Hello!! :) So I have been a Hellsing fan for a number of years now, it's been one of my favorite pieces of media ever since I first discovered it, and I know that this blog is currently not posting a lot of Hellsing-related things so I apologize if my discussing of Hellsing potentially comes off as disrespectful for that reason, it is not my intention at all!! But I do have a couple things to say, the first one being that I think your projects and OCs are wonderful and have been a huge inspiration for me with being more passionate about my own Hellsing OCs than I already am :) I feel like Iscariot and its members don't get enough love, so it's super cool that you have shared your thoughts and stories about them :D I particularly love all of your Walter content as well, he's such an awesome and complex character and one that I have loved reading your ideas and headcanons about! All of the lore and worldbuilding that you've made is genuinely so inspiring and has motivated me to work on my own projects more than anything anyone else has created, so I wanted to personally thank you for everything you've contributed to the fandom :)) The main reason why I don't post about my Hellsing creations on my own blog is because I'm worried about how it will be recieved by others since I have also made my own versions of the backstories of canon characters, mainly Pip (who one of my OCs is the younger sibling of), so I totally understand and respect your reasons for taking a break. It does suck a lot that people choose harassment rather than just ignoring what they don't like and moving on, I'm so sorry to about how discourse within the fandom has affected you :( But on that note, the other thing I wanted to ask about is a question related to your thoughts on Pip and Seras. This does briefly go into some fandom discourse, so if you do not wish to discuss/engage with that then please feel free to ignore the rest of this if you'd like! :) But I wanted to come to you in particular about this because I felt that you would take this more seriously than other Hellsing blogs, and I also do not have anyone in my personal life who likes Hellsing to talk about this with, so I'm sorry again if I'm bothering you by bringing something like this up! :(( Pip and Seras are a couple of my favorite characters ever, both as individual characters and as a pairing, and exploring and analyzing them through writing is something I have always found joy in. But I've been seeing some stuff online about their relationship being problematic, particularly with Pip's part in the guidebook describing him as enjoying harassing Seras, which obviously is not okay. I feel like I'm in a weird place about it right now because of how much of my creative mindspace these characters have taken up for years, and I really want to keep enjoying them because of how much I love them, but it feels kind of icky now and I don't know how much of that should be directed at Pip, or instead at Hirano himself for sexualizing Seras in a lot of scenes and being the one to dictate what the characters do in the first place. And having created a lot of my own lore and versions of Hellsing that include Pip being more respectful of boundaries, I think a lot of what I feel is a result of not engaging with the canon material as closely anymore, so that's a bit difficult on its own. Calling out problematic behavior in a respectful way is a good thing but I feel like that's difficult to do for something like Hellsing where the entire series is controversial and hardly any of the characters are entirely normal/have normal relationships with each other, but maybe that's just me, and I could be wrong. If you do have thoughts on any of this though, please feel free to share them if you feel comfortable doing so!! Thank you so much for your time, and I'm sorry again if I bothered you! :(
I just finished moving so getting to read some Hellsing discourse and OC stuff was really refreshing! Thanks for sharing and being willing to drop into my inbox :)) I always love a good chat
First! Thanks for your comments on my projects and OCs - they're definitely my lil sillies and I do still enjoy rotating them around in my head but sadly that headspace is now tormented by Homestuck and it's looking dire LOL. If you ever wanna chat ocs and are an adult, feel free to pop into my dms! I'd also love to chat regarding canon character interpretations. I am never opposed to the oc-ification of canon lol
Second - when it comes to shipping drama, my policy is very...mm the block button is there for a reason. There are certain things that I feel are pretty intuitive that are wrong based on my own moral sensibilities but I do feel at the end of the day it is up to the individual to curate their experiences and beliefs. Calling out toxic or abusive archetypes or behavior can be really essential to discourse and "fandom health" if we wanna go there, but I think the ultimate statement comes down to just being an adult, touching grass, acknowledging toxic behavior, calling it out if necessary (i.e., someone is actually in danger or propagation of something abnormal/abusive as normal) ,and making the ultimate decision to engage or not.
