Something About How Akutugawa Saved Atsushi On The Boat At The Weakest He’s Ever Been. For He Didn’t

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKUTAGAWA

I KNOW HE LOOKS WEIRD IDK WHERE IT WENT WRONG LOL 😭

No idea why I drew BEAST Akutagawa instead of normal Aku but oh well

Happy birthday to my favorite mafioso, gay vampire and wanted criminal<3

i love love love media that loves the world. i want to be reminded that the universe is so incomparably beautiful and complex. i want to be shown that life is messy and broken and it hurts so bad but it’s so so so beautiful and you can’t help loving it anyway. there are people out there, wonderful ones who will stay by your side if you’ll let them. there is the sun and the warmth of it and the light. there is the path between the trees and the sandwich shop down the road and the river in the paddock and is that wonderful and isn’t that worth living for. i love when media tells you it’s okay to be broken and it’s okay to be hurting and it’s okay to live despite it. tell me i am worth saving. tell me to listen to the rain falling on tin rooftops and fall in love with life. tell me that the world loves me too.

Can we talk about how skk and sskk are the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse?

Dazai: Death

Chuuya: War

Atsushi: Famine

Akutagawa: Plague

Bsd cats!! ♡

Look how adorable it is for them!! :>

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 :> 

Hey guys!!! What's....even happening in this story at this point.

I saw in a recent post of yours that you think sskk was supposed to happen or will happen (I don't remember exactly). I was really curious about this, could you elaborate? Seeing sskk happen would be a dream!!!

I don't remember everything fully (as I found this information out like two years ago) but Asagiri once said in an interview with Harukawa (the interview was with fans, I believe?) that in the original drafts of Bsd, and not just "character design" drafts but drafts of the plot and character personalities, Atsushi was supposed to be female

Some people try to debunk this with "but Atsushi's beta design wasn't female" but who said Harukawa had *drawn* female Atsushi in the drafts? Who said Atsushi didn't have multiple beta designs and they released the one closest to the final one? I really think just because we have Atsushi's beta design doesn't mean we've seen every single aspect of Asagiri and Harukawa creating Atsushi. Plus, once again, what if female Atsushi never existed in the drafts long enough to be illustrated? Character designs aren't just "one quick draft, one final character," like look at Spy x Family's manga, in the manga bonuses the author shares his drafts of his characters and I remember for his character Fiona he had like 10+ designs before deciding on her final look

Anyways, back to the subject of sskk, in the interview Asagiri said that Atsushi was supposed to be a female and that Akutagawa was going to fall in love with Atsushi (I'm pretty sure. And even if he didn't say that, if Atsushi and Akutagawa were a girl and a boy *everyone* would be interpreting it as romantic). Atsushi and Akutagawa are supposed to represent the yin and yang, a "perfect balance", so I think if Atsushi was a girl it would be a better balance bc they'd be opposite genders

Akutagawa falling in love with Atsushi, whether male Atsushi or female Atsushi, is and was entirely plausible. Enemies to lovers isn't just a trope in fanfictions, it's in all types of media. I think it was in the original drafts that Akutagawa was supposed to fall in love with Atsushi and that would start conflict within himself (being in love with an Agency member, being in love with his rival, etc) and he'd have character growth surrounding his emotional development. I do believe Asagiri said or at least implied that sskk (with female Atsushi) was going to be canon, and just said that Akutagawa would definitely fall first

Bungou Stray Dogs isn't a romance manga or anime, just check the genres, but there is *some* romance in it (such as Margaret and Nathaniel, Higuchi having a crush on Akutagawa [Akuhigu should burn tbh], and Francis has a wife, Zelda, but irl Fitzgerald's wife was named Zelda so idk if it really counts). Basically, romance isn't the main focus of Bsd, but it can definitely have romance in it, including something involving Atsushi and Akutagawa

Now, if you pretended Bsd was a romance manga, and then looked at sskk, there would definitely be some romantic undertones poking out. Even if it's not "romantic", there are still plenty of romantic manga or other media that use similar tropes to what sskk has done. Take self-sacrifice for example, that's been used a lot to take two character's romantic relationship to a new level (with the utter devotion to one another and all that). Sskk has all the means to become canon, it's just Asagiri who decides if it does or not

I personally really hope sskk ends up canon, it would not only make sense but also be good for Atsushi and Akutagawa because Atsushi (somewhat, bc he's slightly moved on from the orphanage headmaster but not necessarily the orphanage itself) has the mentality "I don't deserve to be loved", and Akutagawa has the mentality "I don't deserve to love". So if they started dating they would just be a very good couple and it would be definitely non-toxic. Name the last time Akutagawa *voluntarily of his own will* hurt Atsushi? They have an insane amount of character development, chalking their relationship up to what they were like when they first met is just kinda ridiculous

So, in regards to your anon ask, Asagiri did say sskk was originally supposed to be canon (and for all we know he still ships it, which I could see), and I genuinely think sskk has the possibility to be canon one day

And talking about the female Atsushi aspect of the original Bsd drafts, it makes sense because look at Atsushi now. He's not necessarily feminine but he acts much more in touch with his emotions and acts a lot less "macho" than many other male main characters. I'm not saying guys can't act like Atsushi, but I'm just saying Atsushi is written very not-stereotypically and if you changed him to female he would act the same. Plus Atsushi's tiger, Byakko, is female, maybe Asagiri never changed Byakko's gender but he changed Atsushi's

Hope this clears things up! (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Taylor accepting the 2025 iHeart Radio Music Award for Tour of the Century

I started a new sketchbook! (〜^ . ^)〜

(has anyone found a cure for bsd yet?)

But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right.