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Akutagawa Ryuunosuke - Blog Posts
Bungo Stray Dogs Harukawa Sango Art Collection cover. Releases on March 10th.
for atsushi to comment on akutagawa’s eyes here makes me crazy because of how much it means
in a manga where the artist visually portrays character mood and morality in their eyes, especially during key moments, this means a lot
atsushi recognizes those eyes… he recognizes akutagawa’s true character and his virtue, he’s no longer holding a morality bias over him
he understands him, finally…
akutagawa might not recognize him but atsushi remembers
and he understands now.
Crack concept: Akutugawa hears Dazai’s “my new partner is better” speech and is righteously pissed.
Because Kunikida is a respected enemy and one Akutugawa approves of as Dazai’s partner at the Agency.
And now this random person with no spine has replaced him?!
Inconceivable.
Atsushi’s very confused until he untangles the reason Akutugawa hates his guts and why he wants to see what he’s made off.
He reassures him he’s not going to replace Kunikida.
Akutugawa, begrudgingly accepts this and they both bond over how outrageous Dazai is for trying to replace Kunikida like that.
Kunikida finds out about of all this from an encounter with Chuuya who’s rather sympathetic to his situation.
“He try and blow your car up too?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but I believe I know who you’re talking about.”
They bond over their mutual annoyance and get coffee.
Dazai finds out way too late and quickly tries to reassure him that’s not the case. And that it’s all a huge misunderstanding.
Kunikida brings it up every time Dazai fucks up.
Dazai: Heyyy Kunikida you ready for our case?
Kunikida, passive aggressively typing: That sounds lovely, I’m sure your new partner will be happy to go with you.
Dazai, in despair: I would never take a case without you. Atsushi, back me up here!
Atsushi, side eying him: I dunno you did take me out for that meeting the other day.
Kunikida: I suppose I should just retire now then. I trust you’ll carry my torch, Atsushi.
Dazai: Ahh! No! Okay, okay I’ll do my report first.
Kunikida: Be quick we have a case soon.
I’ve always wondered if Kyouka and Chuuya ever interacted during her PM days bc she’s literally Kouyou and Verlaine’s mentee
Anyway, I would love your thoughts on a family dinner of those four it would be insane
oh, I have lots of thoughts about Verlaine's les enfants
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Saw a diva in this sweater yesterday and had to draw Atsushi in it, then the art escalated from there! Happy Valentines day!!
guys the atsushi hallucination jokes are not even close to funny. when has it ever been funny to make jokes about something like this. not to mention akutagawa has been normal about atsushi's hallucinations before and to make him the representative for making those ableist jokes is ooc and even less funny then they already are.
you all know ppl have hallucinations irl, right? and the exact type of jokes you're making, calling atsushi crazy & acting like it's a funny bit for aku to be baffled at him standing there, is how ableism irl goes?
and even beyond that, this isn't even new for atsushi. from the beginning of the story he's had hallucinations.
we've done better as a fandom. cmon.
Congrats sskk for reaching 10,000 works on ao3!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
This minuscule Wan moment means the world and so much more to me because... There's no Dazai involved. This tiniest scene implies that at least in the Wan universe Akutagawa occasionally just chooses to hang out with Atsushi for no other reason than hanging out with Atsushi, and Atsushi allows it. Wan sskk canonly choose to chill with each other and presumably enjoy each other's company and it warms my heart so much.
kinda thinking about Gin again… Naomi’s a whole lot like Naomi from Naomi, but we dunno much about Gin at all. they even took away her cross in the anime. is she christian at all? why’s she so important when she’s surrounded by others who are genuine authors? i’ve seen people say she’s from o-gin from the eng+jp fandoms alike, and it’s more likely than not that she is, but why? why include her? why not add another author instead? if they just wanted someone meaningful to Akutagawa, Kikuchi Kan woulda worked, right? why Gin?????
The thing about how Atsushi deals with Akutagawa is. Atsushi has always been terrified of retailing against his oppressors: to him, his oppressors were always in positions of power that he found impossible to rebel against. Akutagawa, on the other hand, was the first person Atsushi met who was socially accepted to fight back against. Akutagawa was presented to him as the big bad guy, everyone's evil enemy. Atsushi's got personal beef with him for how he treated Kyouka (which is very important for Atsushi, because if he never had it within him to stand for himself, at least he can stand for others). The person Atsushi looks up to the most repeatedly and unapologetically mistreats Akutagawa. Then mistreating Akutagawa must be allowed, right?
