#I love when people ask me shippy questions

[laikabu]

re: my thoughts on laios’s sexuality (long post ahead lol)

let me start this post with this. first, this contains a lot of references to the new adventurer’s bible world guide book released last february. i can read japanese, but i’m sure they’re translated somewhere. general spoiler warning in case. also… i am ESL, so sorry for any grammar errors

second, if you’re on the team that insists laios doesn’t care about humans enough to form relationships, either read the manga again or at the very least read this thread.

last, please don’t chime in with your acearo headcanons on this post. there’s already a majority of posts here that insist laios is acearo and that anything else is impossible. i don’t like it the same way i don’t like when someone declares they hc marcille as bisexual to a poster who reads her as lesbian. i already have enough people here who declare he’s ace on my own art. at least people on twitter of all places don’t do this sort of thing to me. nothing in this manga is canon, you can headcanon anything i won’t get mad if you hc him as bi or something. just. don’t be weird on my post.

okay. trust me, i love women, and i love the idea of making my favs women lovers but the idea of laios being gay really appeals to me because of his background. this isn’t fueled by yaoi since i don’t even ship the only m/m relationship i bring up here, i just think it adds a nice layer to his disconnect with his own humanity

i do think laios has a very abstract relationship with his sexuality for a multitude of reasons. he grew up in a very conservative backwater village. he has a hard time recognizing his own feelings towards others just as much as vice versa. i don’t really care for the “laios is a monsterfucker” agenda people are pushing but i do think he’d engage in sexual thoughts in his own weird way, i won’t deny his deviantart fetish shit

as an autistic person myself, i relate to how he’d prioritize his special interest over social interactions. after all, he was fixated on monster food so he’s distracted from dark thoughts. he’s not an actual glutton

he’s shy around women, but i don’t think it’s out of attraction. i just think it’s because he’s awkward and doesn’t want to be seen as a threat. there’s a couple of times when, out of armor, he deliberately tries to make himself look smaller and nonthreatening.

he didn’t show any interest towards ashivia (the hubby hunter girl marcille replaced) and just humored her because she wouldn’t leave him alone. his other party members thought he was giving her special treatment so he had to tell her he “doesnt want to give her special treatment anymore”(even though he never did), so she left

ashivia did her best to butter herself up to laios and he didn’t care, but laios thought shuro was his bestest friend in the whole world because he was too much of a pushover to reject him. ironically… what ashivia did to him parallels what he was doing to shuro

also… yeah sorry i keep bringing up that one comic of laios saying if he were falin he’d marry shuro and then begging him to take him back to his country, or that comic of laios wondering why he doesn’t like him(and then the first two questions he asks the magic mirror was what if he or shuro were women). i don’t even ship them! but it’s not a reach to assume that he likes men because of this, even if it’s kinda played like a joke(after all,a lot of people like chilshi even though their ‘shippy’ interaction was played as a joke)

of course, given the setting, i don’t think knows he’s gay, he wouldn’t have the vocabulary to label himself. i do want to dance around with the idea of him forcibly confronting his own sexuality after years of yaad pressuring him to produce heirs lol. laios might not be cishet but he’s a king so he rdgaf about that right now. i’m open to him having female consorts for political reasons, but i don’t think he’s into women, is all.

before anyone brings up his succubus… god forbid an author makes hetbait. a part of the plot twist was that not-marcille wasn’t the only succubus enticing laios, his other party members were copied too. she was the only one who approached him. also… succubi aren’t always inherently romantic. once it realized marcille didn’t work, it switched to appeal to his desire to be a monster.

[beanghostprincess]

What’s so fascinating about shuggy that makes you go this wild? Aren’t shanks completely over this guy? And buggy just bitter? Am I interpreting it wrong?

I'm not gonna ask whether you want the short or the long version, because I'm gonna give you the longest, gayest version no matter what you tell me. So. Yeah. I think I'm kind of crazy about them but in a very normal way (I just lied on the internet). I'm gonna answer your last three questions before actually getting into the subject of why Shuggy makes me go so wild:

(Spoilers: manga ch.1082 and that Wano flashback)

Shanks being "completely over this guy" would be a very simple way to put his feelings for Buggy into words, I think. Although the fandom exaggerates the way he feels for him (turning into obsession and just complete depression) for fun or for angst purposes (I must say I don't really dislike it and I do believe Shanks still holds Buggy close to his heart in this way, and if we talk in a shippy way, he's definitely the clingy one) I think Shanks isn't completely over Buggy. At least not in the cynical way some people say. I think that after parting ways, Shanks accepted Buggy leaving him. I don't think he quite understands his reasons (he never will, tbh) but accepted his decision. I think he tried to choose the more mature way (not that he had other options) and moved on. But moving on doesn't mean forgetting or being completely over someone, because I wholeheartedly think that even if Buggy isn't on his mind 24/7, he's still one of the most important people in Shanks' life and story. Buggy is there in the back of his mind like a catchy song you can't get rid of, you know? It itches sometimes, too, but Shanks can't do anything about it so he just lives with it. To Shanks, he would gladly reconnect with Buggy and go back to the way they were in the blink of an eye, but he knows it can't be. I think Shanks has moved on but the second somebody mentions Buggy he goes into nostalgia mode and thinks about their times together back when they were just kids with endless dreams aboard the Oro Jackson. I think Shanks has more things to worry about than his past to be the way the fandom portrays him, but that doesn't mean he has completely forgotten about it and doesn't want Buggy back. Because he definitely does.

Buggy is- He isn't just bitter. I don't think you can say Buggy is just bitter when Shanks' decision was what determined his whole life. Leaving the thing about the map and the devil fruit aside (which also affects the story but we know his resentment isn't really about that) Buggy has every right to feel the way he does towards Shanks. Perhaps it's just that I find this pathetic clown to be very relatable, but I will always be both a Buggy apologist and defender. I'll probably get into a more detailed version of this later, but Buggy isn't just bitter. Buggy is rightfully frustrated at how his life ended up to be without Shanks. "But he's the one who left Shanks"... Is he, though? He did leave Shanks physically, but Shanks was the first to break the relationship. The thing about Buggy that I absolutely love is how his character portrays envy and jealousy into a... I wouldn't say healthy way, but at least not a damaging way to Shanks. Despite fighting all the time, they obviously loved and cared for each other. Being best friends and the youngest of the crew, always together in both the worst and best of their moments, etc. So Buggy, even though he lived as Shanks' shadow, that isn't why he's resentful towards him. He could be angry about that, right? Just bitter Roger chose him to keep his legacy alive instead of him. But no. Buggy chose to follow Shanks instead because he trusted him. Because he thought "Well, I might not be able to follow my dream, but Shanks will do it for us as our captain's legacy". Which makes sense because they were so damn close. They're always together. Like. Just watch/read the Oden flashback. Their presentation was even together, lmfao. And when they talk about them, they mention them together. The whole thing about Shanks not going to Laugh Tale to take care of Buggy? It's just- It's just so obvious that they were best friends and intended to be together forever. Buggy was willing to follow Shanks until the end of the world until Shanks hesitated when asked about following Roger's steps (Buggy doesn't actually say he'll be in Shanks' crew, but the way he reacts to Shanks' words makes me think he would've accepted to go with him as a co-captain until... Well. Yeah. That happened). And like, I get it. Shanks knew they were too young. Shanks knew they needed to grow up and live more experiences as pirates before going to Laugh Tale and for the One Piece. For Shanks it's just a little pause before they actually fulfill their dreams. But for Buggy? For Buggy, his whole world is crumbling down because the person he trusted the most literally told him he wasn't going to follow their dream. For Buggy, Shanks doesn't take the role of Roger's legacy seriously enough, so it's unfair. It's unfair that he had to leave his dream behind for him. It's unfair that he trusted him. It's unfair that Shanks didn't believe in himself. It's unfair that their captain died. It's unfair that now Buggy has to be completely on his own, with no ability to swim and no map to follow because Shanks also ruined that for him. So, yeah, Buggy is a bit more than just bitter, and rightfully so. It's classic miscommunication because obviously, Shanks wasn't going to give up on going to Laugh Tale, but Buggy takes it that way. And he also sees it as Shanks doubting himself and the dream and it's unfair that the one who got the straw hat is the one to hesitate, and the one who didn't get anything is the one who wants to fight for their dream. Buggy is more than just bitter. I know it's played for laughs, but his grudge towards Shanks is deeper than that.

