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Bsd Nikolai - Blog Posts
✨ My BSD hot takes/unpopular opinions ✨:
1. Identifying BSD characters as Queer, is not problematic. STOP being so Heteronormative. Gay characters are not gonna kill you.
If I see another "BuT tHe ChArAcTeRs nEvEr SaId tHeY aRe GaY" I would bomb you 💣/j
2. Skk/SSKK/Fyolai/other popular ships, exist because people like it. If you don't ship them, don't engage with their content. Not all shippers act crazy and toxic. Stop blaming everything on shippers.
3. Atsushi/Kyouka is problematic, stop justifying it with "only 4 year age gap". Kyouka is a CHILD, ship her with Kenji if you want. Atsushi, like a normal 18 year old would never look at a highschool freshman and date her. Even if they date in the future, he knew her when she was younger and they had a sibling like dynamic. Lucy is a way better love interest to Atsushi (Don't know if this is an unpopular opinion tho, but I saw some people justifying it 😐😐😐)
4. DAZAI IS NOT EVIL. HE IS FAR FROM EVIL. He is, despite being super popular and the face of BSD, the most mischaracterized and villified character. Morally grey characters exist??!!!
5. Mori is a way worse person than Dazai ever was.
6. PM members get a free pass for any heinous crime they commit by being hot or babygirl-ified (still love them tho, we do not often discuss how bad their actions have been, you can like criminals and acknowledge they are criminals in fiction. I would add DoA to this too, but it's worse with the PM)
7. Akutagawa's abuse of Kyouka shouldn't be forgotten just because Dazai abused Akutagawa.
8. Mori emotionally manipulated and abused Dazai when he was a teen. Just because it wasn't physical, doesn't mean it was nothing.
9. Atsushi is NOT a soft boy, he is way bitter, salty and sarcastic than we give him credit
10. Poe is important to Ranpo and their friendship/relationship is wholesome as hell
11. Ranpo and Yosano's friendship is way better than them being in a relationship in the future
12. FukuFuku is better than Fukumori (imo!!!!)
13. Buying real authors work after watching BSD is actually a really good thing, since more Gen z kids (or other people) will read classics
14. There are layers to Atsushi and Akutagawa relationship/rivalry, and they have the MOST important relationship (not meaning romantic, just in general) in the entire canon.
15. Kunikida and Yosano could be a power couple
16. Fyodor is not a great villain (yet)
17. Nikolai CARRIES the DoA
18. Sigma shouldn't be in the ADA, he needs a happy home, family and some time to adjust to normal life
19. Q and Elise are both underused characters and could become a great dynamic
20. Ango deserves more love, the amount of pressure and stress he deals with is INSANE
21. It's OKAY if everyone joins the fandom for Dazai or skk (I did at first too!!)
22. Higuchi is annoying as hell. I do not get her hype, I like her but not as much as most people (just personal opinion, do not flame me 😭)
23. Everyone in The Guild is forgettable or boring (except Fitzgerald, Poe and Lucy. I like Louisa, but I forget her all the time)
24. Hetero ships are just not that great/interesting in BSD to me 🤷🏻♀️ (except maybe AtsuLucy or rare pairs) and female characters are not best utilised, I wish they play more major roles (can't wait for Agatha to arrive!!)
25. Some fan theories/arts get the story better than "canon" stuff at times. Fanon is NOT always the worst (sometimes enjoyable when the canon gets too dark or sad)
26. Toxic ships are okay in fiction as long as they are legal. Humans like toxic things, we consume it like junk food 💅🏻
(These are all personal opinions of mine and do not matter. Feel free to disagree. But, do not hate or be toxic!!!! 😇😇😇😇)
(PS: I compiled all these because of posts I have seen in, Reddit, Pinterest, Twitter and sometimes Tiktok. These aren't really abt you Tumblr folks. I meant to post this on reddit but did not have the courage or mental strength lol)
*Dazai losing his mind over Fyodor being alive*
Chuuya: boy you gotta chill, we can catch him again
Dazai: we NEVER caught him in the first place!
Chuuya: Don't worry we will find him and catch him this time. The rest are fighting too they'll be okay.
