#higgs x fragile

[bidonica]

Hey! I see you're into fragile/higgs ship and caught myself quite like them too recently (tho i've been in DS fandom already for a year and mostly thought about them as a friends)

Just wondering why do you like them? Do you have any headcanons/interesting thoughts? I'm very curious 👀

Hi! First of all apologies for the wall of text you're about to get, but unfortunately you came knocking at my door after I spent nearly two months ruminating about this ship basically by myself sooo I'm dumping it all here

Well the short (lol) version is that in my first playthrough I mostly just absorbed the characters and storyline, but by the time I got to their final scene on the Beach I was like wait a minute... their whole shared storyline feels way too loaded for them to simply have been business associates, that shit is personal, even Higgs wanting to damage Fragile feels way too pointed to just be justified by "he was a turncloak with a secret agenda." Now, I'm not against a "they were simply close friends" interpretation, it works just as well to explain the emotional weight of their falling out, BUT I also cannot ignore the zest, the flavor, the spice of them actually having been involved romantically at some point. And honestly going into my second playthrough with the shipping goggles on I can't help thinking that Fragile speaks about Higgs like he was an ex that hurt her, and the way that she is suspiciously cagey about the specifics of their relationship makes my ears shoot up like a German shepherd.

On a Doylist level I also find it interesting that Kojima gave Higgs extra backstory that connects him to Fragile in the Director's Cut, and also how the behind the scenes for the DS2 mocap show Troy and Léa sharing a scene... I think Kojima is not done intertwining their story and we'll get more info in the sequel.

Now for the headcanons... I have enough that I might or might not be writing a long-ish fic about it, but I want to finish this Director's Cut playthrough before completing it (I could just look stuff up on the wiki but that's not fun). Also I have some art in the pipeline about it that I hope to post within the week. Anyway, the bite sized version of how I envision their relationship:

I hc Higgs as being immediately attracted to Fragile but not really acting on it, while she develops her attraction after getting to know him a little. Then she's down bad but she doesn't even realize it until it's so obvious it hits her in the face

A few people at their joint Fragile Express/whatever Higgs' operation was called co-op assume they are an item long before anything ever happens, because they just hang out together a lot. They have a similar penchant for corny jokes and puns and enjoy some light banter; Fragile finds Higgs' flair for theatrics endearing, while he is drawn to how gentle she is because he has known so little softness in his life (also he thinks she's insanely pretty, which duh. It's self evident because Léa Seydoux) (it's his first serious girl crush anyway; I hc him as bi and as having had mostly experiences with men before her)

They bond over their DOOMS condition and Higgs is fascinated by Fragile's powers, while she is less enthused by all the collateral effects. In my hc, at this point she has yet to become as skilled at traveling through dimensions as she is in the game, which makes her reluctant to agree to Higgs' requests to show him the Beach. This sows the seeds of his resentment towards her, because he feels she has a privilege she doesn't make use of and doesn't want to share.

They are both pretty touchy feely (canon!) so when their relationship goes from friendly to romantic it gets physical immediately and enthusiastically. Yes even accounting for the worldwide lowered sex drive. If there's one thing I never do is put characters in horny jail 🫡

 I think Fragile got to know a version of Higgs that was quite different from what we see in the game, which you sort of can gauge from the more optimistic pages of his diary. Like there's a part of him who's starved for love and connection and a sense of belonging and gravitates towards people like Coffin (he never had a mother) and Fragile herself; ironically, the pull towards Amelie answers to the same need but in reality it feeds on his more nihilistic, call-of-the-void side. I'm not saying that Amelie brainwashed him or anything, but I think she saw what was already there – a  deep seated resentment towards a hostile world and towards those he feels got handed a luckier deal than he did, that he countered by clinging to the notion of being special because of his DOOMS, but then there's someone like Fragile who's even more special and doesn't seem to be doing much with it. Amelie gave him a chance to fulfill what he felt was his potential and shared her power with him, but the tradeoff was severing  the connections he had, "killing" the part of him that wanted to be loved to make space for what he perceived as a higher form of love ("I found someone who completes me" which he says to Fragile specifically like he wants to rub it in her face? Like she wasn’t  enough to fulfill that role?)

That’s why I think it’s significant that he lost his hands with his power-up, because the (holding, welcoming) hands are strongly associated with Fragile; and to me it makes sense if he purposely ruins her body also because it’s a way to stifle his attraction to her. There’s also a lot of projection because HE is the one who’s felt like damaged goods all along, who grew up being  crushed psychologically and physically. I also think that both of them coming close to annihilating the other but choosing not to – leaving them in a dicey situation but not entirely without escape – shows in some twisted way that their bond still exists, which makes me giggle and rub my hands like a nasty little goblin knowing we have another game coming.