You are not interpreting it wrong, tbh. I think the fandom just exaggerates their behavior and in canon you pretty much have to analyze the characters to fully understand them. If you're not a fan of these two characters, their whole relationship can feel like "Oh, they were just friends in the same crew" even when it's way deeper than that. Although I think chapter 1082 (my favorite chapter ngl I've read it so many times google instantly shows it to me when I look for the page where I read OP) explains what I just said pretty well from Buggy's POV.

So now onto the real question, what's so fascinating about Shuggy?

I'm gonna be honest with you, before writing this I have to say that I have a tendency to love these types of ships. Soukoku (BSD) and Satosugu (JJK) are no exception and they follow the same "former BFFs/partners who turned into enemies and are very very gay". The reason I like these three ships so much is probably because of personal experiences I'm not gonna talk about, but somebody mentioned something very interesting about lesbians/sapphics relating to these ships because we always have this experience about having a really close girl bff that we have a crush on, but since we don't acknowledge the real feelings, it ends up in a very toxic way that leads only to resentment and nostalgia. And, you know, as a lesbian who has been through that I can confirm wholeheartedly that this is why Shuggy is so important to me (considering Shuggy a ship for the lesbians in my heart </3)

Leaving that aside and the fact that childhood best friends to lovers is like my favorite trope, I just think their characters are so perfectly written. And it's surprising because they barely have scenes talking about each other or being with each other (Marineford is Shuggys' Roman Empire atp, although I will always remember that first flashback in episode 8 in the anime. That changed my life fr). But their story is made with so much care and love for the characters (it's obvious Oda likes Buggy a lot) that you can feel it. At least I do. Because although not having many scenes they've completely taken over my heart and soul.

Shanks is a very complicated character due to lack of information and the fact that we know he hides something deeper, but he is, after all, a symbol of hope and dreams. At least for our main character. Shanks is the main reason why Luffy becomes a pirate and there are so many parallelisms between them that I can't count them. I find it so ironic that the symbol of hope and freedom Luffy follows is actually somebody who crushed somebody's dreams and hopes. Talk about irony, right? And then we have Buggy, who's the complete opposite. With Buggy's first appearance (and honestly all of his scenes until the Wano flashback and chapter 1082) we think he's one of the bad guys. And yeah, all of them are like that because they're pirates and yadda yadda. But I'm talking about "bad guy" as in "bad bad person with no hopes and dreams and that is just interested in being feared and powerful". And he is a failguy. A very funny one, too. But he's so much more. And the fact that this comedic relief character that's always played for laughs when it comes to his own misery turns out to be the one who has the biggest of dreams and the biggest of heartbreaks about it? It just shatters my heart.

Shuggy makes me go wild because of Buggy, mostly, ngl. I wouldn't like Shanks this much if it wasn't for Shuggy, probably (I love him a ton outside of his relationship with Buggy, but you know, it makes things a lot easier). I like Shuggy because the topics the ship touches are very emotional and angsty and they crush me completely. Buggy living in Shanks' shadow? Buggy wanting to follow Roger's steps and following Shanks instead because his self-esteem disappeared the moment his captain's legacy ended up on Shanks instead of him? The trust he had in Shanks? The way Shanks hesitates and the way Buggy refuses to follow somebody like that? Buggy running away on his own because he gave up his dream for somebody who doesn't even treat it the way it deserves? It's just heartbreaking. Especially if you have in mind that they just lost the man that raised them.

Buggy then becomes somebody that people make fun of and ridicule, and they don't even think about the possibility of him being part of the crew of the king of the pirates. And when they find out, they can't believe it. They don't talk about this much, but I think that it must hurt so fucking much to be seen this way. He was just as important as Shanks. Roger loved him too. And to this day, being Shanks' shadow still haunts him. I love the angst Shuggy has. It breaks me and I love it.

Then, (and this is something I adore) with the creation of Cross Guild, Buggy has the chance to get out of Shanks' shadow. He's surrounded by two guys who only think about money and stability and business and... It's boring, isn't it? It's not flashy! And I think he has this realization of "this is my chance to prove I'm worth something. This is my chance to actually go for my dream. Mine" because these two idiots keep talking about boring things instead of following their dreams and aspirations and bigger things! And it just shows how much Buggy truly cared about Laugh Tale and the One Piece and how much he has had to wait for it. And this has nothing to do with Shuggy, I just really love this fucking clown.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I love Shanks making Buggy lose the map and eat the devil fruit. Because, okay, in retrospect it feels very stupid because it was a simple accident. But just hear me out- Even though it was an accident, Buggy lost his ability to swim for powers he didn't want. He lost the ability of independence, because what's a pirate on his own if he can't swim? He lost his individuality that night, and we see him depend on others constantly throughout the show. And Shanks mentioning that Buggy is a great swimmer? Oh, fuck you Oda for making me cry so early in the show. Then, the map. He lost his individuality and then he lost the only thing that led him to a future with treasures and his dreams. Then again, losing his independence because he couldn't just go on his own without a map. Fucking great. The fact that Shanks jumps to rescue him the second Buggy starts to drown haunts me at night, too. They're just so-- Ugh.

But Shuggy is not everything about Buggy's resentment and angst. And it's not about Shanks missing him and wanting his best friend back because he doesn't know what happened for him to run away so easily.

It's also about unconditional love, and I am so passionate about that. Shanks care and love for Buggy is something the fandom exaggerates but... These people are not wrong, tbh. Shanks gave up his dream to go to Laugh Tale (postponed it) to stay with Buggy and take care of him because he was sick. Shanks is a very selfless person all the way, and when it comes to Buggy it seems that he doesn't hesitate to put him first (in serious situations. Their usual arguments don't count. They're just stupid, and love to argue and fight like the divorced couple they are). And besides, this happens right in the same episode after Toki gets sick and Oden wants to take care of her but she forces him to follow his dream and leave her behind. Like- What the actual fuck. Ah, yes, parallel the main couple in the Wano arc. I'm sure that's not romantic at all. The difference is that Shanks stayed. And god, does that hurt. Especially when he says they'll go on their own one day, because it shows he cared about Laugh Tale too (I mean, ofc, but from Buggy's POV it's just different).

To end this I also want to say that, leaving the whole deep analysis behind: Their personalities just match. They're funny to watch. They're cute. They have an angsty story behind them. They won't stop arguing like little kids but they care for each other still. They are chaotic. They're just... Perfect for each other.

Hope you liked my tiny essay about them because I could've kept going on and on and on about it, but some people (like me, sadly) have to wake up early tomorrow to work instead of just posting about gay fictional characters (somebody please pay me to do these things and I'll stay on tumblr 24/7).