Dazai: I CAN'T STAY CALM RIGHT NOW CHUUYA
Chuuya: who are you so worried about??
*sometime in the past*
Dazai: why are you always worried about things, it's not good to be this anxious
Atsushi: it took me a long time to find a family, I feel scared of losing them
Dazai, caught off-guard: losing? You will never lose us. We are the sticking kind
Atsushi: what will I do if I am alone ounce again?
Dazai: if it makes you feel better even if everyone else is gone, you will always have me
Atsushi: Dazai-san!!!🥺
*present time*
Dazai: CHUUYA WE NEED TO GO BACK TO JAPAN RIGHT NOW, someone needs me!!!
Chuuya: geez okay, let me hijack a helicopter first
Nikolai: I can take you with my ability
Dazai: what are you doing here right now???
Nikolai: I was taking selfies with Dos-kun's hand *waves the hand*
Chuuya: you're going to Japan too?
Nikolai: I need to meet the love of my life
Chuuya: you mean your enemy?
Nikolai: it's the same thing
Dazai, to himself: don't worry Atsushi-kun I'll come back. Stay strong. Kunikida will be with you until then.
NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS I will always love Skk, you can't make me hate them, never!!!!
I was going to add RanPoe too but I have never really seen people actively hating on that ship. Most people love it or are neutral but I rarely see anyone hating it!
We all have a ship that's so popular that people often call it overrated. What's yours?
(nope I am gonna ignore the new chapter 116, didn't see it, totally)
These are some other ships I found (mostly from shipping fandom)
Special mention to Ranpo x Yosano, I do not ship them and only consider them platonic (Kunisano is better for me!) and Akuhigu which I also don't ship because I seriously don't see it at all, although I still consider it underrated.
I tried to add ships here that I personally consider underrated which means it's a completely subjective opinion/choices!
Any other ships you like, you can comment down!!!
Ps: THANK YOU GUYS FOR MAKING DANPO WIN I LOVE THIS FANDOM
BSD and Shipping
Since Valentine's day was coming I was interested in discussing a huge part of the BSD fandom: Shipping
( ⚠️ RANT INCOMING. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED ABOUT OPINIONS ON SHIPPING. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS IN COMMENTS AND REBLOGS. ⚠️)
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So where to start?
For a long time I have been noticing one specific trend in the BSD subreddit. And that are posts that talk about unpopular opinions/Headcanons/fav or least fav ships etc.
What I find interesting about these posts is that one thing is always in the forefront, and it's the debates about the sexualities of the characters in BSD. While Headcanons can be annoying and some people do push their opinions on others, there is nuance that is lacking in the community when discussing some topics. Finding posts about Mori being a pedo and how Dazai is unlikable or overrated is very easy and the discussions surrounding topics like that are always the same. People would pick sides and end up writing a lot about what their opinion is and while that's valid, it also ends up in fandom wars where it's hard to like or dislike something without your head being in the chopping block.
Now let's go to the original topic: shipping. To examine the environment of shipping culture in BSD fandom we have to start with the headcanons that people have adopted for sexualities of the characters.
1. THE PROBLEM WITH HETRO-NORMATIVITY
Now, the posts about shipping often contain a lot of people writing paragraphs and paragraphs about what ships they like or dislike.
One of the ships that takes the most bullets for its existence and popularity is Soukoku or Shin Soukoku. There are lots of comments about these ships that "remind" us that canonically Dazai, Chuuya, Atsushi and Akutagawa are all straight. They should not be shipped with each other because they are straight.....
Dazai flirts with women and wants to commit a double suicide with a beautiful woman. Atsushi is very clearly set up to end up with Lucy. Akutagawa couldn't care less about romance as we see how dismissive he is with Higuchi. And Chuuya.......wears fashionable outfits and has a slutty waist, but we won't comment on that.
Dazai and Chuuya have a lot of queer subtext that anyone can see. Akutagawa and Atsushi are pointed out to complete each other and complement each other several times. These ships don't exist out of thin air.
Now there is nothing WRONG with anyone having the headcanon of any of these (or any other) characters to be straight, after all we are not given enough information about their sexualities. But by stating "Dazai is straight, he likes women" or "this ship doesn't make sense because they are not gay" not only does it imply that characters can't have other preferences but also that being straight is the default, which it isn't.