It's truly remarkable how despite the guess one would take judging from their good side / evil side affilations, more often than not it's Atsushi going for Akutagawa's throat than the other way round. Sure, Akutagawa threatens to kill Atsushi all the time– but that's exactly the point‚ he never actually follows through‚ and his real actions actually end up telling us his intentions are quite the opposite (re: “I won't kill you today because you look miserable” *saves Atsushi's life* *saves Atsushi's life* *dies to save Atsushi's life*). On the contrary, Atsushi's ALWAYS trying to attack Akutagawa both verbally and physically. Remember that time in chapter 51 when Dazai was keeping them separate? Back then, Akutagawa very much wasn't the one actively trying to attack the other. Not to mention the “You fight 'cos you want to be feared– that's far more worthless in my book” and of course the “It's no wonder Dazai-san chose to abandon you and disappear”. There's even the “if a fight is what you want, then I'll take you on” like lmao, of course you will. The thing is, Atsushi has always found it socially acceptable to retail against, loathe, fight and hurt Akutagawa no-guilt-attached like he never had the chance to with any other abuser. Please keep in mind how thanks to Dead Apple we know that the only other time Atsushi ever fought back someone who was hurting him, it was a most instinctive and involuntary reaction that ended up with him killing them and which gave him several trauma and unresolved self-hatred and feeling of guilt for life.
But hurting Akutagawa, that's peer approved. And it sounds quite cruel, and Atsushi is a fundamentally selfish character, yet it must have come off as so refreshing and even liberating for him to finally have someone he can openly hate, someone he could drop the facade of the polite, harmless guy in front of. That's why I can actually find it believable that Atsushi would, very subconsciously, look forward to fight against Akutagawa; as a way to let off steam, you know? A chance to finally stop acting and start behaving like his true self, determined, brave, protective, a bit of a prick. Not to mention, fights against Akutagawa seemingly always end up as a self-esteem boosts for Atsushi in a way or the other. That's why I wonder: if Akutagawa is the only person Atsushi can be himself with, if he's the only one he can act natural around without feeling he has to put up a front for; what about when Atsushi will stop hating him? Which doesn't sound that unlikely, I mean, after chapter 88 and everything. I'm not saying he's going to forgive Akutagawa for everything he's ever done but like... The perception Atsushi has of him must have changed to an extent, his judgement shifted at least a tiny bit. Then, Atsushi will be left with only one person he can freely be himself with, and he doesn't even hate him that much anymore. Just thinking about that.
the fact that atsushi saw akutagawa was alive and thought 'i must save him', not out of 'i must save him so we can defeat this villain' but simply out of 'alive. must save'
which is his default thinking at any point but isn't it ✨️refreshing✨️ for akutagawa to be part of this mindset
We really can't have even a single peaceful chapter in this damn manga
I don't think Akutagawa has lost his memories, neither do I think he's faking it, or doing it as a way to get Atsushi to react and get back on his feet.
In chapter 117, when Bram saves Aya from the airport wreckage, he says that he transferred his consciousness into Akutagawa's body when Fyodor's ability took over his own body, and that his ability would also die with him, his consciousness disappearing as a consequence. . The question is: we don't know what happens to a vampire who turns back into a human, nor whether all vampires were transformed back, or just Akutagawa, because Bram took his body. I don't believe that all vampires have become human, as Fyodor mentions that as long as he has Bram's body, the echoes of his ability would still exist, and he can still control everyone who has been turned into a vampire around the world, so it is likely that only Akutagawa was transformed into a human again (vampirism having disappeared along with Bram's consciousness), even if remnants of his transformation are still present in his body, like a vampire's durability. It is these vampiric remnants and characteristics that make me think that Akutagawa's sudden amnesia was caused by traces of Bram's soul/consciousness in his body.
When Bram dies, we see Akutagawa accepting his mission to protect Aya. Everything in the manga suggested that this was Akutagawa's own decision, and to a certain extent, it is, but it is quite likely that Bram's traits and characteristics remained in Akutagawa's body even after his death. This whole role of a "noble knight" was a striking characteristic of Bram, who always saw the current world as if it were still his time, and used terms from that same time to refer to everyone. Part of Bram's consciousness may have remained in Akutagawa's body along with the vampire characteristics, causing his consciousness to mix with Bram's consciousness, or be overwhelmed by it, which perhaps could have been the cause of his lack of consciousness, and memory. Something I found curious is that Akutagawa not only has protecting Aya (or the princess) as his mission, but also the commoners, something that was not included in Bram's order/request.
So where did the part about protecting the commoners come from? Is it something caused by Bram's influence? A part of Akutagawa's new (and probably temporary) knight persona? Or a wish of his own? His own desire to protect people?
Well, I don't know, but if that's the case, I can see a lot of ways this memory loss could really add something to Akutagawa's character arc. We know that he is someone who is truly true to his promises, and when Bram's consciousness and influence begin to dissipate from his mind, he will probably still remind that he promised to protect Aya, and will commit to fulfilling his promise. Being placed in the role of protecting someone, for Akutagawa, would be something really good, it would help him understand that he doesn't need to kill for his life to have meaning, that there is also value in protecting other people, that this is not necessarily linked to a failure (the last time he protected someone, they all got killed), and that there is something good about protecting and helping people. Finding a new reason to live would also help him get rid of the idea that the value of his life is linked to Dazai's approval of him. It's clear how he was using rashomon in a much more effective way in the last chapter compared to his other fights, so much that even Atsushi seems surprised. I believe this comes from the fact that Akutagawa learned (due to his life both on the slums and in the mafia) to use rashomon as a weapon, not as an extension of his own body, as a part of himself, in addition to that he does not need to use rashomon to fortify his body, which allows him to use rashomon more freely.
