#ask chess

How I feel about this character

Love him. My pink mochi king. I think giving enemy characters a face similar to a beloved friend of the MC (Renji : Bazz-B) is an interesting way to play on fans’ conditioned association with that face.

Love his styling (though it’s tragically way simplified for the anime). Love his motivation. Love his vibes and that he’s an enemy with mutual respect for Luffy. —I don’t think he needs character growth so much as his family members do. His cute af doughnut squeeing is my everything.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Luffy!! Zoro. Sanji? If a case can be made, I’ll be there documenting. IDK Ace would be interesting. (I had some shallow xship ideas a while back I never wrote).

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Happiness. Also friendship with Luffy, Zoro and the Straw Hats. I wonder how his confectionary knowledge could benefit if him and Sanji reconciled. A better r’ship with his family maybe.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don’t think I have any. I think that I’ve written some diabolical porn about him, and my only regret is not writing more weird sequels. I will say though, having consumed considerably more mochi than when I first wrote him—it does inspire me in a new direction.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

Join the Straw Hats. Nah, fuck Big Mom, he could’ve given Luffy uppies!

At least one joke about him looking like Zoro. No, but fr, I’d have liked to see him appear again. Unless this is what I get for not catching up on the manga in several years.

This is the first time she's started to connect the dots about Malcolm; before this all Tommy said was that he and his father weren't close

Oooh I love it. I love it so much!

Here’s another angsty thought: by the nature of Phin using sign language (which he was still learning) Tommy has to watch Phin’s hands a lot to understand what she’s signing to him. Which a) involves a lot of sudden hand movements which is stressful and b) isn’t standing there to take it and holding her eyes all the while which is also REALLY stressing him out. So Tommy’s brain is caught in a catch-22 where if he looks her in the eyes then Tommy will have barely an idea of what she’s signing and if he’s staring at her hands he can’t look her in the eye. Either way he is Misbehaving and that will make it worse.

Phin stops when it registers that Tommy is Scared of Her. Which of course just reads to as displeasure and has him go full appeasement mode.

You are right, that would be Phin’s first hint. On my season 1 rewatch I noticed Tommy really doesn’t mention his dad unless someone else brings it up, so I had a lightbulb moment when I realized Tommy would try to keep Malcolm and Phin as separated from each other as possible.

NOPE, Tommy has not dropped that particular bit of lore to her yet. I think Tommy’s told Phin his dad was never there for him and got distant after his mom died but he’s never come out and told her about the actual physical abandonment.

1. Oddly specific thing that brings me joy: after I wash my bedding I fall asleep to the smell of the laundry detergent

2. Phone wallpaper: fanart of my girl Dolphin with her boyfriend Tommy Merlyn

3. Morning or night person: Night by far.

4. Favorite scent: lavender

5. Origin of username: a nickname I had in high school with a asoiaf house name. Gotta love the crannogmen of the Neck!

6. Song on Repeat: Currently it’s Maybe I’m a Lion from the FF8 soundtrack https://youtu.be/q1qVczfirxU

7. I will always order this food: warm spinach dip + chips. I love a good spinach dip.

8. Current favorite show/movie/book: Heated Rivalry <3 and currently favorite book is the Long Game by Rachel Reid

9. The last thing you hyperfixated on: the minor character Dolphin from DC comics. I am writing a multi chapter story about her even though I have so. So many other WIPs. <3 <3

10. Your job/occupation, if applicable: librarian

//sorry for getting to this slow, friendo.//

How I feel about this character

shameless nudist; love him.

Love the depth to his backstory and his determination and insistence on growing through every loss and experience of adversity. Love his lil smirk when he knows he's being hot shit. Loved his swords and general array of techniques.

My fave Fairy Tail character – I never finished the series and yet he is my avatar on everything but AO3. (I saw him wear a cat ear hairband with Lucy on a chapter cover and went from shittily colouring it in Paint as a preteen or sth, to re-drawing them as real, because I'll never let this go). (Also: furry pipeline, who'd'a guessed lmao)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Teen me would say myself xDD (I don't think I actively did much at that age and didn't super duper believe in the vibe Mashima was going for with Juvia). I think I was a lil convinced by Lucy or even Natsu or Leon. Recently spoke to a good friend about how I honestly would've been here more for some kinda love triangle or any ship between the three of Lucy, Gray and Natsu.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Him and Happiness. Possibly Gray and Natsu bro/rival/bestieship. Gray & the Fairy Tail guild p much.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I guess that'd be the disbelief in the Gruvia ship. And possibly just wishing Mashima had had the story kick down at him less.

Honestly, don't think I really have deeply contentious opinions here.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I stopped reading before it got very far with the Gray dad/evil weirdness idk. It didn't seem interesting to me.

I guess just more of not having him be as sidelined – I just liked when my boy was shown off.

Any headcanons for Bette Kane? I'm sorry to say not really. I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on her character. I want to though.

As for Duela Dent...oh I have so. SO many thoughts on my girl.

One of my main headcanons for her is that she's actually pretty artistic! When she was initially introduced, her mother was Gilda Gold, Harvey Dent's ex wif and a professional sculpture artist. Duela shares her mother's creativity, albeit expressed in different ways such as costuming design/making clothing. She made all of her OG Joker's/Riddler's/Penguin's daughter outfits and the assorted gadgets all by herself.

A related headcanon is that she's into music. She can play the ukulele and carry a tune well enough, so not like a professional level musician.

Ooh, nice one.

How I feel about this character

I love this scrunkly lil God-complex arsehole. Just a really interesting and complex character. Love the man’s dedication to an outfit change: studious assistant, tyrant king, birthed moth and eventually snarky human furniture. Stay winning, babe.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

SHINJI. Gin. Ichigo? Kisuke Urahara?

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Ooh 🤔 I mean the bitchiness between him and Gin would be iconic. Or Shinji and him having hatefuck energy in every universe but only getting the benefits in some universes. Intrigued by the different paths taken foil-ness of him and Urahara. I still haven’t cough haven’t updated that fic, but I have a Shinji/Ichigo fic with Ichigo & Aizen brotp, and I do think there’s a lot to be examined there. Could see him being given shit by the Espada. Or the Vaizard pre/post-Hollowfication

My unpopular opinion about this character

He’s never been wrong ever. XDD

His frothing at Urahara about the place of God comes out of nowhere during his downfall, and so utterly reframes everything about him. Makes the positioning of who’s a villain and who’s a hero seem so arbitrary—and now that I think about it, seeing Aizen as a tragic hero (especially as Ichigo’s foil) is such a devastating way to consider his character.

He’s hotter with the glasses. But I think some of that look’s appeal is the restraint/deception. Also the funky lil dynamics of Gotei rankings do something too.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Confirmed Shinji/Aizen exes. I mean TBH, what is canon but a delusion we hold in our imagined collective brain. IDK, I guess maybe a convo between them in the last couple arcs.

I mean, I feel like not saying does more, but I’d be curious as to Aizen’s background. It’d certainly make me view his and Gin’s relationship differently if Kubo had decided to make him another grown Rukongai brat, though it doesn’t seem to match Aizen’s image.

Baring in mind I didn’t finish the Quincy arc, but maybe him and Ichigo having an on-the-level convo. But I do think I’m not really disappointed by canon’s treatment of him (minus Shinji visiting him and his chair), so anything I can think of I’d just as easily prefer to see in fanfics.