Literally going back to high school art class right now to try a new rendering method. Basically color-block/pop art first to lay out where the shadows/highlights are, then blending. I really like how it's worked with the cloak so far. Just started the shirt. Going to try skin tones next.
Headcanons and things. My shamelessly self-indulgent pirate!Shamrock AU. Yes.
The earring. That wasn't entirely by choice.
Fuck it, have a drabble, where the dum-dums are like nine or ten years old and even less bright than they are now.
"N—nothing! Go to sleep, dumba—hey!!"
Buggy crossed his arms, glaring as Shanks plucked the earring from his fingers—just a small, gold hoop that Buggy had plucked out of the last treasure haul himself, that he had definitely not spent the last hour or two examining, debating over how cool it would be if he pierced his own ear—
"Yeah," Buggy snapped, snatching it back. "And it's mine. I found it first."
"But...you're ears aren't pierc—"
"No shit, Red-Hair." Buggy sat up on his bunk, glaring at Shanks, curling his first protectively around the earring. He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "But...I was thinking about it," he grumbled.
"What, piercing your ear?"
He flinched at the concept put into words—and then scoffed again to hide his own reluctance. "Yeah." Buggy crossed his arms, rolling his eyes and putting on a superior tone. "It's just a dumb earring. Any pirate should be ready to handle way more pain than that."
"Yeah, but...you still have to shove a needle though your ear." Buggy flinched in spite of himself at the blunt assessment. Shanks frowned, tilting his head. "That's kinda different. Like stabbing yourself in the foot to prove you can still walk afterward."
"You're thinking too much about it, idiot," Buggy disagreed irately, glaring at him, crossing his arms. "The whole point is proving you can handle the pain."
"O...okay," said Shanks, nodding slowly, clearly not following the logic. He pulled himself up onto the edge of his empty bunk, gesturing at the hand Buggy still had wrapped around the small hoop. "Then do it."
Shit. His bluff had been called.
Buggy scoffed, opening his hand, staring down at the earring lying in his palm. "I mean...I thought it was a cool idea," he said slowly, "but—"
"I've got it!" Shanks abruptly hit his fist against his palm, his expression spreading into a triumphant grin. Buggy, somewhat taken aback, lifted an eyebrow.
Shanks, still grinning unrepentantly, nodded to the bunk adjacent to his own—
The bunk where the red-haired idiot's twin brother was sleeping, totally unbeknownst to their discussion.
"Wha—no!" Buggy hissed in utter terror, eyes darting between Shamrock and Shanks's far too enthusiastic grin. He glanced over at their sleeping bunkmate before leaning forward, lowering his voice further. "He'd literally kill us—!"
"Nah," Shanks said dismissively, already standing up from his own bunk, stretching and tucking his hands behind his neck. "He'll get over it. We're family. Besides, he's always looking for ways for us to look different."
Likely in no small part because Shanks was a magnet for trouble, as he was demonstrating right this very moment.
"So this is actually perfect!"
"...........Fine." Buggy stood from his bunk as well, crossing his arms. "But this was your idea, Red-Hair."
Not fifteen minutes later, once supplies were gathered—'supplies' being a halved apple, a particularly sharp sewing needle, and the earring in question—a scream loud enough to wake the dead rang out across the deck of the Oro Jackson.
To be fair, Shanks totally does take the fall, claiming that he wanted to see what it would look like if he pierced his own ear—
And whether or not Shamrock intended to actually kill them when he chased them across the deck with his sabre drawn is debatable—
Either way, the deed's already done, and it does kinda look cool in retrospect, so Shamrock ultimately decides to keep it. Still, that initial scream is more than enough reason for both Shanks and Buggy both to decide that there are better ways to prove their merrit than shoving needles through their own ears.