[yarrayora]

I actually really love ur interpretation of farcille where falin and marcille have a... Difficult time together. Because it annoys me when people treat their relationship like the most important one and also like they're completely perfect for each other. Because they're not! The bath scene itself is an example of how they're not completely on the same page yet. Marcille treats Falin like a precious toy to look over, even when she's clearly uncomfortable, and when Falin starts asking questions (because she knows something is up), Marcille shuts it down. Marcille doesn't treat Falin as an equal. Also the bits in the daydream hour where it implies Marcille wants Falin to dress a certain way or cut her hair a certain way because it looks good to Marcille.

Not to say that Marcille is evil, or even completely in the wrong. I think Falin has a bit of a bad trait where she doesn't talk about things that upset the ones she loves. There was an extra comic, if I remember correctly, from Falin and Marcille's school days, about Falin bringing food to Marcille's room and Marcille would just be like "??? What???" And eventually Falin just stops going to Marcille's room. But then later Laois explains that Falin was trying to get Marcille to eat with her, but eventually gave up without speaking about it at all. Or how she did drop the topic of her resurrection even though she knew something was wrong and deserved to know what was going on. And while she was under the influence of the dungeons magic, it's pretty in character of her to go hungry and not say anything because someone she loved (Thistle in that moment) wanted her food.

And that's not even getting into how many fans erase how important Laois is to BOTH of them and how much he loves them as well. (Marcille was definitely not his biggest fan in the beginning, but I think you could make the argument that by the end, she cherishes him almost, if not just as, much as she cherishes Falin. Not even in a shippy way)

Anyway. All this to say, I love farcille but they're not a perfect couple right now. I actually really like that ending you imagined a while ago where they never put a label on things and falin dies old and happy but Marcille keeps thinking of "what could have been". I think that's really the only way their relationship can end (unless they COMMUNICATE in the case of Falin and LISTEN in the case of Marcille)

here's the scene you mentioned!

i think theres a scene in a different chapter showing more of this but i cant remember lol so im not sure if falin stopped or not. but considering how falin grew up as a conveniently good kid for her parents i think it's in-character for her to give up in fear of bothering marcille

which is in line with chimera falin's attitude (WHICH IS SO COOL THAT HER CORE AS A PERSON REMAINS UNCHANGED DESPITE THE DUNGEON'S INFLUENCE)

and yes i think a lot about how laios is the reason they even go on the dangerous quest to save falin! he is what convinced marcille and chilchuck it's not too late for her! because they know hes knowledgeable about monsters, so if he thinks they can still save her then it must be possible! on the contrary, as shown by the official roleswap comic where falin and laios swapped places, she couldn't convince the party, not even marcille, to go save laios with her. further showing that laios is the person they trust as their leader

also regarding marcille and laios i think people sometimes forget that despite their difference branch of passions both of them are hungry for knowledge

hell, she might be the only one in the party beside laios who is in it for the sake of knowledge instead of glory and wealth (toshiro is in it to prove himself as a warrior, namari having to make up for her father's misdeed, chilchuck for the betterment of his people, and falin who is still at the stage of following laios and marcille's whims)

honestly i think it's inevitable for The Most Popular Ship to be sandpapered. in the end, shipping is about having fun with barbie dolls that have no agency to protest about how theyre being treated and we the shippers are gods ruling over fanon

but im also. kinda petty about it lol.

[thelreads]

I am back to ramble about Chloe again 🥰 Tumblr eater of messages YOU SHALL NOT DEFEAT ME

Anyway so I was gonna say what really got to me about Yuri and Chloe is that Yuri actually apologised to her. I was stunned. I don’t think he’s ever (sincerely) apologised to anyone but Yor. The fact that he cares enough about her—about her opinion of him— left me absolutely gobsmacked.

Like, them bickering in the car about calling each other by name and who’s the senior? That was adorable. It was super shippy. But it also felt kind of one-sided because you could tell how close Chloe felt to Yuri, but you weren’t sure if that was reciprocated. Though, to be fair, it’s pretty hard get a read on how Yuri feels about other people in general, since he pretends to be apathetic about everyone besides Yor on principle (more on that later).

But when she slapped him and called him out? I was expecting an explosion. I was expecting self-righteousness and stubbornness and screaming. I was NOT expecting to see Yuri Briar, of all people, genuinely apologise while looking like a remorseful puppy. That shook me to my core.

Because the fact that Yuri actually cared enough to apologise shows that he actually likes Chloe. He genuinely cares about her opinion of him. And not only did he apologise with real remorse - he even asked her for advice on what he should do like??? For all his snarking and quibbling, he genuinely respects her. He cares about her opinion. Like. This is Mr Yor-taku over here. This behaviour from him is so genuinely mind blowing.

Because, again, Yuri pretends to be apathetic about everyone besides Yor on principle. That whole ‘I can’t let her see me cavorting with you’ line isnt a sis-con joke. That is genuinely the way Yuri thinks. I think Yuri believes that he owes Yor his life. Life, his entire life. He operates on the belief that giving any of his time/interest/energy to anyone other than Yor would be a betrayal to her and everything she sacrificed for him. In his head, she devoted herself to him when they were kids, so now he has to devote himself to her. It’s as if the only way he can honour her sacrifice is by making one of his own. ‘This is the woman who put aside her own happiness to raise me!’ That’s why, for Yuri, finding his own happiness is completely out of the question.

Of course, it’s a messed up way to think, but it perfectly illustrates Yuri’s character, because, like everyone in SpyxFamily, Yuri is a liar. He can pretend to have Yor-vision all he likes. He can snarl and scowl and deny it all he wants. But the truth is, whether he likes it or not, Yuri does care about people besides Yor.

He looked genuinely worried when he heard Anya got kidnapped, but immediately tried to rationalise it away by saying he’d be happy if she was out of the way. He immediately focused on how Yor would feel if something happened to her, but used that to justify him meddling to keep her safe. And what happened when the adrenaline wore off? Did Yuri croon about how taking a bullet was nothing for his sister’s happiness? Nope. In his pain, he blurted out the truth: I can’t believe I took a bullet for chihuahua girl!

Similarly, for all his hatred of Loid, he should have been driving them to the court house the minute Yor said she had gripes. Instead, he acted like a child taking his mother’s side in her first fight with his stepdad. He actually told Loid to apologise! Even later, when Yor couldn’t say she loved him, that should have been Yuri’s cue to get rid of Loid Forger once and for all. And yet. Even though it’s so easy for the SSS to make up charges and arrest citizens, Yuri has never and will never do so for his brother-in-law, who he supposedly wants gone asap.

(Also ch 89 has a slight mistranslation - the English version makes it out as if Yuri is planning to make up some reason to get Loid arrested. This is not the case. He actually thinks ‘But wait — let’s say he actually was guilty of something and I got him arrested. Wouldn’t that still end up making my sister sad…?!’ That moment of shock on his face was supposed to be a moment of realisation - that he shouldn’t want Loid to be guilty of being twilight or an adulterer or anything else, because Yor cares about him, and him getting arrested would upset her. Of course the next panel he immediately dismisses this and says nah there’s no way my sister would be sad over that. Again, Yuri is lying to himself. And he knows damn well he’s lying to himself, because he still won’t touch Loid with any charges, real or false.)

