#my sweet cringefail clownhusband

[harfblarf]

under the auspicious moon of pride month, i will take a moment to shed cringe and make a post celebrating my niche blorbos. (Uh, ambiguous spoilers involved.)

under a cut to make my derangement an optional experience

This is my penultimate cringefail loserhusband, Shion Ribellion. He's a normal, kind of lame, kind of lazy dude who got launched into a fantasy novel as the aide of the Fallen-From-Grace Big Bad of the novel "The Holy Sword", but pre the Big-Bad-ening. The guy he became-- that is, Shion Ribellion-- was supposed to die after uncovering shady secrets of his boss' past.

He is by all accounts the weirdest fuck anyone has ever met and borderline entirely useless, except when he comes in clutch in ways no one knew was an option. It's never cool when he does it its just wildly unanticipated and often painfully earnest.

He is frequently (deservedly) bullied and it brings me immeasurable joy.

He's also the originally-kinda-reluctant now-very-passionate #1 defender, supporter, and Therapist Friend to this guy, Duke Serpens. His last name is important or something but Shion exclusively calls him by his first name because courtly etiquette could bite him directly on the nose and he'd still forget about it 5 minutes later.

Don't be fooled by his delicate good looks though, this bitch is an obsessively calculated manipulator and genuinely overpowered swordsman. The only thing standing between him and falling to the dark side is Shinon's persistent sincerity and loyalty. (No, like, REALLY the only thing. Serpens had an abusive upbringing and yada yada, but the story goes to great lengths to outline how it was a broad communal failing and strong Bystander Effect that led to Serpens' obsessive perfectionism, emotional dissociation, and subsequent downfall in the 'original' story.)

Shinon's indignance on his behalf and insistent questing for Serpens' life to improve (with tasks such as: get Serpens to admit he likes sweets! Get Serpens to pick up a hobby!) is the First time anyone has cared about him as a person and while he is understandably Incredibly Suspicious of Shion to start, they like... actually communicate?? And while both sides still keep secrets, they also acknowledge that to each other. That open communication and efforts toward bonding brings them closer, and both choose to trust each other over and over again.

The story, "The Duke's Redemption", isn't tagged BL/gay, but there is very little strictly heterosexual explanation for most of their interactions. Whatever they are, it's potent. And so fucking funny.

90% of the time, Shion is my absolute cringefail husband, the first character I've truly, deeply UNDERSTOOD the appeal of a failguy:

He has no practical skills aside from basic paperwork competency and most of the time has no fucking idea what's going on. His literal only credit is an ounce of emotional intelligence and a strong (if chronically unwise) moral compass.

He's so ridiculous that Serpens, the chronic overachiever-perfectionist who has never had a friend he's honest with, makes faces like this at him:

FOR SERPENS THIS IS A LOT.

They manipulate each other endlessly, with both of them fully aware but still suckers for it. Serpens bullies Shion in ways he can't even argue against, but always toes the line and offers sincere (if stilted) compliments alongside his blunt criticisms. Shion, useless clown that he is, puppyeyes at Serpens and mysteriously this always seems to help his case.

The story frequently indulges-- gleefully, openly, and knowingly-- in ridiculous character tropes, like Serpens' tendency to literally just like escape out windows when emotionally overwhelmed, then uses them for character growth and emotional beats.

Serpens puts his Guy through Situations but always, always stands at his back to make sure he gets out safely, and by like chapter 13 half the shit he pulls to bully Shion is a thinly veiled effort to ensure his safety.

They do shit like this:

And Shion is CONSTANTLY getting up in Serpens' space unconsciously and fretting over him (despite being demonstrably and chronically more vulnerable both physically and emotionally- though in his defense he's definitely more resilient/better at bouncing back).

Multiple characters have commented on how close and casual their relationship is, to the fluster of Shion and the apparent wariness or feigned ignorance of Serpens. (He acknowledges in private how much he lets Shion get away with, but clearly bristles when he knows other people are clocking Shion's importance and unique position.) Serpens is so much stiffer than Shion that when undercover they have been mistaken for having their roles reversed (that is, that Shion is the higher noble and Serpens his guard/assistant). And yet Shion gets away with everything and Serpens doesn't even bat an eye.

Canonically they are like almost definitely not gay. Probably. And I'm okay with that because their canon relationship is REALLY good and well-paced and, I cannot emphasize enough, fucking hilarious. But in my HEART they are so in love with each other it's STUPID. I care about them more than words can say. I have so many screenshots of them. They are so stupid I would kill for them I WISH they had a proper English-speaking fandom bc I am FROTHING AT THE MOUTH and painfully monolingual so even if they DO have a Korean fanbase I cannot touch it 😭

[This has been unhinged manwha posting with harf]