This is coming from a straight woman from a very conservative country where we don't have exposure to queer media. It took me a long time to stop being so heteronormative. I think assuming someone is straight until they prove to you or tell you directly is just as bad and as assuming someone is gay. I think we have come far along as a community to understand that it shouldn't be our first instinct to assume everything is heterosexual until we get some sort of proof or stamp of approval from its creator.
Asagiri isn't going to stand up in a stage in front of the world and say "yeah Dazai and Chuuya have gay feelings for eachother" because the manga is from Japan. If there were explicit queer characters then BSD would no longer get the label of being universal because of certain censorship laws. Even if it's getting more acceptable in Japan to show queer characters in manga and anime, BSD isn't a romance or slice of life story. It's a seinen, not a BL/GL. Besides, Asagiri shows little to no interest in romantic relationships in his story.
So by saying "______ character is straight because we don't have any other information proving otherwise " isn't a valid excuse to tell shippers not to ship certain characters, it's making it seem like heterosexuality is the default state of being.
That also doesn't mean you can say "Dazai is gay, don't ship him with women" because that's the same thing. If you think Dazai is gay/bi/pan/etc. then that's your opinion, pushing that on others only worsens the rep of skk shippers especially.
You have the right to like or dislike certain ships or have your own Headcanons. This is why even feminising certain characters also isn't as problematic as people call it. It's just a different take on a character (but that time people were correcting those who called Sigma a "he" instead of "they" was genuinely wrong). Headcanons of some random online stranger doesn't make anything canon. So if you find yourself around annoying people like that, just leave the conversation.
2. WHY SUBTEXT MATTERS
Subtext is really important when discussing media; in case of BSD whether it is the anime, manga, anthologies or LNs. BSD is not new to subtext, even from the start of the story there is a lot of queer subtext that people can figure out easily.
When we are introduced to Dazai and Chuuya's partnership in the first season, it's clear as day to see the dynamic and its underlying tension. We can see how close those two are that their relationship can't be explained just as simple partners turned enemies. Time and time again we get so much queer subtext between Skk's interactions. The entire 15 arc and well as Stormbringer shows us the bond and trust between the two as well as the intense amount of gay scenes. At this point I am sure Hoshikawa is a hardcore skk shipper. All of their official art is also gay (that could be queerbating though). Asagiri must know what the public thinks about Skk and still writes subtext about them. It makes sense why this would be a popular ship; it's not made out of thin air with no context (*ahem* Kousano *ahem*) but has actual roots and the proof to back it up too.
SSKK is a similar story, it's not my favourite but it has been growing on me ever since S5. Similar to skk, we get a lot of subtext and homoerotic moments between Aku and Atsushi. They are yin and yang. They are enemies that sought to kill eachother but still team up to fight together. Atsushi is literally the centre of Akutagawa's life since the beginning. Atsushi and Akutagawa grow together as characters and as different as they appear are similarly looking for one thing: validation and acceptance. Their relationship is so compelling in so many levels that it too makes sense why their ship is as popular as it is (especially regarding recent events in the story)
Ranpoe.....let's be real, those two got married a long time ago. They are the definition of "be gay, solve crimes". They are undeniably a cute ship regardless of whether it's one sided or not. Fyolai as well makes complete sense with the context behind Fyodor and Nikolai's relationship, while I also consider it quite one-sided as it's mostly Nikolai that is fascinated by Fyodor (and wants to kiss kill him) Fukumori isn't my cup of tea but it too has enough subtext to back it up, same with FukuFuku.
While I would love to talk about other ships, I wanted to show the reasoning behind the most popular pairings.
Personally, as a multishipper, it's very fun for me to have so many characters to examine and spend time obsessing over.
Now, there are straight ships that I like too as well as ships I don't ship for myself.
