"Ao3 Should Allow Multiple Kudos" "I Want To Be Able To Leave More Than One Kudos"

So um, about that…

A random drawing of Akutagawa inspired by the latest Aku art from chapter 120.5

The scar I drew on his neck is well...from you know what. Also the rose in his bleeding eye socket is a silver rose because silver roses represent protection and he's Atsushi's knight/protecter

i'll live my life by chasing you

my human heart in hand

It really was homoerotic bloodsucking…

remembered this line from Beast and now I have to kill myself

Nakajima Atsushi...and the slow steps it takes to fully believe in yourself. A lot of stories have the main character go through some deep monologue that ends with a boost of bravery and "I still have a long way to go"/"even if I fall I will get up again" message by the end, and that's not a bad thing at all. However, with atsushi it's so important to have a deeply wounded character who selfishly wants to hide and survive slowly take the steps needed to believe in his own heart.

A lot of people criticized atsushi for being too cowardly and whiny to be a protagonist, they remind me of the people in my life who rush me into "getting better", wanting him to develop at a pace faster than he can manage. but to me it's comforting to know that he acts like most of us. We are always afraid and full of doubts in life, sticking to much easier routes and bsd doesn't immediately condemn you for it. It's comforting to know that these slow, staggering steps are both normal and achievable, that you can find confidence at your own pace.

Thank you atsushi for being the main character ever.

swamped with work and only slightly alive, but at least sskk is canon thank you asagiri

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 ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

IT'S 👏👏 BECAUSE 👏👏 HE LOVES 👏👏 YOU!!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

Can anyone be more dense omg I can't with these two

When I look at the number 88, I get war flashbacks. This isn't a joke guys.