Fyolai

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Fyolai
GENERAL
Bungou Stray Dogs
Character	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Character	Nikolai Gogol
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Complicated Close Friends/Co-Members/Co-Workers; Fyodor’s status is unknown
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash
Also Known As	Dostogol, Fyogol, Godost, 🕊️🐀, Достогоголи, ゴードス
Tropes	• Hair Contrast Duo • The Mourning After • Odd Friendship • Opposites Attract • Unholy Matrimony • Unresolved Sexual Tension

5

“Dos-kun and I exchanged a few words…and yet…the moment I met him…I knew that my life had become something entirely different. It’s just as he said…I had begun fighting in order to lose myself. And now…Look what’s happened. (Nikolai clutches Fyodor’s severed arm) Now all I want…is just…”

— Nikolai after Fyodor’s death, holding his arm

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

Canon

Nikolai and Fyodor are co-members of the Decay of Angels, working together on numerous occasions. They 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, “Fedya” in the Russian recording, and “Dostoy” in official translations; 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

“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

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, happily announcing how he’s glad to see him again. Fyodor is startled for a short moment, though seems to have no issue with holding hands, before deadpanning comedically, leading to Nikolai menacingly adding he’s also here to kill Fyodor. Nikolai refers to the both of them as “best friends forever.”

Dazai laughs amusedly and tells Fyodor he has awesome friends, eliciting Fyodor’s smug agreement.

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 stern yet amused attitude. In the manga, Nikolai looks solemn and defeated; in the animated adaptation, Nikolai rejoices. However, Nikolai gapes and stares in confusion when Fyodor is stabbed in the stomach, asking what’s wrong before the situation spirals out of Fyodor’s favor—in which Chuuya is revealed to have never been a vampire, and Dazai alive. Nikolai watches in an uncharacteristically solemn manner as Fyodor is sent to his doom.

Chapter 112

Nikolai clutches Fyodor’s arm

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 Fyodor’s 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, doubting if he truly wanted Fyodor’s death. This is represented by the removal of his face mask to help communicate the deeper feelings of turmoil. Dazai recognizes the deep feelings of sadness Nikolai was experiencing, choosing to back off and leave him in the moment of agony.

Songs

Bernadette | IAMX

This song is known as Fyolai’s theme song across the fandom, due to the uncanny similarity between Fyodor and Nikolai’s relationship to the lyrics and symbolism.

Fanon

Fyolai is one of the most popular ships in the fandom, a mainstream pairing for both characters. Currently, it has over 2,500 works on AO3. However, it is rivaled by Fyozai and Siglai, as well as smaller ships like Fyosig and Fyoagatha. Fyolai is mainly shipped alongside similar mainstream ships like Soukoku and Ranpoe.

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 the twisted feeling of romance. Bernadette is known as the “national anthem” of the Fyolai fandom, the most well-known lyrics being, “Bernadette, you are my liberty.” The song was strongly associated with Fyolai due to a popular animation by Lemorgo, and a later animation by Creantzy after the former’s was privated.

Fans actively create theories for exactly how Fyodor and Nikolai met, including comics created by the latter Creantzy—who is joked to carry the Fyolai fandom—as many fans hope for a light novel covering Fyolai’s history and the true depth of how Nikolai feels towards Fyodor.

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 one of the few characters who Fyodor has positively approached, fans widely speculate that their romance isn’t as one-sided.

The scene where Nikolai caresses Fyodor’s hand and pulls it close skyrocketed Fyolai’s popularity, and after Fyodor’s supposed death, the phrase “It’s Fyolaiover” or “It’s Bernadeath” was popularized within the fandom. Shippers are well-known for their obsession of Fyolai, an example being fans creating infamous Spotify playlists with hours and hours of only the song Bernadette after Episode 11 aired. Fyolai jokes about arms are immediately recognized to be related to the heartbreaking scene of Nikolai’s crisis. Additionally, after the anthology chapter centered around Sigma and Nikolai going to the amusement park together, fans joke that Nikolai is coping with Fyodor’s death by dating Sigma.

However, even with Fyolai’s popularity, the fandom is split, as there is a lot of hate and people who dislike the pairing. It is mainly criticized for the one-sided aspect of the pairing — of Nikolai aiming to kill Fyodor to break free from his emotions, while Fyodor doesn’t care much about Nikolai. Still, the one-sided aspect is in fact what fans enjoy, due to a possible unrequited love trope and general tragedy of the ship. Though, Fyolai is still labeled as toxic or never to be canon by some.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Nikolai/Fyodor tag on AO3

TUMBLR

Fyolai tag on Tumblr

Fyogol tag on Tumblr

PIXIV

ゴードス tag on Pixiv

Trivia

• Nikolai is one of the few 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.

Gallery

Official Art

Manga

Videos

Bungou Stray Dogs - Fyolai