The reason I don't like Yosano and Ranpo together is because I see them in the same position as Kyouka and Atsushi. The scene of Ranpo recruiting Yosano (who worked with Mori) into the ADA parallels Atsushi saving Kyouka (who also worked with Mori). I consider them siblings and like how they are platonic instead of it being the typical "a boy and girl can't be besties". Another ship I love and cherish is AtsuLucy because it's so adorable, Lucy is my fav Guild member and her and Atsushi are "Girlboss and Malewife". I ship Tachihara with Gin, Higuchi and Gin as well as Kunikida with Yosano (surprisingly I don't find the appeal of Kunizai; though I still like that ship from time to time, just don't ship it actively). I prefer not to ship Sigma with anyone (he is still a baby to me)
So it's not that BSD doesn't have straight ships, when you make a majority male cast and have them be rivals or enemies, obviously people will ship m/m more. Especially if there is more subtext and tension behind the male characters and they have little to no interactions with women.
And I might get some heat for saying this:
It is okay for most of the BSD characters to be considered queer because if comp het is so normal in anime/manga then why can't the opposite be the case? We already have enough series with little to no representation, so why can't we have a bunch of queer characters?
3. TOXIC SHIPPERS AND THE FALL OF FANDOM CULTURE
I have been raving for the past two sections and defending the shipping community. But it isn't a conversation with nuance if I don't address the problem of a small group of people that take shipping too seriously. The reason why fandom itself gets a bad rep is because of shipping more often than not. I will admit, it's not all sunshine and rainbows when people argue about their fav ships. And a lot of the aforementioned ships are to a point, toxic. Yes, some shippers are annoying and ruin everyone else's fun. There are ships that don't make sense at all.
But that doesn't mean that a small part of people should represent others who are just having harmless fun and don't even believe their ships to ever become canon. Let's be real it's highly unlikely we will have any couples by the end of the show (the closest could be AtsuLucy). Sometimes people are too intense about ships and that goes for both antis and pros. Both of the extreme are toxic. And instead of shoving down our opinions down other people's throats, we should be celebrating the very story that brought us together in the first place.
Yeah it can be hard for those who don't like shipping at all to enjoy the story and have discussions. But we have to remember the roots of fandom culture start with shipping. It's always been the case and it's always been the most popular way to discuss one's favourite fictional work. From Sherlock to Genshin to boy bands to streamers, everything has been shipped and will always be. There is a reason why AO3 works so well.
4. SO WHAT?
The ships are what brought me to BSD in the first place. I wanted to explore the world of BSD because of its characters and their dynamics. And a lot of other people have gotten into this fandom for the exact same reason. While there are unflattering moments in our fandom, that doesn't mean it's not a place for people to come together and have some fun. Whether you ship or not. Whether you like fanfictions or not. We have to accept that there are a lot of pros to shipping too. It brings our ideas together, makes us feel giddy inside or tears our heart apart, it produces beautiful fanarts and fanfictions, it makes us analyse characters, it makes us look deeper into the story....and it makes us wait for what's next to come.
And I want nothing more than to be able to enjoy shipping without the guilt that comes with it.
Shipping isn't free from its flaws, but it is not defined only by its flaws. It might not be for everyone, but it is someone's everything. So even if you don't like it in particular, let's not spoil other people's fun. One's trash is another's treasure.
~Peace out 🕊️✌️
Did I know Nikolai held Fyodor's ripped off arm to his face? Yes. Did I still cry? YES
WTF ASAGIRI WHO HURT YOU?
Forget Fyodor, I want Asagiri's villain origin story to see what made him write trauma like this
I bet he was giggling and kicking his feet when he decided to do this
He knows where it hurts us and he is not afraid to stab us and twist the knife 🙂🙃
There's no way Rat Man is dead right? He even went out spewing Jesus's line about resurrection.
But I DON'T want Nikolai to be the one who saved Fyodor at the last minute, let it be anyone else (let's say Agatha Christie). Nikolai saving Fyodor will take away all of the emotions of the climax. It was such a sad/heartbreaking moment for Nikolai that Dazai, who always had snide remarks, didn't make a joke about it (probably because he understands Nikolai and would feel the same way if Chuuya died).
If Fyodor survives and is ready for his next villain arc with Agatha, then let him be the one to reveal himself to Nikolai and recruit him....this time not as a pawn but as an ally/friend.
