Oh gosh yes Meursault arc was an absolute mess. His presence there raised the stakes but fail to deliver, thus was very sloppily done. I was always of the opinion that arc was meant to be a bit different but that Asagiri changed things on the last notice because of s5

As for Fyodor being deceived, that was always bs to me, for two reasons:

1) who controls the vampires? Fukuchi. Who sent Fyodor to Meursault because he can't trust him? Also Fukuchi. Why would he send a vampire Chuuya to break Fyodor out then? Okay, protection from Dazai, but vampire guards are enough for that. Therefore Chuuya's mere presence there should've already raised the red flag in Fyodor's head

2) Fyodor sent Chuuya to supposedly shoot Dazai, knowing very well all Dazai needs to do is touch him and nullify Bram's ability. Gamble is too high, if he wanted to kill Dazai he could have shoot him himself. Fyodor didn't start scheming yesterday, this is a man who remembered all scratches on a card deck in 5 minutes. Him taking chances with Dazai's fate is just too far fetched. In the best case scenario he could have just left Dazai like that. But no, he sent Chuuya there - but not to kill Dazai but to get rid of Chuuya in a way that doesn't raise suspicion. Fyodor's plan was to die in a helicopter ride at the hand of a vampire. For that he needed to be alone and Dazai grasping nature of his ability (albeit too late) is the only setback Fyodor received in the entire game. Not to mention that Dazai surving the elevator crash was suspicious af. Fyodor not questioning what audience clearly did meant he had a pretty good clue what's going on

Later on Fyodor acted surprised - and he was genuinely surprised. But not by Dazai being alive and Chuuya not a vampire but because he didn't expect to be impaled and caught in that exact moment. He wanted to leave Meursault and explode somewhere in the air, that's why he was rushing Nikolai so much

Absolutely, and it's always been like that. Since the 2016, when we had only 2 skk scenes, they were the most popular ship by large. I can see why they're shipped, but if you step back and observe through anything but rosy lenses you'd see that popularity is overblown. Marketing is money, I can't blame authors for wanting to profit more, but you gotta wonder how it affects their writing choices.

Honestly I don't have some radical opinions, just that it's crystal clear Asagiri either doesn't know what to do with Chuuya in manga or that he's afraid to utilize him for anything more risky. Look no further than how he was treated in cannibalism arc and how little agency he had in Meursault game. I vividly recall bsd fandom throwing a massive fit and even tearing their mangas when chap101 dropped, even if it was clear as day Chuuya wouldn't drown (I mean you need two braincells to deduce 1) Dazai wouldn't kill him or anyone else from his side 2) Fyodor, the main villain we knew nothing about, dying by drowning would be shitty writing). Chuuya's character mostly ties to Dazai and usage of his ability, Chuuya himself as a sole person is given very if any screentime. Of course, he's a side character, but Asagiri showed us times and times again he can make characters even with minimal screentime. Ik people would scream 'go read the novels' here but just because he's a well rounded complex character in the novels doesn't mean he has to stop being so in the manga

I haven't read the novels so I can't say anything about them, but what little a caught whisper of certainly makes it seem like that. Back in 2018 when I was still an avid skk fan and dead apple movie came out my initial reaction upon seeing that one scene was to groan. "Are you people for real, this looks so cheap. I get it's fan service but can you be at least a little bit subtle about it?" - I trust that sentiment can be spread to light novels then too?

If relying on anything but the fifteen LN I struggle seeing where that 'deep unique bond' stream from. Bc Dazai placing trust and taking a gamble with his partner isn't something that's reserved solely to Chuuya. After week of working with Kunikida he trusted him enough to shoot him in the head. Or Sigma to go after Fyodor after mere 30 mins of knowing e/o. And I'm sure similar parallels can be drawn with other Agency members or even Oda. Generally I have a lot of unpopular opinions about how Chuuya's character is handled in the main story but bc of his fanbase I keep them mostly to myself

Thanks 💕 as far as HCs go I'd like to dream but if we're being realistic I doubt Fyodor can be 'saved' anyhow. I think his aim is accomplishing his goal and dying. I'm 99% sure latter is what awaits him. As for former it'll depend on what Fyodor's /real/ motivation is. He might succeed. He might fail. Here's a thing:

Fyodor insists humanity as a whole is rotten. He views man as inherently selfish foolish being that's bound to cause harm, be it voluntary or not - because it's in his nature. If we roll with that then it's a man himself that's a root of wars and suffering, not abilities as he proclaims. Even if abilities are gone some other trait will divide humanity at some point and cause conflict. Everlasting peace is a pipe dream - and he must know that.

