#- but will such words lead to me deducing who the Cello Anon is? we'll find out in the next episode haha

[kaus-quietis]

Cello Anon! Hello again ahahah~ First of all, I am glad you feel comfortable sharing all kinds of questions about the Conjurer here, I hope my blog is indeed a safe space that invites to character contemplation and embracing the beauty of complicated characters. My blog wasn’t always one dedicated to Fedya, but I guess since January 2022 it officially is... Rachmaninoff started it all, I tell you.

For those interested in the first part of our discussions, the link is here. I will copy the text of the rest of your ask below the cut and add my answers there too. I hope you and fellow BSD fans will enjoy this nice, calm talk, largely about Fedya of course.

Cello Anon: “Also, I am not too worried about Fedya dying in the June chapter (that is.. if we have a prison gang chapter,, maybe Asagiri-sensei would change pov again =_=) bc he says so confidently that Dazai can't kill him,,, so it'd be just cheap writing to kill him off the very next chapter lol…. What I am more worried is Dazai might try to force and glean information out of Fedya being pushed into a tight spot now,,, but I have full faith in him, he will wriggle out of the situation and again the Dazai vs Fedya will become a stalemate as always.”

Ngl I have the slight intuition that ch102 will be a flashback chapter or, like you suggest, one that switches the point-of-view. But intuition does not help us much in this talk, because literally anything could happen. Still, writing-wise, I don’t think Asagiri would fall into the trope of killing characters off for shock. This never happened so far (Akutagawa and the entirety of the Port Mafia don’t count, they’re still there, they exist, unlike Odasaku...). And also ngl when I’ve read Fedya saying “You can’t kill me”, my Devil May Cry 5 love triggered and I couldn’t unhear Dante’s crazy battle theme there lol

* I will never get over how cool it sounds especially when sloooowly approaching enemies and letting the build-up grow and grow like in the video until minute 1:00, because in the game, the better you play, the hotter the music gets mmmm. Honestly I am infatuated with the moments from minute 4:00 onwards. To understand what I mean by “You cannot kill me”, just listen till you reach rank S and beyond, the lyrics repeat partially at SSS. Even if other battle themes are cooler imo, like... I’m sorry but Vergil’s theme 💦💦💦 I still love fighting as Dante the most).

Now, Dazai forcing information out of Fedya is indeed a plausible (and in my opinion very likely to be true) explanation as to why press him to the point of killing him. But I suspect Fedya is an “all or nothing” type of person, like me, so things cannot take that turn, or if they will, he will bring hell itself with him.

Cello Anon: “Moreover, we still need to know what his ability is,,, I have read many theories about his ability but none of them scratch that particular itch for me lol. Oh and also, I saw you mention somewhere (I can't remember where) that he might have a long-ranged ability after all,,, seeing the bloody chaos he pulled in Ace's ship, I agree. Let me raise you one more-- this man SINGLEHANDEDLY killed all the guards in the 7th Agency prison as well! Even if, say, Ace's guards were caught offguard, there is no way the 7th Agency guards won't put up a fight and not try to protect their very valuable prisoner?? Maybe, I am overlooking something but I am leaning towards his ability having an additional long range feature….. Not like he needs his ability for his plans anyway. All he needs is a knife (I sometimes wonder if the fandom collectively forgets that Dead Apple exists bc wherever I turn, esp after the prison games started, all I can see is "Dazai at least spent some time in the PM while Fyodor is too weak and has no training at all!" The moves on this man doesn't seem like one without training???) and a gun and he is all set lol. I am amazed at how little he uses his ability and yet manages to be feared as the most dangerous man in BSD currently so much that Dazai wants to kill him off,, not even capture, straight up /kill/ hahaha”

Dear Cello Anon, did you notice how on my blog I never speculate on what Fedya’s ability, Crime and Punishment, actually is? Or how it works? My essay too, it is about Fedya’s personality, and thus it will not touch upon that kind of speculation. Do you know why that is so? It’s because I personally find it meaningless to speculate on his ability on my blog, precisely because it can be anything. I love reading posts who collect information, interpret it and deduce anything they can, and yet I myself refrain from doing so, and just await its reveal by Asagiri and Harukawa themselves. There are plenty of loose threads, one scarier than the other (like you pointed out, he killed the entirety of the Seventh Agency security guards in ch55 by himself, without a scratch, and that, together with “cleaning” the entirety of Ace’s ship in ch42, is not only impressive, but also frankly bonechilling. The post you are referring to is this one, in whose replies dear Alex (the post’s OP) wondered if Fedya has indeed a long-range attack too, as a possibility. While I love the idea, I neither support nor deny it. I simply do not hold any position in the “What is Fedya’s ability?” debate yet. I wait for more information. Lastly, it is indeed fascinating that Fedya used his ability extremely few times so far (or so it seems), and I love him for I admire this character for his strategical use of all resources he has at hand, be it ordinary means (classic stuff like information dealing, spreading false info, hacking, making deals, kidnapping with the purpose of obtaining info etc.), or just a handful of (seemingly disconnected) people. I will also talk extensively about Fedya’s methodology in my essay.

Cello Anon: “And hopefully we get to know his backstory on what actually made him start on this path and more (I bet something something to do with the Great War??) So yeah, he can't die now,,,, and as you say, he is too intelligent to die just like that. He carries a major part of the manga on his back so I won't accept his death without a satisfactory arc if he indeed has to /die/ after all T_T”

I am so excited to know his backstory too! Quite frankly, I will just lose my mind once it is revealed. Now, although Fedya’s age is not yet revealed (if he indeed has an age at all), if he is around Dazai’s or Kolya’s age (anything between 22 and 26, or even till 29 if we count in Shibusawa), then that means he was likely a child or a young teenager during the Great War, which in the BSD timeline took place 15 years ago, if I’m not mistaken. Yosano too (currently 25 like me), after all, was just a child when she took part in it, with Mori exploiting her ability to the point of breaking her spirit apart (ch65). I do talk a bit about the War and Fedya in a section where I speculate about something, but that one still needs to be fleshed out. We’ll see how it will turn out...

Cello Anon: “If this ask spoils a lot of your planned essay, you needn't answer it,,, your views about Fedya and mine seem a lot similar from what I can see :D --Cello Anon (I love this name <3) PS: I am starting to read Pandora Hearts bc of that one scene I saw on your blog and I really like it so far! PPS: I don't know which is the right blog to send you asks sorry! If you plan to answer this, you can answer on either, I will check it out no problem :)”

This was such a lovely interaction! Thank you for the asks, and for your enthusiasm <3 also I am SO happy to hear you started Pandora Hearts, it is indeed such a good, intricate story, with plenty of things to dwell on and all characters are simply superb! I hope you will enjoy the reading experience, as well as following MochiJun as her artstyle evolved and bloomed through the series. (Also yes, for BSD things like these, I much prefer receiving the ask on my main blog here <3) Have a peaceful Sunday~