#Colette/Seffie

[twilightofthesandwiches]

... I am beginning to consider a Good Omens AU for Seffie/Colette. That's how you know it's becoming a top-tier ship for me.

[tanoraqui]

The whole Girl Genius fandom right now

[calmingpi]

Im gonna call them seffette i think but @aelloposchrysopterus pointed out that the ship name could also be coffee

Also ive never drawn seffette before what???

[professorsparklepants]

I wonder what the foglios will give me for my birthday this year... It won't be as good as polyamory flag page (THANK YOU CHEYENNE WRIGHT) but nothing ever will be so I'm not mad about it.

[lizasweetling]

Honestly, I'm becoming ever more serious about the possibility that Seffie might end us as Collette's consort in the end.

or at least her Advisor Plus Rumors (pointing at whatever the rumor mill is Calling Tarvek right now)

[johnconstantinesdick]

Here’s the promised Seffie meta—I wrote this after chapter 9 of Improbable Fiction, expanding on her queerness, relationship to Colette, and how she foils Gil. All under the cut!

So, in Improbable Fiction, Seffie’s queerness has been purposefully left ambiguous, and I would so dearly love to talk about why—some of this I was aware of when I was writing, and some of it is me finally putting words to my gut feelings. The main reason is this: when it comes to Seffie’s feelings for Gil, it doesn’t matter if she’s bisexual or a repressed lesbian or some other flavor of queer. It’s not relevant, because whatever the case is, her feelings still matter. Whether she’s experiencing romantic attraction or compulsory attraction, at the end of the day she deserves to have her experiences and feelings validated. Seffie has so often been treated as a pawn as a matter of course in her family. She’s so often been dictated to or groomed for certain positions or she’s just had it assumed what she feels or means or thinks that it almost felt… like I would just be going against the themes of her arc to say “well she’s a lesbian so these feelings weren’t REALLY a crush” or “she’s bisexual and her feelings for Gil are more valid because she CAN be attracted to men” or whatever because it doesn’t MATTER. what Seffie needs is to be listened to! Not interpreted by me to the readers, just Seffie laid bare, all confusion and hurt and righteous fury.

And it’s also why, while the ending of chapter 9 is very much intended to show that Colette and Seffie are In Lesbians, I firmly believe they didn’t actually kiss or officially get together or anything. It’s not the right TIME. if Colette were to confess to Seffie at a time like this, it would just show that they can’t be together because Colette doesn’t understand or respect Seffie—which she DOES. Seffie is coming off the high of her first love, true or not, and the heartbreak afterwards.

Gil has spent this entire time dismissing Seffie’s feelings. Part of that is just that it’s in his nature to be a little dismissive of other peoples feelings and bulldoze over them and focus on himself, but part of it is also that he thinks first of Seffie as Colette’s Love Interest, and thus He Can’t Be The One She Ends Up With. If Gil considers Seffie seriously and actually fully acknowledges that she has feelings that deserve to be validated if not reciprocated, then he’s going to have to run headfirst into the terrifying fact that he… doesn’t like her. And like sure yeah he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings so that’s a factor but it’s mostly that he’d have to deal with the fact that he’s incapable of loving her and he… doesn’t know WHY yet. He doesn’t really have the words to explain that he can’t feel those feelings now that he’s started to realize that people are actually serious about that stuff—he’s finally reaching the part of life that every arospec person goes through where it feels like you’re still stuck at thirteen not understanding that people aren’t joking or exaggerating their romantic interest or dating lives. Gil is standing at the edge of a realization and it’s terrifying!

And the thing is! Seffie and Gil are foils! Seffie isn’t that oblivious to Colette’s feelings on accident, she’s subconsciously ignoring them because then she’ll have to deal with how that makes her feel! Gil is acting the same way towards Seffie! And it’s why, at the end of the chapter, Seffie CAN’T reciprocate right away! The end of the chapter scene is about her finally acknowledging Colette’s feelings and her own suppressed ones, finally reaching an internal breaking point for herself and letting go of Gil and the willful ignorance! They’re on even footing now, and Seffie can finally have the space to start figuring herself out and figuring out how she feels separate from family pressure. Paris is very much a coming of age college story—nothing is going how anyone expected, everyone is trying to figure out where they stand and what they feel, and absolutely no one is getting enough sleep or making good decisions. Seffie isn’t done with her internal journey, she’s just at the START! She’s finally facing everything terrifying and raw in her heart and she can do that because she trusts Colette to listen to her and catch her when she falls. Colette sees her and knows her—not because they’re predestined true love, but because Colette looks and tries. Seffie is finally looking up and realizing that she’s had someone on her side this whole time.