At the end of the day, for Chloe to even momentarily get past Yuri’s psychological Yor-barrier is HUGE. That he apologise to her is HUGE. That apology wasn’t for Yor’s benefit. It was solely for Chloe. Also, amusingly enough, in that panel when she calls him a self-serving hypocrite and he gasps - the suffix that is used is ガーン which is the suffix equivalent of 😨 and is usually used for Twilight when he’s dismayed because he thinks Yor hates him. Again, it wasn’t Yor calling him a hypocrite there. It was Chloe. And yet, it got to him. Mr Yor-taku. Enough for him to apologise.

All in all, I am expecting great things from Chloe. She is literally Yuri’s only hope for rehabilitation at this point. For all that Yuri pushes everyone away and refuses to ‘officially’ let himself care about them, he has clearly slipped up with her and I cannot wait to see the continuation ☺️

As a final note I will add - I think Chloe’s analysis of self-serving hypocrisy is spot on, and to truly cover all aspects of Yuri being a lying liar, it should be noted that Yuri did not have to dedicate his life to Yor - he chose to. And I think there’s another self-serving aspect to his sacrifice, besides alleviating his guilt - at the end of the day, it is much safer to devote yourself to your one remaining family member, rather than to risk loving and losing anyone else. Yuri may keep everyone at a distance while claiming it’s to honour his sister’s sacrifice, but I think the truth is that he’s just too afraid to open his heart to anyone else.

And so Chloe has both my blessings and ✨highest expectations✨ to get my boy his own life and happiness, even if she has to drag him there kicking and screaming.

oh hell yeah, thank the heavens you managed to get this post through. Tumblr is always a pain in the ass when it comes to long asks, or sending more than one ask in short of span of time.

Functional website.

Anyway, I liked that. Yeah, Chloe is his friend, he trusts and respects her a lot, but he'll never admit to it since he also is a FUCKING TSUNDERE. Seems that every character in the story refuses to be honest about their feelings for others. Twilight can't admit he loves his family, and also can't admit that he sees Franky as his best friend. Franky, likewise, can't admit that Twilight is his best Friend. Yor can't admit that she wants to bang Twilight until she pulverizes all bones on his body. Melinda can't admit her own love and hatred for her kid. Damian can't admit he likes Anya, and Anya refuses to even let the thought she might like Damian cross her mind.

like, jesus christ Endo

And yeah, I also have high hopes for her. Honestly, she feels like the wacky and nonsensical comedic sidekick to Yuri, which himself is already the wacky and nonsensical comedic butt of the the story, but she shows that when push comes to shove she has her head on the right place and she's not afraid to put Yuri's ass back into it's place.

just hope she not revealed to be an agent from Garden put there to keep an eye on him, since the group seems to want to keep Yor right where she is.

[the-black-bulls]

Hi Cyroo! ⭐️

For the salty ask game what about 1, 14 and 27 (I'm curious will you be another person to say Solid 😂).

Salty Ask List

heya there! :DDD

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

this is a tricky question because while I don't fw many ships in the fandom I can see where they're coming from but, Nozel/Vanessa? this ship confuses me and I can't wrap my head around it because neither parties have reasons to be with the other. I'm sure it has its appeal. I just can't fathom it. doesn't help that whenever I cross by this ship a voice inside my head yells "ooc alert, ooc alert, run and don't look back!" (/hj) - clearly not for me 😅

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

I think a good part of the fandom either has a hate bone towards the bulls or are just jealous because the number of people I've seen who blame the squad for the lack of screentime given to their faves while wishing them to stop "seeking yami" or "fighting back" or "hog all the attention this isn't about them" is concerning.

I'm not sure if this counts as an unpopular opinion, but bullshit - the bulls shouldn't be blamed for the series' fast pace when half of them are lacking in screentime, they shouldn't stop doing things when the mangaka put them in situations that require reactions. I get it, plenty of other characters are underdeveloped and done dirty - for example yuno should've much more screentime in spade kingdom and nozel's encounter with megicula as well as the silva plot line left much to be desired, but what about we stop venting off on the story's main cast when they're literally playing the roles they meant to represent?

27. Least shippable character?

naaaw, if you ask me to pick a ship for solid I'd list you three potential crackpairs for him easy peasy 😂

what is not easy is thinking of pairs that include characters my brain only sees as aroace, like Luck. yeah I fw magnaluck occasionally but only from queerplatonic perspective, with specific context, and if I'm in the right mood, but ultimately?? I just don't know how to pair luck with others and keep it shippy, he's so anti-shipping in my head and deserves all the familiar love in the world.

[subdee]

I saw the previous question you were asked about the ending D of hxh. Along those same lines, I wanted to ask you, do you think killugon will continue to be “something” in hxh? By something I mean that I thought that Killugon was something subtextual in hxh but done on purpose, and that the ending was going to be them being "canon" but in a subtextual way like "we will be together forever" or something like that, do you think that killugon will continue to be “something” or Togashi never saw them in that way? thank you for your answer. I really enjoy your hxh takes.

Hi anon, thanks so much for this ask!

I think the Killugon subtext is on purpose, as you said, 1) because Togashi is an intentional writer, and 2) there's just SO much subtext, it would be hard to have written it that way accidentally. There's tons and tons of posts on Tumblr about this, I'll try to find a few when I get home. I know @hunterxhell and @telehxhtrash have written a few posts about it and I have a few at the link:

Whether Togashi will continue to keep them together - even subtextually - I don't know. He does write shippy subtext often, sometimes even becoming quasi-canon like Illumi's murder-engagement to Hisoka. And when they part at the world tree, they say it's "for now" and Alluka says she'll "give Killua back" to Gon after she's monopolized him for a while.

Then again, YYH had the shippy subtext, too, but Yusuke still got married to Keiko in the end...

I don't expect them to **officially** end up together, unless something really changes at Weekly Shounen Jump between now and when HxH ends. There's a reason his pitch for a baseball(?) manga about gay and trans characters was rejected in the 90s.

Personally, I'd want to see "something" in the ending... Or honestly more than something... Like they are "partners" in a business venture but maybe another kind of partner too, you know? Unstated but we'd all know what it means. That kind of thing. As close to officially together as you can get without bringing down the wrath of the editors / close-minded fans. HxH is often ambiguous so something where they're ambiguously together would be right in line with how the manga is. I think it's equally likely they'd end up with other people though - the first love you lost before you realized what it was.

But I'm not a fan of this "Gon is with Noko but he really loves Killua" stuff because like I said in the other ask, it just makes me feel bad for Noko!

So there's your answer, and sorry it took me a few days! Baby life, you know.

[lilblucat]

Quick question!! So with the recent episode of MD out (I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but if you have you could answer this if ya like) are you worried for how the show is gonna handle the love triangle between Uzi, N, and V? Because ship wars are still going on at least over on Twitter and Envy shippers are going crazy and insane, plus it doesn't help that some of them are toxic (not saying that Nuzi shippers aren't toxic too, because they are) but, I'm worried that these shipping wars are gonna get worse and heck, it even concerns me that shipping could end up ruining the show..just look at shows like Miraculous Ladybug + Star Vs, but Star Vs is a huge example because that show was pretty much ruined by shipping and it also ended up making Starco feel rushed at the end..I've seen people point out that the love triangle is common in Liam's work so maybe I'm missing something. But, are you worried for how this love triangle will be handled in the end and do you think it could ruin and mess up the show?? Also, which couple would you say you're rooting for (When it comes to Envy and Nuzi, at least) and who do you think works better as a couple? I don't wanna cause any shipping drama, but I was wanting to ask this question because it's been on my mind, it also gave me some concerns..because don't be wrong, I'm someone who enjoys and adores shipping and has fun with it, but there is something that I never wanna see is to have a ship take over the story entirely, you know what I'm saying?

