as for the specific year the memory takes place, I personally believe it takes place in the year 1462, either summer or early fall. Once again this is based on the textual evidence given in the manga... The guards are clearly nervous about the sultan, who we have established is Mehemed II. This guy is responsible for the downfall of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) and founded the Ottoman Empire. He also has beef with Vlad since Vlad brutally killed Ottoman envoys sent to Wallachia in an attempt to make Wallachia a vassal state for the Ottomans. Moreover, 1462 was the year that Vlad was imprisoned by King Matthias till his release in 1475. During this time Wallachia was essentially conquered. Vlad died between 1476 and 1477 (the sources don't have a specific date).

Now historically speaking there is reason as to why King Matthias imprisoned Vlad. A letter, which a lot of scholars think was made up, allegedly claimed Vlad pledged his allegiance to the Ottomans to help them conquer Hungary and Croatia. Now, strictly speaking for the events of the manga, having Bram imprisoned and/or taken out of power sounds like something Fyodor would do. So it makes sense that in the manga he would have something to do with Bram being imprisoned. If Bram is imprisoned that is to say since we still don't have clear motives for that.

It should also be noted that Fyodor warns Bram that the "Gods of Warfare come from the West”. historically speaking it was the Ottoman Empire that caused Wallachia problems and not the Holy Roman Empire aka the Romans mentioned in the chapter. The only reason I can think of the guards and Bram suspecting "holy crusaders" and "Romans" is because of their differing religious beliefs. Now Wallachia followed Orthodox Christianity while Romans obviously followed Roman Catholic traditions. Protestantism wasn't a thing yet, but these two groups were already tense and there have been several major conflicts (like the Crusades I mentioned earlier) and schisms within the church.

So, this is the only thing I could think of, but I'm not sure of what Fyodor's play is at here. Maybe he's an immortal being wanting to rid the world of abilities and having Bram Stoker in chaos would help in advance that goal. Maybe he can take people's life forces away like I've seen a lot of people suggest. I don't know. And the whole "come from the West" quote is the one thing throwing me off. Overall, I would love to know if Asagiri used any sources from the period to influence this memory scene, and if so...I wanna know which one's bestie!!

Please let me know what you think! If I just rambled or if my sleep-deprived thoughts and research make any semblance of sense. I would also love to know any fun theories and/or facts you have about this chapter or BSD in general. Also, would pictures be helpful?

Souheki having entire convos in their minds

Please someone draw this, better if it has one of those songs when you open it

bsd au where everything is the same except instead of his ideals notebook kunikida uses one of these bad boys:

(this post was inspired by this lovely post by @mirror-blue-shite)

How do some people think atsushi is just some uwu innocent soft boy when he's literally so salty

Do they not see this

Profile Pic Credits and I need to see these used more.

When your whole crew doesn't know a damn thing

Fyodor's Last Words in Bungou Stray Dogs

Hello! I know I've been saying I was gonna do this for a long time, and I really did try to find my notes quickly, but I'm here now. This post is meant as a Religious Studies Analysis. As such I would like to state that I was a dual major in Religious Studies and History to qualify myself for this discussion.

I am also going to be writing this post for accessibility, that is to say I am going to assume the reader has little to no knowledge about the New Testament so I will be explaining or giving context to a lot of things, even things that may seem obvious.

What Were Fyodor's Words?

Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani which as I'm sure you know is the Arameic version of Christ's cry to God as he was on the Cross in the Book of Matthew. The Book of Matthew is one of the four gospels in the New Testament. The Gospels (which translates to Good News) tell the life story of Jesus.

In the King James Version of the Bible these words are said, "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

A disclaimer, I am using the King James Version of the Bible for its importance to the English Language. If you want to see Matthew 27:46 translated differently please check Bible Gateway.

The Significance of Matthew 27:46

Let's talk about the context of Matthew 27:46. Now, this line comes during the Crucifixion of Jesus. This was the ninth hour of Jesus being on the cross, or around 3 in the afternoon, and is said following a period of darkness from noon to three.

Now many scholars and theologians have tried to understand why Jesus would have said God had forsaken him, and this is the same for Fyodor too.

However, I would like to talk about Matthew 27:46 in the context of prophecy. Now, for many Christian scholars the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) contain several prophecies which Jesus later fulfills. In Psalms 22:1 "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" is said once again. Therefore, a popular interpretation of Matthew 27:46 is that Jesus is emphasizing how his death and eventual resurrection were all proclaimed long ago and fated to happen.

In short: the quote illustrates the prophetic nature of Jesus and how he is the Messiah.

And How Does Fyodor Connect?

Well, I believe that Fyodor's last words were a warning. A warning to Dazai that Fyodor knew he would "die" and come back, just as Jesus did when he said it on the cross. Maybe he planned this all out or views his life as some sort of prophecy to eliminate all ability users.

If we take the quote and apply the Psalms connection to it, it becomes evident that the "sacrifice" Fyodor took was fated to happen and he knew it. He knew he was going to come back, he possibly knew this was going to happen.

Moreover, this quote may also have something to do with his resurrection. Later in Matthew (Matthew 27:50-53), Jesus calls out and an earthquake happens, "and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose." (Matthew 27:52). Right after Jesus calls out to God, the saints rise from the dead and go to heaven. The quote is intimately tied with resurrection, and I don't think that's a coincidence that Fyodor said it and then comes back. I think Asagiri took this into consideration too.

Most people would think that "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" would be a plea of a man caught in a trap with no way out. But, this interpretation does not make sense with Fyodor or his "death". Therefore, understanding Matthew 27:46 has both a line connected with the resurrection of saints and prophecy is crucial to understanding why Fyodor said it during the helicopter crash. He knew he was coming back. I think it was a warning and to illustrate how "ordained by God" his mission is. There's probably more context to add, but it's late and I am sleepy now.

I know this all kinda confirms what we already know, but I think it really illustrates the depth of Fyodor's planning and that he might have known how Mersault was going to go the whole time. Which is terrifying if you think about it.

As always feel free to add things, ask questions, etc. If you disagree just keep it civil. There's probably some things manga wise I didn't add so if you have things to add please do.

OKAY OKAY ILL GET TO THIS CAUSE NOW I GOTTA SEE WHY HE SAID THIS WHEN BITCH KNEW HE WAS GONNA LIVE

It’s gonna be a couple days cause I got to find my New Testament notes now about this quote and all its possible meanings in the Bible

Would anyone like an analysis post over Fyodor’s “last words”??

The words are spoken in Aramaic and from a Religious Studies prospective that’s super interesting and possibly symbolic and important to the theme.

Bro so old he speaks the language of Jesus lol.