Therefore:

1) Fyodor either has personal emotion driven reasons for wanting abilities gone

2) or he's a massive hypocrite aware of shortcomings of his visions but pursues them anyways

3) or by getting rid of the abilities he'll somehow 'override' human nature (big question mark here). Religous symbolism is all over Fyodor's character. Him taking on all of humanity's sins and dying as some sort of a perversion of martyrdom wouldn't be so far fetched

In case of 2) Dazai might have a chance to reason with Fyodor, but I still doubt it'll deter him from pursuing goals he abid by for centuries. Fyodor might acknowledge he's a hypocrite but push on. He's too deep into it to back off now, best ending is to die knowing he was, at least, understood in his final moments

Hmm my two cents are that it entirely depends how interwoven Dazai's and Fyodor's storylines are from here on. If Fyodor proceeds with his plans and mostly interacts with other characters then Dazai waltzing up to kill him (and himself) would be a little out of left field. In that case maybe it'll be more appropriate Fyodor meets his end in a different manner, in spite of their abilities guaranteeing to create a singularity.

But let's say that's not the case. Let's say Dazai is still involved. In Oda's and Gide's case Gide got Oda to 'see life through his bleak lifeless eyes' - Oda got corrupted. Therefore my guess is if Dazai manages to dispute Fyodor's worldview it'll make sense for them to reach a better ending than a double suicide/sacrifice on Dazai's part. It depends on Fyodor's machiavellian outlook on life and how exactly he was lead to it and goal of eradicating ability users.

Character starting and ending a series with same mindset would be a tad bit boring, especially one of the main characters. It's tempting to say corruption arc would fix things but in Dazai's case that would be running in circles. What's the point of him escaping the mindset mafia installed in him only to fall into something similar again? It'd defeat the purpose.

Instead it'd be interesting if he's pushed into the situation where he has to break the vow he made to Oda in order to actually do good. How so? In order to beat a demon you have to become one yourself - enter Fyodor. Taking into account how Fyodor no longer considers Dazai 'his equal' (or at very least proclaimed to now that he outwitted Dazai) I'd say it's only fair Dazai 'steps up his game'. Meaning starts playing dirty.

Sacrifices need to be made, especially now that he has 'messed up' and ended up empty handed. It's not Dazai's fault that half of ada is dead and Yokohama annihilated, but he might not see it that way. He tasked himself with taking Fyodor down and failed to do that, resulting in all chaos we currently see in manga. Motif of greater good and ends over means is interwoven in the entire manga, so it'll be nice if Dazai is put in that test as well. Let him have some tactile human struggles that mask of 'mysterious and genius' cannot veil. Let him mess up indeed - and let it be ugly.

I think it'll be interesting if Dazai forgoes directly helping people for time being and goes underground in order to catch the rat. I don't mean PM or similar organizations but underground on his own where he might resort to dirty work in order to get things done. Would he like it? Of course not. It'll remind him everything he swore off. But would there be another way? Not really. He'll have to sacrifice the very vow in order to, ironically, uphold it.

When all is said and done, Fyodor brings out the worst in Dazai. I'd love to see some of that 'worst'.

Not really. I usually refrain from labeling fictional character unless it's 'into your face' type of mental health issues (such as Dazai's depression or Atsushi's PTSD). Especially when it comes to side characters without enough screentime for any deduction (please don't take this as me telling people what to HC, this is just me preferring to stick to canon as close as possible). With all that said I honestly don't know if I'd give Fyodor anything, at least that I know of. As for Nikolai his entire character can be an allegory for mental illness (caged mind that envies other for it can never be free) so I'm sure there's at least some mental disorder that would fit him. I've seen people say he has ADHD and/or BPD but again I'm neither a psychiatrist nor know about either well enough to agree or disprove

Ohh I like this scenario a lot bc it can go with lighter and darker undertone.

Lighter would be: Fyodor finds Nikolai intriguing but specifically Nikolai's conflicted feelings for him he's still trying to zero in on (they've just met). So Fyodor tests him by instigating caresses, Nikolai melts and coos under his touch and Fyodor realizes he's head over heels. As well as that maybe he himself isn't so opposed to this. It feels nice. He tries recalling when it was the last time he did something this tender without a hidden agenda. Maybe Nikolai will get him reused to that sentiment.

Darker would be mostly from Nikolai's POV: for, to him, unknown reasons Fyodor instigated physical touch. His soul craves for it so he yielded, in spite of knowing better. Fyodor keeps humming and talking in metaphors while stroking hair until he massages the scalp and murmurs how little it takes for a mind to collapse and liberate itself. In that moment chill passes down Nikolai's spine bc everything smells of brainwashing - especially given Fyodor's fingers on his skull. Caresses and closeness themselves feel good, Nikolai is trying to relax and savor the moment but he's can't help being jittery and on guard. He ends up showing teeth, out of defense.