Anon, this is not a quick question lol.

Idk I don't think the love triangle is gonna be all that important going forward. It felt like there was going to be some love dynamic between Uzi, N, V, and Thad but as of episode 5 I think that's all mostly scrapped now. Thad is completely irrelevant and it seems like episode 5 cleaned up the romantic plot threads between N and V.

Episode 5 is... weird to talk about regarding the romance threads in the series. Like yeah, it does offer some Envy moments, but then once they remember everything they go back to their dynamic up to this point. V immediately wants to hurt Uzi while N is much more excited to see Uzi again than react to V's quick embarrassed blushy moment. The events of this episode and the lack of any shipping merch for N and V kind of seal the deal for me that Envy isn't happening. Episode 3 went all in on the shippy vibes between N and Uzi on the marketing, so episode 5 not getting any for Envy just feels like proof to me, honestly.

However, most of the marketing was about N and Uzi, and while they are the main 2 characters, it feels like this episode was meant more to progress their dynamic along than N and V's. N had been saving Uzi from something every episode up to now, and this was finally Uzi's turn to repay the favor and boy do I have things to talk about regarding that. Uzi having so much ability to really mess with N, but Uzi ultimately not doing any of that because she wants what's best for him. Which, you'll notice is what V also wants, but the difference is Uzi actually communicates with him while V seems stuck on what her own idea of that is. Like, Uzi clearly has a crush on the guy, but even though she's seeing his past with V and how close they were she doesn't take any action to make him stop remembering things. She actually encourages him to uncover as much as he can, which he thanks her for at the end. I don't know how to put it, it's just such a risk she took even though she knew it was the right thing to do and I just really like that aspect of her character this episode.

Anyway, that wall of text is to explain my reasoning behind what I have to say on the state of shipping after this episode. I think the endgame ship is going to be Nuzi because I see no meta reason to ship otherwise. That's literally the only ship with merch behind it and it's the ship Glitch and staff seems to like the most art of. I feel that going forward, the show will end up going that route with these characters and people will either have to accept that or drop the show if shipping is really that important to them. And tbh, Liam's works aren't that focused on shipping anyway. There's probably going to be romance, but it won't be a tumor on the show. I haven't read any of his stuff yet where it felt like the romance threads were hurting the story tbh. That's another point for Nuzi tbh in that pretty much all of his main 2 duos have the most ship tease in his writing. I would not compare his writing to those other shows because Liam's writing is so distinct and has its quirks. Also, Murder Drones is written by a single person compared to these network shows which are written by many people, which is how you get these convoluted romance plots in the first place.

People are gonna be toxic, that's just a given and especially so because the main two ships in this fandom are at odds with each other. Once the show commits to one, I think things will chill down. I will say though, all the stupid discourse I see about Disassembler/Worker ships is pretty bad and misinformation keeps this a hot topic in the fandom. It's not a problem, yet people keep making it one and I cannot understand how this happens lol.

And yeah it's probably obvious but yeah I'm Team Nuzi. I've just always felt like Liam was aiming for it anyway plus I have a feeling that if the genders were swapped, Envy would be no where near as popular as it is. I get the appeal of Worker Envy, but Disassembler Envy is a whole different beast where V's treatment of N is still completely unaddressed. That's not to dis V exactly, but I think people forget that she remembered much more than N prior to episode 5 and cared enough about him to try to keep him safe from the Solver shenanigans. Her methods for doing that, however, definitely need to be addressed at some point. Like again, people forget that she didn't do all that because she didn't remember, she did that because she was traumatized and ended up hurting N because of her actions. Regardless of why she did it, she's still very harsh with him and hasn't made any steps to fix this. Also again, not to dis her as a character, she's obviously made these choices out of trauma and I think that's pretty realistic.

N also has baggage that V's presence gets in the way of, but since he's been with Uzi for a while he's been getting through it. When separated from V, N learns to grow a spine and respect himself. I think V can learn and grow too, but only if she takes a leave from N to get her away from the living reminder of her traumatic past. That's why I'm personally not into Envy in the current time, they cannot reconnect in the same way anymore, they are simply too different from how they were back in the past. Reconnection means a whole new dynamic, and at this point I don't think romance is in the cards for this new dynamic.

[theflowersaremine]

THEFLOWERSAREMINE COMMISSIONS / OPEN

hi! i'm opening up to taking a few commissions this weekend as i'm about to go through a bunch of changes and health things that will knock me off my feet for a while and this would really help me out, so! leap of faith and all of that etcetc

due to some poor experiences previously with work being unpaid for, this time i am asking for a non-refundable deposit when i am ready to start your pieces. this guarantees your spot, and it's a safer option for me, especially for bigger pieces, so please take this into consideration before contacting me! all payments are to be done through paypal.

i'm open to drawing original characters and d&d characters mostly~

please share this post if you can! it would really help me out

HEADSHOTS

- a simple portrait of your character from the top of the head to above the shoulders. aiming to be a simple way of capturing what your character looks like.

5/5 spaces free for commissions!

FULL BUST

- aiming to draw a portrait of your character from the top of their head to the centre of their chest. a chance to add some more details and clothing in comparison to just a headshot.

2/2 spaces free for commissions!

COUPLE BUST

- similar to the full bust, but a chance to add another character for shippy goodness. these are more difficult for me and take a little longer so, please keep that in mind!

1/1 spaces free for commissions!

THE PROCESS:

if you're interested in commissioning a piece, contact me here on tumblr through dms to exchange emails. this way we can contact each other and keep a record of our working together and what to expect. i'll then ask for the details of the piece you'd like and for any references you have. then i'll aim to get your art done within a week to two weeks. please keep in mind that i'm a full time student and also have a job and simply cannot get them out any faster, as much as i'd like to.

then, once the deposit is paid, i'll begin working on your art! once it's finished, i'll email it to you in full size. there won't be any physical copies provided!

DON'TS

- no personal ( real people ) portraits

- there is no wait list

- no nudity or nsfw! sorry, i'm not comfortable with that

- no group portraits

- no multiple commissions per person

hopefully this is fair and understandable! i'm excited to give this another try since i really love doing art like this. i'm sticking to a small amount of commission spaces for now while i figure this out and if there's enough interest, will consider opening up more spaces and regularly.

any issues or questions, please feel free to message me!

thank you 😊

[bcbdrums]

Mad Angry, Mad Crazy

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

LOL @legendary-guest is that you?? You usually ask off anon though, haha.

(Ask is from this lovely list.)

Okay, so... Only one person knows about this I think but there was in fact...a darker version of this fic. (Some spoilers ahead if you've not read that fic yet, so maybe stop here if you don't want any. It's a dark fic, FYI.)

The majority of changes began in the chapter where Drakken finds Shego on the beach. Originally she's much more paranoid, much more frightened, and far weaker, physically. The fainting situation is more dire... And the hospital visit is FAR more dire. Drakken isn't present as much for the exam/questioning, and Shego is far more dissociated from reality... Unable to process and answer some of the questions due to her own paranoid and fearful thoughts demanding her full attention. It was much more strongly implied that the examining doctor suspected Drakken of various abuses against her. Drakken's part in the exam was different as a result, the questions being more blunt and the doctor more angry, when he was later present. It seemed pretty clear by the end of that scene that Shego was mentally unfit to make decisions for herself. That chapter was going to end with her practically being coerced into admitting herself to a psych ward. Which then would have set off another dozen chapters that were only partially planned in my head, but never written. Oh, and the water rescue scene before the time-skip was darker as well, with Drakken being less obviously there to help her and Shego being far more afraid of him/his actions, to the point of almost not accepting rescue; I kept his motivations and his thoughts far more obscure in that scene.

