#bardciel

Who are the top five characters you ship with Bard, and what tropes do you like that ship playing into? Poly ships counts as their own ship/person (like sebardciel for one, sebard for another)

Ahhh thank you @gabedemon so much for this ask and intent behind it I really do appreciate it…!!!

Plus I love this ask anyway!

Hmmmmm…. I could definitely make this list longer than just 5, but here are my top five characters to ship with Bard, roughly in order:

Sebastian (Sebard) - definitely my top pick, and what I’ve written the most of by far. Especially now that we know Bard’s backstory and have that enemies to lovers energy, I ship them even more. (And no I don’t care that it’s not and never will be canon.)

Agni (Bardagni) - this seems like a crack ship, I know. Bard probably only even met Agni a handful of times in canon and we never see them interact, but for AUs, there’s so much potential there (especially if it turns into a poly ship like #4, and we have someone like Sebastian in the middle). I see them having a kind of “we would normally never have clicked but in this situation it works” kind of vibe. Actually have a few fics with them I would love to write someday, but as of yet, have not. I don’t even know if any Bardagni content exists… (probably not) 😞

Sebastian & Ciel (Sebardciel) - this is a ship I kinda stumbled into by accident but I really love the potential between the three of them since they’re all so different. I see Ciel being the “boss” and surprising Bard a bit by how much of a Dom he is—Bard isn’t used to being bossed around in the bedroom, but I think he finds he kinda likes it..?? Don’t have anything officially done for this ship yet either (only stuff I’ve written privately), but do have a few ideas I hope will come to fruition soon.

Sebastian & Agni (Sebardagni) - I have really fallen for this poly ship, even if it’s only been in brainstorming sessions so far lol. I really only see this happening in AUs, but I think Agni can be a bit protective of his lover(s) even if it means from one of his other lovers. So I think there can be conflict there (in the best way, ofc). For example, if Agni was initially with Bard and Seb comes along, he may be distrustful of Seb and want to “shield” Seb from him, maybe even be jealous. Or, if he was with Seb first, he may not like Bard and may not think that he will look for Seb’s best interests…. Again, I haven’t written any of this officially yet, but I really want to (unless you count this I guess). Even though this is #4 on the list, it’s one of the ships I want to write about the most (that I haven’t already).

Wolf (Bardwolf) - I actually HAVE written this once. It was a request when I was still pretty new to the fandom, and not something I would have necessarily come up with on my own, but I can see a lot of potential there. Even in canon, it could be a bit cracky but amusing since they don’t speak each other’s language and probably don’t get along (at first). I could also see a modern AU where they’re both (ex) military men.

I could also see Bardciel, Bardlau, Bard/Terry, Bard/Mey, Bard/Beast…. And don’t even get me started on other poly possibilities…. I could go on…. But yeah guess those are my top 5.

So not sure if this ask is meant as bait or not, but I’m gonna answer it as if it’s a sincere ask about the relationships in the story.

First, I’m assuming this is the art you meant, anon?

Now while the fic is only tagged with “Sebastian/Ciel” under relationships, we also tagged it “multi” because the relationships in the fic are many and complex.

Not saying that Bard/Ciel will happen in a sexual sense necessarily—that’s not what that art was about.

Although the main character of the story is absolutely Sebastian (Luci), it’s an ensemble cast and many of the major characters will have their own arcs, since WDH is a very character-driven fic.

Both Bard and Ciel are extremely important in the story, and in the next act especially. (And we’re getting close to the Act 1 finale!)

It’s hard to say too much without giving things away, but up to the point of the chapter “Hell’s Gate,” Bard has seen Ciel as merely a kid. Yeah, he’s an adult, but barely in Bard’s eyes: he’s still immature and vulnerable.

That opinion will begin to change starting next chapter, as Bard sees Ciel in a new light and realizes the kid’s a lot stronger than he’s given him credit for in the past.