So… That’s the gist of it. Sorry for rambling on but as I said, I don’t really get the chance to talk about this ship much – greetings from rarepair hell, etc.

[kaptorka-prod]

Short focal length chosen because of Sam's POV, so there might be some visual distortions.👀

[rey-of-luke]

At least this game will feed my goldenbridges / Sam x Fragile / Sam x Fragile x Higgs heart with more crumbs (hopefully).

[mandrakebrew]

Whumptober Day 2: Trust Issues

Pairing: Higg.s x Phoenix Words: 583 Rating: G Content Warning: OC x Canon

Masterpost

Prompt List

Summary: Higg.s reaches out to Phoenix after his death.

“Well, well, look what we have here.”

It was a voice Phoenix knew. There’s no way though, he’s dead. Is this another cruel dream?

They turn to look to where the voice came from. They see someone standing there, in some kind of orange… Armor?

“Didn’t ya miss me, Darlin’?” When he speaks again, they realize, yes, it’s Higgs.

They say nothing, studying him. If this is real, how? Their eyes travel down to his midsection. There’s something… Floating? Inside of it.

“I come all this way and you don’t have a thing to say to me.” There’s no bite to his complaint.

“What do you want?”

“I can’t come visit my other half?”

Phoenix folds their arms before answering, “Your ‘other half?’ I thought that was Her.”

That took the wind from his sails. He looks away, to some spot on the ground. His hands holding each other in front of his chest.

For a moment, he looks like the shy porter they met all those years ago.

“It wasn’t like that.” He speaks with an earnestness they haven’t seen from him in a long time.

Phoenix knows that. The nature of his feelings towards her didn’t really matter, though. He thought she had something that Phoenix couldn’t offer him, so one day he just went off and left them behind.

“Seriously, tell me why you’re here.”

“Come with me.” He suddenly closes the gap between them, looking them dead in the eyes now.

Their eyes widen, but they don’t move. “Excuse me?”

“Come with me, I have a plan. I’m gonna get back at the people who-” He pauses, glancing down at his body.

Phoenix, now with a closer look, has a sudden realization. “Are you a BT?” Their voice is quiet, in disbelief.

“… Something like that.”

They had mourned his death. Who exactly they blamed depended on the hour of the day. But here he was now, not dead. Mostly.

“So basically you want me to come with you now that you’re all alone?”

“You… You asked me to come with you, even when everyone else wanted me dead.”

“Gee, I wonder why they wanted that.” Phoenix responds, voice dripped in sarcasm and venom. They had begged Higgs to stop. To come back to them. Something they hated themselves for. Begging the man who had left without notice. Where the hell was their self respect?

“But you don’t.” Higgs said.

Phoenix stops. Of course not. Despite the heartbreak, despite him hurting Fragile, despite all the people he killed.

“No. But that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere with you. I thought I knew you, but I don’t.”

“Look, I’m-” He stares at them for a moment, before speaking again. “I’m sorry. Can I try to make it up to you? Please, Darlin’.”

It’s a trick, Phoenix tells themselves. Showing this soft side of himself, only to them, to make them think they’re special, that they can trust him because he trusts them.

Higgs trusts nobody. Except her, and look what happened.

Still, the idea of him truly wanting to make amends, truly trusting Phoenix to help him…

Things could never go back to the way they were, they know that. But if Higgs was being honest, they could have something like it. Maybe.

Goddammit, they missed him so much.

“Fine. But we have a lot to talk though.”

He lights up, whether the joy in his eyes is genuine or not Phoenix isn’t sure. But it’s beautiful all the same.

[xukies]

Higgs for the ask game

How I feel about this character

HIGGS ‼️‼️‼️‼️💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I am a huge "turn everything into a ship" person so like. Everyone LMAO. Samhiggs and Fragilehiggs are my faves, idk the ship name but him and Amelie have a super fun dynamic to play with. And also there's the good old "Higgs x veteran porter" and also "Higgs x the one random porter partner he mentions exactly once in his journals" my beloved 💜

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I really like the dynamic he has with Coffin and I hope we get to see more of it in ds2. HIS COFFIN IS SHAPED LIKE HER NECKLACE CMONNNNNNN she wouldn't have been added to the directors cut if her dynamic with Higgs and/or Fragile wasn't gonna be relevant

My unpopular opinion about this character

Honestly I think he should be stinkier 💜 I like higgs when he's at his most shittiest bastard person levels 💜💜 excited to see where he goes in ds2 cause he seems more chill but I am going to miss "unapologetically blowing up cities cause I want to" Higgs. I think he deserves to commit more crimes

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

Honestly his story is pretty solid there's nothing I necessarily wished happened I just wish we got to SEE more of it yknow? We know his backstory cause of the journals but I would've loved to see a little more of it so fingers crossed ds2 delivers 🤞

[ GIVE ME A CHARACTER ]

[bidonica]

me every time I find another figgs shipper in the wild

[majjiktricks]

Sam Porter Bridges for the ask game 👀

HI !!!! TY FOR THE ASK <3

How I feel about this character sam. my man. my poor guy. leave him alone hes been through enough. i want him to have a nice little house and a hot tub and to be able to just relax.

