#buddyship

[the-cryptographer]

Oh, right. I guess I still have these doujin caps on my desktop. Have a sassy Mokuba in a koala shirt.

This is from this doujinshi, which is a kind of weird JouKai doujinshi. I think what happens is Jou beats Atem in a duel, Kaiba flips the fuck out and invites Jou over and attach him to some weird machine with the purpose of teleporting him the fuck away. But then Jou flips out, interrupts the teleportation process and... maybe switches bodies with Kaiba is seems. The rest of the doujin is Jou making a mess of Kaiba’s life while Mokuba sasses him terribly and I’m not really sure what’s going on but it was amusing.

My other favourite doujin from this old batch was a pseudo-prideshipping one from the same circle - THIS. It features AI Atem and a Kaiba robot named Saibaa (which is a pun on ‘cyber’). It kind of replays early canon prideshipping dynamic, and then actual Kaiba cockblocks them at the end out of... being a bitter jerk.

He’s kind of disgusted with his robot self.

And then there’s a cut to post DSoD and actual Atem is all smiley and I felt better about life.

I also got this one with an adorable Mokuba. Another one I don’t really understand.

Kaiba wakes up acting weird one day, unusually nice, and Mokuba and Isono are very excited.

It’s a renaissance, they say.

But then Isis shows up to investigate.

And Atem is like >:/  And it turns out Kaiba has the Rod.

And then Isis kicks Seto in the face and steals it back, idk. That’s what happens.

And Kaiba wakes up his usual grumpy self, wondering what happened when he was under the Rod’s control?

And then there’s another section of the doujinshi where Malik is the worst and sexually harasses Mokuba and Isis, and Seto gets angry and punishes him for the former and is kind of haunted by the latter and also stares at Isis’s boobs.

That’s the doujin. I don’t know.

And then I got this old doujin by Paro-WEB, who is affiliated with Hobby-Hobby. It has Hanasaki on the back.

Anyhow, it explains why we never see Hanasaki again, it seems. And that’s because Jounouchi is a terrible jealous friend who wants Yuugi all to himself, lmao.

It’s a very Jou-centric doujin, like a lot of their work is.

Adorable thug baby.

With wishshipping.

And buddyshipping.

At some point Shizuka gives Honda a present.

And it’s a lame, girly character mug, but Jou is ANGER.

But then Shizuka has another present for Jou too. And, surprise, it’s another lame, girly character mug.

And then everyone was embarrassed together :’)

Also there’s a lot of vitally important goings on about Jounouchi and his misadventures with porn.

Like him having trouble getting the VCR and tape to work. So he oscillates between coddling the malfunctioning machine and then beating the crap out of it when it refuses to work with him.

So then he unravels the tape and looks at the individual shots of film.

And gives himself eye strain before giving the tape back to Yuugi. Perfect.

He also tries to nonchalantly buy a dirty mag at the bookstore.

Except then he doesn’t have enough money for it and the shopkeeper is embarrassed for him. And I’m sorry I have such a bizarre fascination with these children’s porn misadventures but it is hilarious and it is life.

Happy Monday, I guess.

[the-cryptographer]

So since you did Shrimpshipping, can we get Buddyshipping for the next one in the ask meme? :)

Thank you for the ask!!

waywardcupcake’s shrimpshipping response was really good, yeah 8)

Buddyshipping tho-

when I started shipping it if I did:

I’d considered the ship in passing, especially regardingHonda and Jou’s early experimentations with their sexuality, but I really beganshipping it in the process of writing about their brolationship. They’re bothso protective and caring and affectionate and kind of terrified of beingupfront about it – it makes me want to push them towards one another. Hug itout guys~ Kiss it out guys~

my thoughts:

I wrote most of my buddyship thoughts here, but-

It’s a singularly unique ship, and a singularly uniquerelationship in the series, in that they were intimately close as friends before all that stellar characterdevelopment happened. I like how this leaves them kind of unsure of where theystand with each other now that they’ve changed. It’s why you get all thosegreat ‘no homo’ moments between them, imo. Jou is openly cuddly andaffectionate with Yuugi, because that’s the way he learned to be in the processof befriending Yuugi. Honda isn’t touchy-feely, but manga Honda’s certainly alot softer in how he comes to relate with Anzu, Ryou, Shizuka, and Otogi. Butwhen Jou and Honda approach each other, they’re not sure how to reconcile whothey’ve become with the relationship they already had. They must disguise theiraffections in the filter of play fights and taunting!! Lest they be discovered!!