Pip and Seras are one of my favorite dynamics in fiction (maybe not top 10, but up there). I think they have good catharsis in episode 7 and the shift is dynamic is really interesting as Seras comes into her own. When it comes to the harassment, I think it's necessary for Pip's character as I personally see his arch as coming to respect Seras as a person, which permits his act of ultimate trust in surrendering his blood-life to her to become full vampire.
Now, I 100% believe Hirano is what I like to think of as a "coincidentally good writer." What I mean by this is not an insult towards Hirano's writing or skill as a story teller, but more so the depth in which can be applied to his writing. Hellsing is a love child of over 10+ hentai ocs and is definitely intended to be composed of entirely shock value. I can't think of the interview or remember where I've seen this but Hirano has admitted multiple times that certain plot and design choices were made to just be cool. So, I think when analyzing his character design and behavioral writing, it's important to remember that he probably did not intend for Hellsing to have large commentary or be a story-rich work, choosing action, drama, and shock over those elements.
That isn't to say Hellsing does NOT have these elements of deeper story. Alucard is a great example of having surprisingly rich story amidst general shock-cool. Same with Seras and, in my opinion, by extension Pip. Seras has an arc based on respect, self-growth, courage, and dominance, asserting these things over a world that refuses to give it to her and part of that is Pip's minutely heinous actions and attitude towards her that, in my opinion, goes down the drain pretty quickly when he sees her as a person worthy of his attention, respect, and, if we're sticking to the Pipras conversation, admiration very clearly in episode 6.
Regarding Pip's controversial characterization, I think stories are often better if there are characters that engage in foul behavior, albeit with limitations, or there are morally grey areas. No one is perfect and not many are all-good saints and to have a story filled with that archetype would frnakly be boring and unrealistic. Pip being a harassing male who eventually submits his blood-life to a woman he viewed as nothing but cute (and possibly lesser, I wouldn't go as far as to say Pip is 100% misogynistic, but he does have Tendencies but also I think most people who complain about Pip's behavior have never met an actual soldier before lol) says a lot I feel and is an interesting dynamic shift worthy of recognition and enjoyment in a relatioship sense.
I also think it is important to point out these things:
Hellsing episodes 4-10 take place in roughly just over 24 hours. There is a LOT going on in such a short, frantic section of time. Sometimes I even forget how rapid the story goes down. Episodes 6-7 is obviously an extraneous circumstance for Pip and Seras' relationship as both are under immense pressure, facing uncertainty, and are being pushed to their limits. I think then it's important to look at what TRUE TRAITS Pip and Seras boil down to in the more tense of moments: Pip is a self-sacrificing bull-headed man and Seras is a fierce, competent, and sensitive woman. So, in my opinion, when it comes to story writing, the character at their most intense is who they are at their core. Interpret this how you will.
Pip and Seras' relationship did not END at episode 7 with Pip's death. Pip is her familiar and will continue to exist within her mindscape (bloodscape?) as an active, autonomous voice and personality. I think there is a lot of characterization that can be handled here and is worthy of exploration now that the two have reached their arc's descent.
Hellsing has time skips. One exists between Seras being bit and the Anderson fight in episode 1, one is between episode 2 and episode 3, and there is implied a bracket of time within episode 3 between Pip and the Geese's hiring and the Rio mission. There is so much we do NOT see happen between characters due to Hellsing's breakneck pace and laser focus on action. Considering these time jumps, Pip goes from disrespecting Seras and getting his ass handed to him to he and Seras laughing with groceries prior to Anderson kicking them out of Brazil. To me, that implies some type of relational growth.
People do not appreciate Hellsing credits enough. Aside from my own personal marvel at how CREDITS ONE AND THREE SPOIL THE MAJOR BETRAYAL PLOT TWIST, credits 6 and 7 reveal some of Pip and Seras' dynamic, showing them to BOTH bully one another, albeit Seras insults Pip based on intelligence and he on her gender, but I digress. They argue like two leaders and are shown to be able to tolerate one another OVER TIME. Watch the credits lol.
Anyways I don't know if this entirely answers your ask but it's my general ramblings on the matter and looking at the show/manga as a way to explore how I approach Pip and Seras. I think they can function romantically and platonically, and while I see them as the former, I can wildly respect anyone who disagrees because their relationship is left pretty?? Semi-nothing burger in the romance department depending on how much a person wants to engage with the canon.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts :))