They understand where they stand with each other, now, even without voicing it. Seffie is able to take that internal step because of that trust she has in Colette. They value each other enough to not ruin their friendship in the attempt at romance, to be careful with each other in moments of vulnerability. And that’s terrifying, for Seffie especially. But that’s not going to stop them from trying, and exploring this new facet of their relationship.

[ushas42]

When you just finished eating pussy but you have paperwork to do.

[the-knifeketeer]

I’m not shipping Seffie/Colette until the former gets some characterisation besides “sneaky, manipulative Valois” and “obsessing over Gil”.

It turns out that one-dimensional characters whose motivations revolve around men are really easy to hate.

[leletha-jann]

(Violetta your face)

Subtle we are NOT.

Pour one out for Seffie, having a courtship with her girl best friend stolen out from under her oblivious nose because her grandmother chose the worst possible time to enact her decades-spanning scheme to conquer Paris. Colette went from looking like she was about to offer a Politically Beneficial Proposition to cursing the entire Blitzengaard bloodline in less than 5 minutes. If Terebithia had waited for another year at most then she could’ve had Paris Herself as a granddaughter in-law.

I never actually thought mutual Colette/Seffie was deliberately being put on the table in canon but

Well I get to realize it was at the same time as Seffie apparently! Good luck out there girl lkfjsdlkjfsldkj.

[twilightofthesandwiches]

I think every woman in Europa knew Seffie is gay except Seffie herself

[calmingpi]

Girls in clothes

[professorsparklepants]

Rush hour at work so I can't elaborate but Seffie/Colette fanvid set to Good Luck Babe. You see the vision here. You see it.

[leletha-jann]

My vision, you have seen it. XD I believe in that, and I think it's going to happen.

Just...let me see her face when she realizes, first.

Apropos of nothing... (not a hint or a spoiler, just a thought)

Eventually Seffie's going to realize that Tarvek snookered her entire "marry Gil, rule the Empire" plan out from under her, and god I hope I'm there to watch the dawning realization cross her face.

Like, I like Seffie for who she is. But I don't like her so much that I'm not going to enjoy the hell out of the facial expressions.

[johnconstantinesdick]

[ID in Alt]

Improbable Fiction relationship chart for fun (obv some things change through the fic, and some were omitted bc I couldn’t think of anything snappy or funny. And to describe Tarvek & Anevka’s relationship is really just to rewrite the entire fic lol).

Text transcribed below

Tarvek>Gil: EX

Tarvek>Seffie: Favorite Cousin

Tarvek>Agatha: light in the darkness

Tarvek>Violetta: would die & kill for her

Gil>Tarvek: [10 yrs post-break-up] “what are we?”

Gil>Anevka: Ally/Damsel-In-Distress

Gil>Seffie: GUILT

Gil>Colette: best friend

Gil>Zeetha: (unknowing) cain instinct

Gil>Agatha: coolest girl he’s ever met

Gil>Violetta: desperately craving approval

Anevka>Gil: replacement brother

Anevka>Seffie: Favorite Cousin

Anevka>Violetta: burning jealousy

Seffie>Tarvek: silly little guy <3

Seffie>Gil: terrible taste in men

Seffie>Anevka: What the fuck, Anevka

Seffie>Colette: repressed gay yearning

Colette>Gil: companion in queer yearning

Colette>Seffie: unrequited love </3

Zeetha>Gil: (unknowing) cain instinct

Zeetha>Agatha: zumil!!! <3

Zeetha>Violetta: drinking buddy!

Agatha>Tarvek: “am I bisexual??”

Agatha>Gil: domesticating him like a dog

Agatha>Zeetha: favorite person in the entire world

Agatha>Violetta: intimidated by her

Violetta>Tarvek: would die & kill for him

Violetta>Gil: can & will kill him

Violetta>Anevka: jealousy (&fear)

Violetta>Zeetha: vibing

Violetta>Agatha: enjoys having a spark wary of her

[twilightofthesandwiches]

Seffie: Agatha, you’ve got to help me! Agatha: What happened?  Seffie: Grandma took over Paris from right under Colette’s nose and now Colette is mad at me because she thinks I was part of the plan and then I think she implied she had *feelings* for me and now I think I might have feelings for her too??? But I literally just realized it and she’s mad at me and thinks I’ve been intentionally seducing her as part of Grandma’s plan and I don’t know what to do???? Agatha: Wait Agatha: You’re telling me you and Collette weren’t *already* together?? Selfie: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[trinity-blaze]

Please, I beg you dear authors, let Seffie and Colette work this out

(My conspiracy brain is thinking that this is leading to Seffie making a big stand against Grandma)