Why did I soften the entire thing and not go the darker route? A friend/beta advised me that it was too dark, and that the entire story felt anti-shippy. And in fact it was this very fic that caused that person to stop reading fics other than their own, except for rare exceptions.

Heh, and the published fic as it is today apparently is still so dark it caused people to form a chat "support group" to deal with how severely the fic impacted them, and nearly every person in that group couldn't even finish reading it, it was that bad. I'm glad the story has a couple of strong fans to reassure me of its worth.

No, the darker version doesn't exist anymore. Rather than save it as a separate file I just deleted and rewrote to severely soften the whole thing from the water rescue onward. And I do mean severely...

I have regrets... I wish I'd saved the darker version. It was the best version of psychosis I've ever written and I wish I had it to study now, for other projects. I don't regret how the story ended; it would have always ended there, even if it had gone through another dozen chapters of anguish on both characters' parts... The journey to get to the end just would have been a lot different and more arduous. And I do regret that this story caused someone to stop reading fanfic.

But I'll never regret what I published. I love writing angst, I love writing suspense. I love writing for that episode because it's what got me thinking about shipping Drakken and Shego in the first place, and I love the finished product.

Thank you truly, anon, for this ask.

[sweetberrylover]

I have a question, why do you almost always tag your art with D'arce and Le'garde as "not ship art"? Is it just a clarification? Is it just so people don't tag it as such? Do you dislike the pairing?

Sorry i am not active in many fandoms (just here to look at art) so im not familiar with why someone would tag is as that, thank you!

Your art is delightful by the way

1 Thank you ! Glad you like my art

2 The reasons why I tag it that way is to both clarify I personally don’t ship it because it’s canonically a pretty abusive pairing and to also in a way to make the intentional thematic contrast in my artwork way more clear.

In the game, Le'garde is extremely manipulative and selfish especially towards D'arce and it’s obvious she’s just a means to his own ends, while D'arce “ love “ for Le’garde is extremely codependent and it looks less like a crush and a more as a religious devotion. I find this type of dynamic and characters interesting but I don’t ship it cause it’s clearly abusive

Now to the contrast thing, as y’all know I love me some cutesy hearty and flowery stuff both because I find it pretty and also it helps with some themes I want to put in my artwork. I don’t just like drawing/reading about sugary romance I’m also really into horror.

You can see when drawing fanart for D'arce and Le'garde, I put lots of flowers, cute bright colors and some jokey jokes there. That’s cause it’s to both point out the abusive nature of their relationship while also in a way “ dressing it up pretty”. D'arce is infact unaware of Le'garde true nature and has a very rose-color glasses view of him and Le'garde has a gigantic messiah complex so that why I always make a biblical reference or make him pose all death and pretty while D'arce cries over him in a “ Jesus and Mary Magdalene” way. I’m pretty aware some of it may come out has shippy so that why the tag is there to clarify my intentions

Unfortunately some people in fandom spaces look at a relationship between two characters that is so clearly intended to be unhealthy and abusive and unironically go “ OMG GOALS 💕💕 “ so I’m also trying to make sure people don’t think Im in that crowd of people.

Hope I was able to clarify your question! If you want to ask me/ want me to clarify something more just ask!

[everyneji]

Do you ship Neji with anyone?

Hehe. I answered this once but I'll definitely talk more on it. I love Shikamaru/Neji, and considering I published fic for them as recently as of 2021 those feelings are still going strong. Generally I prefer my ships to have a little more, er, content, but they captured my imagination so what can I say ...

If my followers will forgive me for getting indulgent for a spell, there's something very charming about how, in the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Neji is keeping up with Shikamaru.

When they're trapped by Jirobo, Neji seems a little surprised by Shikamaru's false surrender, but keeps quiet. Now he's not a loudmouth like Kiba and Naruto, but he's also not shy about speaking his mind. However, between his own observational skills, a likely respect for the command structure, and Choji's words, he doesn't interfere. He's then right in step with Shikamaru and Choji when the plan starts.

Neji then explains that he observed everything Shikamaru did (that the prison recovered from Kiba's attacks at different rates) and why Shikamaru spoke to the enemy and so on. We expect Choji to work well with Shikamaru 'cause they're besties, but Neji was essentially a stranger to them and he's right there with them because he can get why Shikamaru does what Shikamaru does.

When they break free, Neji briefly assumes command to stop Kiba and Naruto from attacking while Shikamaru is busy thinking of another solution. Shikamaru names Neji his second-in-command -- and I know it didn't come up earlier because it wasn't relevant to the story, but in a more Watsonian perspective, it seems like Shikamaru should have done this at mission start. Neji is the shinobi with the most experience there. So did Shikamaru just assume they wouldn't have to split up or he wouldn't die (optimistic) or would he prefer to evaluate someone's leadership potential before trusting the lives of his buddies to them? I'm more inclined to believe the latter.

From all this we gather that they're both intelligent, observant people who quickly gain a mutual respect of each other when asked to work together. I happen to be a big fan of relationships between people who are both strong-willed and opinionated leader types. Yes, they can clash, but so long as they're respectful of each other there's so much potential for an interesting dynamic to explore.

They're also both lowkey people with compatible lowkey hobbies (cloud gazing & bird watching, napping & meditating) who I think could just relax together, though Neji's got a more active personality to keep some of that spark and spice. Neji needs some relaxation in his life ... Shikamaru can be very tender and emotionally intelligent if he feels like it, and Neji could use that too. What does Shikamaru need? Someone who is unafraid to challenge him, haha.

In fact, figuring out what Shikamaru wants (answer: a hardass with a nice smile) is easy because we see it in canon, but what about Neji? That, my friends, is a separate post I will make because I get very sidetracked from just gushing about my little rarepair.

Thank you for the question! ♥ In the end, I stand by my opinion that so long as Neji is getting some love all's fair! I've read or at least seen art of every Neji ship that exists I'm pretty sure … I just want good things for him. ✌️ Also, if you want to talk more specific shippy stuff, feel free to hit me up on my Naruto sideblog @hallwaydodge!

[gingeredmink]

what are your age hcs for tatsuki and soutarou? and misc hcs for urotsuki?

Gonna be blunt, head is a cluttered junkyard and I'm a rambler with zero self control when right conditions are met [you ask about Special Interests]. plus am tired and really out of it from work cause we had inventory and i ordered too many lunchables [oscar mayer can go to hell]. Will do best to make this coherent, or at least intelligible, but apologies if it's a bit of a mess.

Age Headcanons [If we're going for what they are in game]

Short answer: Soutarou is late 20s-early 30s, Tatsuki ranges between 15-18. [tho ofc when I draw shippy stuff it's an AU and they're both early 20s]

Long answer: Actually thought about this on and off a decent bit and could never really get more than a vague, "Somewhere around this area" for them.

Soutarou is somewhere between late 20s and early 30s. He's old enough to have experienced some shit, try to get clean and back on his feet and get some manual labor experience, and have that ripped from him. Plus some time to isolate and have those thoughts wreck havoc on his mental state.