All the people I ship romantically with this character honestly? i dont have any strong feelings about sam ships. i think deadsam is cute and samhiggs is unrequited (really funny to me to have higgs desperate for a guy who wants nothing to do with him). the only ship i want for sam is sam x peaceful-life-with-his-kid

My non-romantic OTP for this character sam and fragile being friends… theyve both lost so much please let them find some solace in each others' company…

My unpopular opinion about this character i wouldnt know a popular opinion LOL hrm. i guess the one thing that tends to bother me in a lot of sam-centric art is when they ignore his touch-averseness. like yeah okay its usually for ship reasons and i cant fault people for having fun but. it does feel like people are erasing a bit of what makes sam a unique character. i think its possible to explore some interesting situations when touch is explicitly forbidden, that affection can be expressed other ways. its possible sam may recover from his condition given enough time and mental health counseling but given the state of the world in death stranding im not sure thats going to happen 😅

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon. ive been reading the books and getting to hear sam's internal monologue is so funny. i wish the game wouldve had some way to implement that because he really has some wild shit floating around in there.

send me a character!

[unsolvedghoulboyz]

I love em sm

Been a while since I drew them, but here they are, very much in love with each other and their cozy winter sweaters. :3

[kaptorka-prod]

"Careful, the contents are fragile."

[vyragosa]

about higgs x amelie romantically, i think it’s not there because it’s pretty clear he wants to be her, even the pizza mail where he is faking a lovers quarrel he is imagining an argument in his head and it mentions a sister too, as everything else really, he is always projecting on people may it be fragile, amelie or even sam

he wants her powers to be her and that’s the reason she stopped replying to his questions as well, she bit more than she could chew by making him her “homo demens” not realizing he wants to devour everything in his path like starved men used to only surviving do.

this is about devouring a god

not being devoured by a god

[fictionkinfessions]

Hmm. Lets see. I had Sam as my father, my dad. And then there was deadman, who was like.. my dad-adjacent, my pa, the amazing guy i saw every now and again. And Fragile, my mom-adjacent, my ma. and then Higgs, my beach mentor parental guy. then Amelie, my fake aunt grandma. and then Cliff, my granddad. then my dead bio mom who died before I was born. and then Heartman, and Lockne & Mama(or as I liked to call them both, Lockma.) they all just dotted on me ALL the time. and Diehardman, who always treated me like the fragilest thing in the world.

I think I had too parental figures which leaves me Confused and Lost in this life. Also explains why my fellow porters could never figure out who I was talking about.

- your residential Lou/BB-28 (Death stranding)

x

[inhabitedselfshipper-afterdark]

Character X Insert Dynamics:

These are the only characters I'll post in a spicy way. I don't age down my F/Os. I like them how they are-

Apex Legends

Octane and Blitz

Bloodhound and Blitz

Fuse and Blitz

Mirage and Blitz

Call of Duty

König and Civi

Gaz and Mutt

Price and Mutt

Death Stranding

Higgs and Tommie

Fragile and Amber

Dislyte

Stewart and [???]

Jacob and [???]

Spiderverse

Miguel and Dancer

Spot and SpiderBlossom

Other

Sebastian and Null

[vandelopa-x]

Alright but can we also talk about the fact that Higgs apparently wanted to get revenge on Fragile and Sam but he like, kept flirting with Sam during their meeting 😭 Like he literally winked at him and all, I swear I'm not crazy the tension WAS THERE

Kinda reminds me of all these times when Kojima retweeted Sam x Higgs fanart on his main. Maybe he took inspiration from it too, compared to everything that was in the trailer, Higgs having an active crush on Sam after all this time is like one of the only normal things that's in these games 😭

It’s the way he’s grown his hair out like Amelie and he’s wearing her necklace for me idk im just constantly thinkin about it

[bidonica]

It's interesting to me that Sam and Fragile Deathstranding are allies, pretty much only have positive interactions and even a "haha hope you don't mind that I used your shower" scene, they are hinted at raising Lou together in the sequel trailer, and the fandom said you know what. I'll ship either of them with the chaotic ratboy antagonist and/or put Norman Reedus in some old man yaoi with acclaimed film directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn instead

[astrandofgold]

peter x fragile