I think if they were put in the position of acknowledging to each other howmuch they’d changed as individuals, it could easily lead into just how muchtheir relationship could follow suit ;3

What makes me happy about them:

That Honda really has Jou’s back during the series. Joudoesn’t always seem entirely comfortable letting other people support andprotect /him/ as opposed to the other way around. When Yuugi defends Jou, forinstance, Jou is always rushing to return the favour or prove he deserved whatYuugi gave him. I like how Honda is somebody Jou feels comparatively comfortablein relying upon. Supportive momfriend Honda is the best, okay?

What makes me sad about them:

Anime Honda can be really mean with his words regarding Jou.It does seem sometimes like he doesn’t really believe in Jou and Jou’s abilityto succeed, and it’s kind of tragic tbh.

things done in fanfic that annoy me:

I can’t think of anything in particular.

things I look for in fanfic:

thingsthat are written and posted online :p

Given Jou is the more hammy and distinctive character of the two, I guess I’dlike to see more fic build off of Honda’s character and experience instead ofJou’s unlike my responses for this meme.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

I’m trash for Honda/Otogi/Shizuka. Otogi by himself or Ryouor Miho are also good choices. And I’ll ship Jou with just about everyone but –in the specific context of Jou and Honda parting ways and Jou ending up in ahappy, lasting relationship with someone else – I’d lean either towards Mai orRishid.

My happily ever after for them:

They’re a very down to earth pairing I feel like, so I don’thave anything grandiose. Jou might duel pro for a while. Jou stops being soworryingly reckless so Honda doesn’t have to mom him so much. Jou eventually wins overHonda’s family with his stellar charisma, and they have nice family dinnerswith Honda’s parents and sister. I headcanon that Honda’s family runs an autoshop but, even if Honda wasn’t already set up to take over the business, Ithink he’d want to work with motorbikes and cars. Jou helps him run the shop.And, on their days off, they go out for daytrips on Honda’s bike~

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Jou doesn’t so much spoon people as he wraps his legs aroundtheir chest and awkwardly strangle-hugs their face like it’s a strangelaying-down-on-your-side sleepy piggyback ride.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Other than the aforementioned bike rides? I for some reasonthink Honda’s partial to video games. They laze around house playing fightinggames with each other. Also isn’t it canon Jou liked model kits? I feel likethey’re both pretty handy, so they might work on building projects together –either utilitarian ones or just for fun~

Thanks again :D  :D

[the-cryptographer]

*looks into your tags* Tell me about your buddyshipping thoughts, buddy

B-b-b-b-Buddyshipping!!!

I’ve got a lot of buddyshipping headcanons but I’m holding most of ‘em close to my chest, lol. Let’s see tho…

I told someone recently I legit think Jounouchi has crushed on pretty much all the members of his little friendship crew, lol. Wishshipping tends to be the one I think is the most romantically motivated of the three, but I think he’s experienced some form of attraction to Yuugi, Anzu, and Honda each.

Also, I think a lot about how Honda was Jounouchi’s only friend when he left Hirutani’s gang towards the end of middle school. I imagine they were kind of casual friends/acquaintances before then but, like, Jounouchi pulling himself out of the gang really magnified the relationship they already had. I like thinking about Jounouchi having spent a lot of time at the Honda house/shop, and taking solace in the peace of it compared to the rest of the spaces in his life.I think Jounouchi having that space and that friendship was important. Quite frankly, I don’t think he would have managed to get out and /stay/ out of Hirutani’s circle without Honda’s support, and I think Honda was also lowkey the inspiration for Jounouchi wanting to, and coming to believe he could, pass the entrance exams for Domino High.

and also, idk, i don’t think Jounouchi is always able to return the favour to Honda in the way he wants to (i think he’s a little uncomfortable with how much of his dirty laundry Honda has seen, and he also really kind of prefers to be the one fussing over ppl and coming to their aid, so the fact that he and Honda’s relationship really developed under the opposite circumstance throws him off), but I also think he’s really protective and ‘hurt my bestie and die’ where Honda’s concerned. it’s so cute :’)

[rebelyeen]

It really only just occurred to me there are people who DON’T ship Ruby and Sapphire like .. . My boyfriend doesn’t even watch the show and he can tell they’re gay as hell like 

[gemsarentgay]

could you please go more into detail about what 'buddyship' means? i'm confused.

A Buddyship is a relationship where two individuals are buddies. That is a buddyship, and that is what Ruby and Sapphire are.