I was always really interested in literature since I was a kid. And one of the first things I tried to read was Crime and Punishment, but I got bored of it and gave it up after thirty pages. I didn't like it at all (same with a lot of books similar to that). I can't explain it but I just don't like a lot of classics, they may be well written but I don't vibe with them you know. I have decided to pick up Dostoevsky again and when my dad asked what to get me for my birthday, I told him to give me a hardcover of Crime and Punishment.
And now he thinks I am starting to like Classics, particularly Dostoevsky and he is really hyped about it.
How do I tell my dad that I am reading Dostoevsky's books to understand the backstory, ability and make predictions about an anemic rat from Bungou stray dogs.
(I am gonna read Crime and Punishment while listening to "Bernadette" by IAMX on the loop. The Fyolai nation weeps)
Some quotes are changed to fit the number of words for the poll!
I don't remember more lines although there's no lack of gay quotes in this show (feel free to share your favourites)
Not Skk and sskk having TWO confession scenes.
Dazai, you make fun of Akutagawa but at least his confessions aren't getting rejected like yours.
"What's the worst can he do?"
"He shoots me"
"that's better than a verbal rejection"
This is gonna be controversial 😅....... anyways~~~
I don't really like to use the word "queer". But for the purposes of the poll that would be used (I am not meaning to be offensive!)
I was really curious as to what people think about this since almost half of the posts I see are about the gay stuff in BSD (most of which are really good posts). The shipping is also mostly leaning towards m/m and w/w (and I am a multi-shippers)
So I wondered what the actual fuck is going on? What do you people think about it? I am not long enough here to form an opinion so I wouldn't state mine.
What is it that makes bsd so.......gay?
(I know about Rimlaine being an actual couple. Nikolai and Ranpo I heard are also gay. I know irl Dazai had a crush on a boy and other BSD authors having questionable sexualities. But this poll is ONLY about BSD anime, manga etc. And not concerning the real life authors)
(Also Q is referred to as they/them and are non-binary with no one knowing their gender. I am pretty sure Higuchi says something about that in Wan)
I came into the BSD fandom this year and.....jeez it was a wild ride. I don't know if I came at the worst of times or the best of times. I used to find it hard to believe that so many ships can exist but now here I am, becoming a multi-shipper (props to Dazai being a man-whore)
I just realised the lack of female characters right now.....anyways (Also where are my Hetero ships? Love Atsushi and Lucy but other than that? Ranpo x Yosano is also cute but it's....not enough)
Ranpoe is not included because they are happy together and married (not tragic).
Kousano is not included because they don't interact much (at all? I don't remember)
Other rare pairs or more normal (?) ships are not included
These are the most popular pairs that I could think of that are also tragic.....all of them are tragic tbh (I included HiguGin cuz I wanted at least one ship that wasn't m/m)
I am a newbie so....I am not looking for any fights 😅, just the opinions on the bsd fandom.
(ps: Had a small mistake. It's Sigzai NOT Siglai, I guess it's autocorrected)
(pss: I forgot Hawmitch, which is the only straight tragic ship I could think of now! Srry!)
(psss: Odazai for me is in the tragic platonic pairs so I didn't add it! Although it's a ship that makes sense, I like it in the platonic way)
CHAT HEAR ME OUT
imagine a fyolai art: fyodor behind nikolai (to make it easier let's imagine kolya sitting and fedya standing behind him). Fyodor is holding Nikolai's eyepatch thing (? I forgot what its called) which is broken in half, while Nikolai holds Fyodor's arms
what tf does this mean, you may ask. well!
(ch 121 spoilers) we saw fyodor tear the page, but there is a popular theory that it wasn't actually the book page, so we can say that the act was a farce. when we see fyodor doing the same here, its showing how nikolai's attempt at freedom (by killing fyodor back in Meursalt) was nothing but a farce (planned out by fyodor).
now, why would Nikolai be holding Fyodor's arms, you may ask. well, I imagine kolya holding them in the way a prisoner holds the bars to their cage. this is pretty self explanatory with reference to the fyolai dynamic
so I imagine fyodor serving face and Nikolai looking... Well. Uneasy. His eyepatch, which he used as an on switch for his fake persona, is broken; so showing himself in his entirety would be odd to him naturally.