Tatsuki on the other hand is messier and harder to really give an age to. They could be a kid escaping into fairy tales to avoid reality, or a young adult [18-20] that was forced to grow up too fast and is now suffering from dealing with their fractured identity [have thought about Debris endings occurring around Tats 18th birthday, because they have the "You're not a child, so why do you hold onto such stupid childish fantasies?" thoughts to go on top of everything else and it sorta just breaks them.]

Misc Uro Headcanons

Big Deep angsty Uro hc/kinda what shapes her core for me

You might've heard the quote, “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that." by Robin Williams. This more or less summarizes my view of Urotsuki at the core. She may not be weighed down by what other dreamers have gone through, but she knows what it's like to be trapped in darkness and though it may not show, she is doing her best to make others happy because she doesn't want others to go through that. [side note: this is huge part of reason for shipping her with Tatsuki. Feel like they'd be the same, tho Tats is way more introverted. That angsty, "You see through the smiles or notice the little things and softly nudge me to say you understand and are there." sorta thing].

Going off that; for the longest time have hc'd that Uro has struggled with an ED and self image issues in the past and a big part of why she loves food and is okay with being herself, and is so supportive of others doing the same, is because she had to fight to get to where she is and is doing her best to make sure others can simply see the joy in life without experiencing the hell she went through.

More lighthearted/Uro's a goofball hcs

Uro is somewhat lactose intolerant but keeps getting sick because she won't. fucking. stop. eating cheese. Or questionable foods in general. "It smells alright so it's probably fine." [narrator voice: It wasn't fine] sorta things.

Probs mentioned this one before but eh, Uro and Sou are one of few dreamers with a drivers license, and Uro's driving doesn't exactly leave most passengers feeling safe so Sou is constantly stepping in when she offers people a ride. The two bicker at each other like an old couple a surprisingly good bit when eyes aren't on them. This paired with them both being older and able to get drunk makes for quite a scene. [Sabi's laughing, Tats is on the floor trying and failing to hide it.]

She did have a dedicated dream diary at some point, but during a depressive period would start to fill and decorate it with random stuff [silly doodles, poems, stickers , ect], and it's now more like a thought scrapbook or therapeutic outlet for her. Pages that are just her jotting down memories that make her happy have little sticky note bookmarks so she can flip through them when feeling down.

Her head is a mess and all over the place, and her counting sheep is like a ritual she semi-depends on to fall asleep since it gets her to focus on one thing and relax [its a sorta behavioral dependency that if she was somehow barred from doing, she'd probs stress out and not be able to sleep.]

Hope you enjoyed or were at least satisfied with rambling anon ◠⸜⸝◠~

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

Ask game: 1, 3, 6, 8 for RotE🔥🔥🔥

omg you really did choose violence 😭😭😭

#1 A character everyone gets wrong: I'm going to make a bold choice and say Beloved, mainly because I think a lot of the fandom kind of infantilizes him, overlooking how strong, determined, and goal-oriented he is. Don't get me wrong, Beloved has a lot of heart and a lot of love to give, but what makes his character so compelling is that he absolutely wouldn't give up his Path for a life with Fitz. He loves Fitz, and he needs Fitz (literally, as the Catalyst), to bring about change, but he's always been willing to give up everything, even Fitz, if he thinks the Path depends on it. Beloved is someone who has always operated on the assumption that his life was not his own to live, and I think he'd have a hard time existing in domestic bliss with Fitz or anyone else without some higher purpose in life. I also 100% take him at face value when he tells Fitz he's been with other people before.

#3 The worst take I've seen on tumblr: I don't have a screenshot, but Molly hate, hands down. Probably the absolute worst was the take that she's an abusive gold-digger who was only with Fitz for his status. Never have I seen such a blatant misreading of a character.

#6 Which ship fans are the most annoying: This is a trick question because this fandom only has one ship with the numbers to really be annoying, and that's Fitzloved. The main thing that's annoying about Fitzloved shippers (and Fitzloved mutuals, I love you but y'all know this is true!) is just the tendency to steer every conversation towards the ship and overlook other characters or the non-Fitzloved centric-books. I wish we had more fanworks for other ships and gen stuff, but it is what it is, it's a small fandom and Fitzloved is the only semi-canon pairing that hits a lot of those tropey shippy notes.

#8 Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about: That Fool's Assassin sucks. It took me re-reading it to appreciate it, but that book is a gem. It's very slice of life, and not everyone's cup of tea (after all, it's Fitz book mostly without Beloved) but there's a lot going on beneath the surface and it reveals a lot about Fitz's character and choices heading into the final books.

[thetwelfthcrow]

https://www.tumblr.com/maxemilianver/722939967643467776/oh-my-god-why-im-just-seeing-that-max-murdered

Love that max is a menace on sim racing but please why is his profile picture a picture of Lewis winning…. Like what?!? There’s no explanation for it to be Lewis

for real !! this ask swirled around my head all day today like. yes wtf?? i tried to, like, come up with realistic non-shippy ideas. one was, max lost a bet to the redline dudes and changed his icon. but then, why the 2020 turkish gp and the overall cutest photo of lewis ever? max wasn't on that podium. frankly, it was a horrible race for him. he started second, had a shitty start, spun and had to pit, then had to pit for the third time later in the race and finished sixth eventually. and it's even worse when we look at lewis' race: this race made lewis a seven time world champ.

WHY WOULD HE PICK THAT ONE?!

other questions: when did he pick that one, how long has he had this picture, and of course, is lewis aware?

i am absolutely in love with the idea that max has this photo on his desktop.

shippy ideas will go from: max wants lewis' attention and set this ages ago to maybe throw people off (huh, user max verstappen with lewis as icon? can't be him) or because he didn't know the profile photo would come through (like an only-he-can-see-it thing), lewis himself dared him to do it and he went 'bet', lewis changing it for him in an 'haha when u see it' harmless prank idea but it's been months and he hasn't noticed yet.

im just. baffled. in awe. that man has such an open crush on sir lewis hamilton and not one cell in me is able to blame him bc, like. same.

[hugduckhesgay]

About Fluffybird, what do you think about the ship? What is your opinion and analysis about the relationships between the two?

righto heheh let's crack into these chuddy Ds--

tldr; fluffybird is the purest ship and it would be great if it became explicitly canon

first of all, I think the creators shipped fluffybird before they saw all the fanart! Duck and Red Guy's interactions even in the webseries have sweetness, and can be perceived as a suggestion of romance. Though these interactions could be platonic as well, the possibility of romance is there, and that's all any slow-burn romantic storyline starts as. maybe one day i'll list those telling moments, but that's a lot of work. lol. Back to the creator's shipping, idk, that's just speculation, but I think they easily had a fondness for red guy and duck's brand of affection for each other.

There are random moments that are just so shippy. I think these have all been pointed out by other ppl. Duck painting Red Guy as Red Guy stands like that?

c'mon. The fact that they both want to be the dads? why put that idea in our heads? When red guy says his fav color is medium brown and duck's eyes are MEDIUM BROWN? I like to think that everything the creators have chosen to do is intentional and serves some kind of purpose other than comedic value... could be wrong there, but it's what I'd like to think. oftentimes the jokes have meaning behind them after all.

