Fyolai

"Ohhhh my dear friend! I've missed you! My chest wrenched when I knew you're fine!"

- Nikolai, after breaking Fyodor out of his cell and giddily grabbing his hand.

Fyolai is the slash ship between Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoyevsky from the Bungou Stray Dogs fandom.

Canon
Nikolai and Fyodor have a strong friendship and allyship, due to Fyodor trusting Nikolai with his outrageous plan and Nikolai having a philosophical attachment to Fyodor’s life. Nikolai refers to Fyodor with the friendly nicknames "Dos-kun" in the Japanese recording, and “Fedya” in the Russian recording; yet Fyodor doesn't seem to be bothered at all. He also isn't annoyed by Nikolai's loud and cheerful persona, behaving almost like he’s used to it.

Omake chapter (Vol. 14)
We can see them talking to each other directly in the bonus chapter at the end of the 14th volume of the manga. The bonus chapter (consisting of just two pages) is about Nikolai wanting to play a game with Fyodor while he is still learning the Japanese language. Fyodor goes along to Nikolai's desire even though he isn't very interested. He then fools Nikolai with a word catch and Nikolai loses the game. He appears some time later to play another similar game with Fyodor. The latter applauds Nikolai for his success, to which he is charmed and Fyodor “made him blush”.



Chapter 58
In chapter 58 of the manga (14th volume), when Nikolai explains to Atsushi the reasons behind his murderous actions, Atsushi says that he still doesn't understand his motives and his idea of "true freedom" at all. Nikolai answers by saying: "I suppose so. In the end, the only one who understands is Dos-kun".

Chapter 78
In this chapter it is finally revealed that Nikolai is still alive and that he faked his death. According to Sigma's words, Nikolai was indeed supposed to die, without any kind of trickery, however Nikolai was able to save himself with the use of his supernatural ability. When the plan was arranged by Fyodor, Nikolai agreed to die in order to prove his thesis of "true freedom" and "true free will"; but he changed his mind, probably when speaking to Atsushi or to the vice minister of justice, Tonan. It is unknown whether Fyodor predicted that Nikolai would change his mind. When Nikolai talks to Sigma, he says once again that Fyodor was the only person who was able to understand Nikolai's idea of "true freedom". He also says that he was deeply moved by Fyodor's words, and that he was his first and only friend who understood his essence—his "intimate friend". Nikolai then says the reason he changed his mind about him dying according to plan. His concept of being "truly free" means being freed from his own feelings and, since he and Fyodor have a very close relationship, he thinks that by killing that intimate friend he would prove to be truly free from the humanity that weighs his soul down.

Within the flashback that Nikolai shows, Fyodor expresses his praise for Nikolai and repeatedly calls him fantastic. This was changed from calling him splendid in the manga. Either way, confirming that Fyodor holds respect for his mutual friend, respect that is never given to anyone else.

Chapter 95.5
After Fyodor questions Nikolai for breaking both him and Dazai out of their selective cells, Nikolai grabs his hand immediately and proclaims that he misses him, and is also here to kill Fyodor. Fyodor, although startled, seems to see no issue with Nikolai and him holding hands. Nikolai refers to the both of them as “best friends forever.”

In the anime version, Fyodor agrees with Dazai that Nikolai is an awesome friend.

Chapter 97
As Nikolai describes his “Gogol game”, he biasedly allows Fyodor to choose from a table of viable items—before Dazai—first to help him escape the prison, simply because Nikolai stresses yet again that he’s an intimate friend.

Chapter 98
After Sigma and Dazai leave, Fyodor and Nikolai sit alone together for about five minutes before Fyodor gets rescued by Chuuya.

Chapter 111
Nikolai is ecstatic that Fyodor won his game and shows a dramatic display of praise. Though, the latter is peeved with the former’s involvement with attempted murder, and rejects his celebratory advances. Once Nikolai gives him the antidote, Fyodor threatens to kill Nikolai with a softly attitude. In the manga, Nikolai looks solemn and defeated; in the animated adaptation, Nikolai rejoices. He appears concerned when Fyodor is stabbed which isn't an emotion he expresses often.

Season 5 Episode 1a
Once Fyodor dies in the aircraft, Dazai presents Nikolai with Fyodor's arm. He asks him why he looks sad if he had wanted to kill Fyodor all along—Nikolai replies saying he never wanted him dead, saying that Fyodor had changed him even if they had not spoken much. Nikolai holds his arm close and caresses his face with it, presumably regretting this outcome, although unclear. Despite Nikolai exclaiming a multitude of times how he wants Fyodor dead, he appears genuinely upset and nihilistic over the situation. This is represented by the removal of his face mask to help communicate the deeper feelings of turmoil.

Fanon
Fyolai is quite popular among the Bungou Stray Dogs fandom. Most fans of the pairing presume that Nikolai harbors romantic feelings towards Fyodor, and that the reason he wants to kill Fyodor is to break free of his twisted view of romance. Even though Nikolai repeats over and over that he wants Fyodor dead, many of the fandom agrees that Nikolai truly admires Fyodor and their relationship is close. Fyolai’s dynamic is a highly discussed and analyzed topic, especially with official arts to back up symbolism or subtext in canon material. Since Nikolai is the only character so far that Fyodor has praised and positively approached, fans widely speculate that their romance isn’t as one-sided.

Fandom

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Trivia

 * Fyolai is the most popular ship for both Fyodor and Nikolai on AO3, with over 1,800 works currently under the Fyodor Dostoevsky/Nikolai Gogol tags.
 * Nikolai is the only character Fyodor has praised, albeit manipulative.
 * From the Omake and WAN chapters, it’s heavily implied that Fyodor struggles with the Japanese language. In contrast to Nikolai, who seems to be perfectly fluent and fancying word games.
 * Fyodor and Nikolai have eaten and bathed together at least once from the official arts.
 * The song, Bernadette, by IAMX, is strongly associated with Fyolai amongst fans due to a popular animation by Lemorgo, and later animation by Creantzy after the former’s was privated.