someone draw this I'm actually going crazy rn. I was gonna but I gotta sleep and ain't no way I'll have motivation in the morning (also soz for the irregular punctuation I'm like half asleep i think)
so I just watched Cash is alive's video on Nikolai (they are literally amazing btw, I love their interpretations), and the video finally got me thinking ('cause I'm slow asf like that):
Nikolai knows that Fyodor uses him. Fyodor used Nikolai to leave Meursalt, leaving the latter under the impression that he died. Now, would Nikolai be mad that his emotions were played with? That Fyodor made him believe that Nikolai lost the only person that 'understood' him? I mean, it's not Fyodor wouldn't have known that he'd toy with Nikolai's feelings by pulling the act---like, he's smart asf.
So, rationally he should be mad. But he could also be in awe. Surprised, with the fact that there is a chance he could never truly escape and be free. So, what would that entail for Fyodor?
First of all, Fyodor isn't at any disadvantage in the manga as of yet. We know Akutagawa will eventually pop off (perhaps with Atsushi, now that he really hates Fyodor for taking his friends away), which will probably happen in the February chapter. That could result in Fyodor being in major trouble; he has aminogozen (or whatever his name is) but if that thing's defeated, Fyodor's kinda fucked? Or not, because of his ability but he can be somewhat physically restrained or something (WHERE THE FUCK IS DAZAI).
Here, could Nikolai finally come into play? Using his teleportation thingie (i know it has a cap and it's like. Barely been a few hours since the shit went down or something. Would it be enough for Nikolai to be there?) and then finally we'd see the effect of Fyodor on Nikolai. Would Nikolai be on his side, support him, 'save' him from shin soukoku? Or would he finally break?
Honestly, so interesting to think about. Before Dazai and Chuuya join the battlefield, I'm sure they should have some dialogue with Sigma, where Fyodor's memories are mentioned. Then the brain storming or whatever would begin, and they'd try to get to Yokohama ASAP (because, again, Dazai's ability and that it is only him that Fyodor can't affect.)
But because of this, obviously Dazai and Chuuya won't be joining in. So we naturally have Nikolai, which was the topic of discussion (sorry I'm rambling I'm shit at this analysing thing).
Asagiri could take this two ways. Either make Nikolai even more obsessed with Fyodor because of realising he still cares about Fyodor, or make Nikolai break the chain and turn on him.
Everything I've said is inspired by the video, and I really urge everyone to watch it! All in all, I am so excited for the new manga chapter coming soon.
Here's the link:
pls I wanna write about bsd and doa specifically so bad but idk what to write about I'm lowkey crashing out
I made a lengthy list of Taylor Swift songs that fit characters/relationships from bsd, and I wanted to explain deeper about some of the songs listed there :]
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart for Fyolai really fits to me. It's from Nikolai's pov, and I think it describes his character around Fyodor very well
"'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit
They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it" and I did
Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die
He said he'd love me all his life
But that life was too short
Breaking down, I hit the floor
All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting "More"
I was grinning like I'm winning, I was hitting my marks
'Cause I can do it with a broken heart (one, two, three, four)
I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day
I'm so obsessed with him but he avoids me like the plague
I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art
You know you're good when you can even do it
With a broken heart"
I just can't over how much this fits them. Nikolai hiding everything behind his emotional mask, how one-sided his relationship with Fyodor is, his obsession with Fyodor and his persistence
Ever since I first heard this song way back on April 19th 2024 (my life changed that day 😔), I've thought this was just such a Fyolai-esque song :>
Oh yeah definitely, like there's no other explanation Fyodor just wanted some freaks to be in a support group with, You know without specifying that it's a support group so Sigma is over there in the corner, having a panic and anxiety attack rolled into one big attack of the mental health issues, And Nikolai is just causing utter chaos with nothing more than a pencil and one of those half spear things that pop up when you put them on a flat surface, and fyodor is either living for the chaos or like oh I didn't mean for this to happen
i am very compelled by autistic hcs for both Nikolai and sigma. might as well throw Fyodor in there for good measure since he's got something going on for sure. DOA is an autism support group thinly disguised as terrorist organisation
day at the museum
insp. // it’s so fyodor coded i had to draw it
it was funnier in my head