As for their dynamic, it is really interesting and nuanced! I don't rly see any hate between them, tho there ain't nothin wrong with liking the "divorced" dynamic. what I think is that they are made unaware of the feelings they have for each other. The 3 are constantly in a state of disorientation. I've seen people say that the fridge scene is one of the only times they get close to voicing their genuine thoughts and feelings without being controlled in some way, and I agree. however, when it comes down to it, duck displays great attachment to red guy, always looking at him for protection or initiative, wanting to be a family with him, etc. for red guy, well, we all saw what happened when duck died. he lost his damn mind, and he didn't expect to. it's like, as I said, he has feelings for duck that he isn't conscious of.

i have a bad silly theory that duck and red guy were in love and together before they became puppets or something lol. i dunno, it's possible for all we know.

now i want to address the arguments against having red guy and duck having a canon romantic relationship ((and it seems like very few people seem to have arguments! this fandom is fluffybird all over<3). it sucks, but i feel like most of these arguments are charged with homophobia or just romance shaming. romance is already present in the show, and it's all been cishet (superficially. B nice if chars came out as trans canonically? Lol). Yellow and Speshul One, Yellow and Clair. Regardless of context, romance is already present, and why does no one get upset about it? Because it's cishet, i'd argue. no one even notices it. now these are obviously satirical presentations which i thank god for, but it's still there.

we also already have tender moments between the three main guys. people might argue that 'why can't two guys just be friends?!?!' yeah, they can, and they are across 99% of media. is 99% of portrayals not enough? there is so little lgbtqia+ content that this argument is just ridiculous.

there's the argument that romance would 'ruin' the show somehow. sounds like an internalized problem to me tbh. adding romance wouldn't detract from the existing elements of friendship; it would embellish that, presenting a unique relationship that does not conform to the restrictive standards of society. (this would not be the case for a cishet romance, though I won't go into that.)

if people have a problem with fluffybird, I think they really gotta ask themselves why, really question where those feelings of discomfort are coming from. it's not like i'm asking for a nsfw scene. i think red guy and duck would have a romantic love language that is completely unique, like their confession to each other in the fridge scene. The way this show subverts tropes and makes things so weird, it would be so cool to see how it handles a genuine romance. I imagine it would be cuddly and lots of sweet words to each other, like what they do now but more explicit in that it is romantic love.

Anyway fluffybird is the purest ship I ever

[whathorselegs]

Hi.... If you don't mind, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Bungou Stray Dogs? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this before.....

No need to apologise, I’m happy to answer! :D 

Lets see, fave characters, it’s so hard to narrow it down to just five because I love most of the BSD characters

Surprise to no one, Chuuya. I love my scrunkly boy. For as little as he appears in the main story he steals every scene he’s in, his light novels have so much character to explore. His backstory is wild. There’s so much for me to sink my teeth into in terms of character and so little there’s a lot of room to theorise. He has a fun personality to attempt to write as well. I have a lot of Chuuya posts so I won’t rant too much about him here.

Kunikida was definitely my first favourite character. Strict but caring, follows the rules but they are his own rules, reluctant mentor figure, thrown into a high position at such a young age, really smart but such a dumbass. Dazai’s character in season 1 wouldn’t nearly be so enjoyable if he didn’t have Kunikida to reign him in. I love his dynamic with Atsushi, he doesn’t want to be a mentor, but he doesn’t want this kid to get hurt. So he tries to land somewhere in the middle. He tries to get Atsushi to arrive at the right conclusion himself, he wants him to grow on his own, but will be there for him when he needs it.

Yosano, BSD needs more Yosano content. Again, I loved her dynamic with Atsushi during the train heist. Her and Kaiji’s conflict of beliefs about the value of human life and death was so interesting. Her past with Mori was definitely interesting too, but I am much more interested in seeing more of the present day Yosano. I don’t want her to be forced out into the field, because that’s something she doesn’t want, but I would love to just know more about her role in the agency. Her day to day. More of her beliefs. More exploration of how her trauma affected her ability to heal people. Is she even a real qualified doctor?? Did she actually go to med school??? Because some part of me wouldn't be surprised she didn’t, given her history.

Akutagawa siblings. I’m putting them as one because a lot of what makes Akutagawa interesting to me is his relationship with Gin. I love main timeline Akutagawa and all his complexities but Beast!Aku is golden. I love the Beast movie so much that when I picture Akutagawa I picture the actor, not the cartoon man, haha. They are both little creatures to me, I wish their dynamic was more explored. I wish Gin was explored more in general, pretty sure we see them the least out of all of Black Lizard.

Dazai. Here’s the thing, originally, I wasn’t much of a Dazai fan. I didn’t not like him, but he wasn’t my favourite. BUT then I started reading the real Dazai Osamu’s works and I love his writing. Rewatching BSD and starting the manga, after I had read some of Dazai Osamu’s works, gave me a better appreciation for the BSD character. NLH, Setting Sun, Flowers of Buffoonery and Dazai Osamu’s fairytale retellings, all very much affect how I view Dazai and how I write his character. I have a very love/hate relationship with writing him though because I’m constantly questioning whether or not he would do X actions, but then I remember the characters in the books would, so I write it in anyways, haha.

Honourable mentions: Aya, Kenji, Kyouka, Atsushi, Bram, all of The Flags, Lucy (Okay I’m going to stop before I list them all)

Favourite moments:

It’s got to be Chuuya fighting a literal dragon, right? I’ve rewatched Dead Apple a lot, I never tire of Chuuya throwing a building down a dragon’s throat. And of course Chuuya screaming Dazai’s name in the midst of corruption. Not even in a shippy way, but in the context of Dazai should be dead, as far as anyone else knows he’s dead, but Chuuya believes in his ability to survive. He believes even when it’s supposed to be impossible, if he uses corruption, Dazai will be there to stop it. And if he’s wrong, he accepts dying alongside him. That’s about as ride or die as it gets and I love it.

Atsushi jumps to save Kyouka. He has no reason to, other than despite all he’s been through, he still believes people deserve to live, they deserve to be told that. Kyouka was willing to die to stop hurting people, to pay penance for an ability she had no control over and Atsushi was willing to die trying to save her. I don’t care what people say, Atsushi is a good main character, I don’t care that he cries a lot or that he needs saving and losses fights. I care about how much he cares. I care that he sees good in people like Kyouka and Dazai, he sees the good in Lucy. Moments like this make me love BSD.

Similar vein, Lucy frees Atsushi. Helping Atsushi is a lose/lose scenario in Lucy’s perspective. The guild is all she has, the only place that has ever given her some value. Atsushi is the man that robbed her of that value. But in this confrontation she learns Atsushi is a lot like her, that in this one conversation he has attempted to understand her pain better than anyone else in the guild and so she takes a chance on Atsushi. She chooses to help him and Yokohama despite knowing it will cost her everything she has. And she does it with a smile on her face like it’s nothing. Love Lucy so much.

Ranpo can’t ride public transport by himself. This one is a little silly, but you see I am a neurodivergent adult who also really struggles with public transport. Trains scare the heck out of me, so I don’t go on them alone. Ranpo is just like me for real and it gave me a silly little serotonin to see it.

Okay, I tried not doing two Chuuya scenes but Chuuya showing up to save the agency in a helicopter and throwing bullets at the Hunting Dogs is also one of my faves. Especially as he was sent there to save them and then Kunikida goes and jumps out the thing and blows himself up anyway, it’s just funny. BSD does a good job of balancing action and humour and serious moments very well. This is supposed to be an epic sacrifice for Kunikida, his friends all think he’s dead. But looking at it from Chuuya’s perspective is funny. People say “Oh, why didn’t Chuuya do anything” like Kunikida really gave him a chance to. Maybe he did have a plan and maybe he didn’t get a chance to do anything because Tall, Blond and Explody over there leapt out the door.