Other things that I think could have caused Akutagawa's amnesia are his transformation back into a human (dying, being turned into a vampire, and then back into a human again could definitely do some damage to anyone's brain), and Bram's promise to Aya to protect her, as we know that in Bsd promises can be kept even after someone has turned into a vampire (as we see with Akutagawa and his promise not to kill anyone). Bram's promise to Aya surpassed Dostoevsky's ability, causing Fyodor to create a great will to protect Aya, so it is not so impossible that it also surpassed Bram's death.
Yeah we should’ve known something was wrong with Akutagawa after he said “I bare no grudge.”
Single most pettiest man in this entire series if he bares no ill will to the people who fucked with him.
Somethings amiss.
If i had a nickel for every time a Port Mafia assassin was conviced to stop killing by someone who can turn into a cat so they could learn the value of life, died saving someone, and started to protect/take care of a child in the middle of a abilities conflict, i would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
THEY ARE BACK!! I can't believe my two fav characters of my two fav mangas are back on the same month!! And after so much time!
i fully expect Atsushi to permanently lose his leg at some point
oh god isn't it insane to think how lowkey, dazai to akutagawa is like the headmaster to atsushi
like they've endured abuse from them but take their words to heart and use it to have a reason to live; except atsushi doesn't wanna acknowledge that (well, he does now) and akutagawa acknowledges only that and fail to see the bad of it
in conclusion it's just my blabbering and akutagawa and atsushi should just have their reason to live as each other because thats basically what canon implies now LOVE WINS💯💯🔥🗣️
i’m so normal about this…god. atsushi’s dejected expression while seeing the full extent of his rival-turned-partner’s abuse for the first time…atsushi finding out it was dazai who treated him like that, the same dazai he looks up to and admires for bringing him into the ADA. we’re witnessing atsushi make leaps and bounds in his understanding of why akutagawa is the way he is, in real time
Just some sskk angst 😋
I just love contrasting skk/sskk dynamics in fic like, they're so fun to read I need more.
Like gimme Dazai and Chuuya who have spent the last few years spiting eachother for fear of this thing between them that refuses to die no matter how much hurt and resentment they throw at it.
And then one day they realize they're watching Atsushi and Akutagawa slowly work through their issues and grow closer like a pair of magnets eroding away at all obstacles between them.
Sure, they're awkward as hell about it. The landscape of Yokohama suffers their growing pains with them, but everyone can see them gaining terrain until it's commonplace to see one waiting for the other outside their workplace or to spot them sitting together in some random fire escape.
Through it all, skk watch them with this sort of awe-pride-envy that eats them up inside in both a good and bad ways. Chuuya grins a little to himself when Akutagawa makes it a thing to introduce Gin and Atsushi, Dazai indulges Atsushi's planning of a first date that ends up going so very wrong it's funny. Deep, deep down they both wonder what might have happened if they had made the effort.
Now, if it's the other way around it's even more hilarious. Bc you have skk who grew back together like a fungus after Dazai reappeared. They've both matured a lot and lost a lot, so now it's a lot easier to let themselves be and enjoy the time they have, because in Yokohama you never know. Their relationship somehow strongarms the city into peace because now they're partners again and it's a little terrifying.
And in the meanwhile, Atsushi and Akutagawa watch and kind of simmer in all the pent up rage that they have, not even necesarily at skk (although there's the Akutagawa and Dazai situation) but just at the world in general.
It may be a bit more noticeable in Akutagawa, but Atsushi too still has so much rage within himself. Because of the past, and the divine being, and everything. It's the kind of rage that they can't direct at anyone else, —because no one else would understand, because they only want eachother in some twisted way, because they're both livid at themsleves for having feelings for the other— so they give it to eachother and they're damn right insufferable about it.
And somehow the skk situation makes it worse? Like what do you mean Akutagawa drops by Chuuya's office and Dazai is sitting on the desk, boucing a rubber ball off the wall and humming whle Chuuya finishes his work? What do you mean Atsushi comes back from some errand to find Dazai curled up with Chuuya on the ADA couch? Asleep, to boot.
There's a gala and skk dance together like they've been going to ballroom classes the whole time, and Atsushi gets so irritated that he gets drunk and Akutagawa ends up carrying him home gagged with Rashomon.
Idk I think its a fun dynamic. Kind of like the ultimate punishment of having to watch what you can’t have be rubbed in your face.
Ofc in both cases the couple that actually has their shit together ends up nudging along the one that doesn’t.
Long live happy endings but also truckloads of angst.
bsd x mha doodles!!! ^^
Currently just uploading some of my old pieces here, i hope yall dont mind :)
