#(i'm also just bad at drawing people standing without any specific pose but that's besides the point)

[ashtonisvibing]

worst thing in the world is when you draw something extremely well once and you can't recreate it

[dollie-disaster-darling]

Higuchi + (fem) Aku fanart and thoughts

(I drew Aku as a lady because I'm no good at guys, but I'll mostly be talking about Aku the guy. I'm also bad at drawing and and drawing height differences specifically so beware.)

How did Higuchi become Aku's bodyguard and assistant in the first place? Assistant I get, because Higuchi seems to be really good at getting info and getting things done, but bodyguard? For Akutagawa specifically? Higuchi seems to be especially good with guns so wouldn't it make sense that she'd be given to someone who's ability is non-combative or close-combat? Or would she be overqualified to serve anyone besides him? Or was she assigned to him so that he's not as inclined to resort to complete violence?

The last one to me is the one I think has the most canon proof. Because in the [55 minutes] Light Novel (spoiler alert), Aku's just going ham on these guys and then they end up saying something that makes aku pause but coincidentally gives them more of a chance to survive if Aku wanted more info out of them. Then Aku goes 'what do you think of that, Higuchi?' then Higuchi pops out and goes 'ye, might be'. I think this scene shows that if Higuchi wasn't around, Aku would've just straight up immediately killed them both. I think if this was the case then it'd probably interact with Dazai's narrative that says Aku is like a sword without a scabbard in some way. That Aku does hurt, but he can also listen to reason because he's a human and not a sword what the heck dazai. But I don't really know, I'm not a writer.

I really like the arts Harukawa draws where Higuchi and Akutagawa are together. For how often it is that the first thought people think of when thinking about them is something romantic, the drawings don't really feel that way. To me, they feel calm and steady. I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but there's this sense reliance and trust with how in the first art, Higuchi is bigger and behind Aku. In the second, Aku is in a more closed off pose while Higuchi is standing with a gun in hand. In the third, Aku has his eyes closed while Higuchi's is open. I have nothing for the fourth one. But if you squint really hard, what Higuchi is holding is a thing that can beat up the viewers. Kidding.

I wonder if this is what their dynamic feels like to them sometimes when things aren't so tenuous. Or if this is supposed to be in Higuchi's point of view.

I think Mayoi just puts Aku in all sorts of clothes and colors sometimes. At least with Higuchi, Mayoi is keeping up her wearing of more boxy necklines. So I used her 'looking sharp' fit there. And I searched for art of Aku made by Harukawa that wasn't him in his usual fit. I was hit with a sea of white, grey, and black. A smigeon of red if I'm lucky. He wears striped pants in beast and honestly, he does strike me as a stripes kind of person so I used it here.

I guess my very blasphemous take is that I don't think fem Aku would dress lolita-esque. Maybe she'd incorporate some elements like frills and layering, but I don't think she'd be donning the aesthetic often.

Higuchi's eyes are closed here to sYmBoLIzE that she can only get this scene in her daydreams. I did her pearls so dirty. And her pose. I swear she was supposed to look way more dreamy.

I would love for her dynamic with Aku to shift at least a little. She doesn't even have to be over him or any less fervently devoted! After the mini-arc where Aku goes 'im sorry' and after other plot stuff that has him realising he doesn't have to do things entirely by himself, he'll be less unnecessarily harsh and snappy so that their interactions can go directions other than '*flirt*' 'shut up Higuchi' | '*flirt*' 'no' | '*order*' 'yes, sir' | or him intimidating her.

Her expressive personality and his akutagawa-ness would be great if it was explored from another angle I swear!! I already have ideas I kind of want to turn into comics but one: Aku's hair; two: I don't know how to draw comics; three: an old friend veteran bsd fan told me that their dynamic is really hated in the fandom and if I ever made content of them, I'd get hunted down and thrown tomatoes at until I delete my account.

Anyways! I don't know which hand of Aku's I did worse. The one that is a singular blob or the one that kind of looks like it could be someone's hands from Courage the Cowardly Dog. I did not even try with the shoes. This latest attempt at stripes...wasn't the worst. And I still love Higuchi!!!!!!