#ships r63

[rainofdauwuand0w0]

Hehe noice! UwU

Twipie Ship Varieties. Thus completes the twi/mane 6 ship varies.

[blood-gulch]

red vs blue season 14 episode 16 "Head Canon" did so much for me like personally. but i wish we got blue team in it too.

[hellwurld]

Oh my god. So I binge read ur lesbian!lawstappen works because they are literally my girls and im a lesbian who loves evil blondes. Idea: evil blondes take the 2025 fia awards. It’s up to you to decide how the 2025 season goes but however it goes they show up to the fia award ceremony arm in arm (teammates rivals lovers who cares they’re gay they tick all the boxes) Liam is. Insane. The dress idk what vibe but like. She looks amazing. And she’s forced max to be presentable and the two of them. I’m thinking contrasting colour schemes but sharing accessories. Just them at an awards ceremony or fancy event and them both just gay panicking over the other in their own way.

OHHHH ur speaking my language you really are !!! i loveeee dressy lesbians and i love fashion and i love being a general nuisance to formal events so this ticks all my boxes.

2.6k. Teen. Cross-posted to AO3.

Max is used to running late for things.

Not because she's especially bad at time management, but because she usually can't be bothered to try and show up on time. Most events can't really start without her, and if they can, they're not really events she wants to be attending anyway. She likes the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony, sure, but that comes with the condition of her winning. If Max wasn't winning, and therefore the one being given a prize, Max would've much rather ditched. So, Max waits until the last second because she can, takes her time on the roads because she can, and shows up about three to fifteen minutes later than her team ever wants her to, give or take.

Max is used to running late for everything, save for races. This, of course, is always on purpose, and is always a statement. Max, frankly, would love to run late to the 2025 Prize Giving Ceremony, because she won, sure, but the FIA had been a pain in everyone's ass this year, especially her own, and she would've liked to stick it to them a bit.

Unfortunately, Max is taking Liam as a date this year. Which is unfortunate purely because Liam cares so much about being on time, and Max cares about Liam so much that she’s not even angry that her plans for revenge are being spoiled. It’s honestly kind of gross, because Max isn’t even grossed out at herself for it. It’s like having a crush all over again, like being those teenagers in the movies Max had made fun of. She trails after Liam like a puppy, lets Liam drag her to events on time and lets Liam make her seem domesticated and kind and non-threatening in the media. She lets Liam dress her up. It’s disgusting, and Max likes it so much.

Max is not used to dressing up. She hated frills and sequins and tulle as a child, found it uncomfortable and itchy, and when her dad put her in karting, there wasn’t a place for it. Her mom used to put her in beautiful clothing, not feminine but high quality, cashmere sweaters and child-fitted denim and sweet little sneakers. These things would get ruined at the track, so Max never took them, and so Max began to live in her hoodies and tees and whatever jeans fit well enough. It’s not like her father was particularly fashionable, and Red Bull never required more than the rare formal suit from her. They would’ve preferred a dress, obviously, but Max told them to fuck themselves and wore a suit, and just keep wearing that suit.

Liam —obviously, with her vintage and her curated wardrobes of shoes and denim and designer, with her personal stylist and personal nail artist— takes Max a bit out of her shell fashion-wise. Nothing crazy, but nicer sneakers, more designed and graphic and adventurous tees. She finds Max jeans that fit nicely, jeans with red and gold embroidery along the pockets and the hems. She pushes Max towards a haircut that isn’t fucked up pixie cut combined with little boy, asks her to maybe quit it with the hats on occasion.

Liam took one look at the three suits that Max had used in rotation since she started in Formula One and sighed. “I’m calling my stylist,” She had said, and left absolutely zero room for argument. Max wouldn’t have argued anyway. At this point in her career, she knows when she’s beat.

So, it is three hours before the ceremony, and Max is on her way to Liam’s apartment, which is really just Alex’s apartment, because Liam moved in with Alex as a test for if she actually wants to live in Monaco, but Alex isn’t home, with Lily or something, so it’s Liam’s apartment then. Max is getting ready three hours before the ceremony, which she usually waits until she has thirty  to fifteen minutes until she has to be there. It’s a strange feeling, especially because she is entirely underdressed, not even bringing the shoes that she’s going to wear because Liam insisted on getting everything for her. Max, once she gets there, tentatively pushes the door open, looking around for Liam.

“Liam?” Max calls out, standing awkwardly in the doorway, in just her sweatpants and a Red Bull tee, toeing her shoes off because Liam insists on it. 

“In here!” Liam calls out from the bathroom, and Max takes a few steps before Liam starts yelling again. “Wait, wait! Don’t come in, just... Go sit! On the bed!” Max turns to wander into Liam’s room, which was once the guest room. Liam’s taken it over though, with her racks of clothing and shelves of shoes and bags and hats and belts. Her bed is layered with thick comforters, plush and heavy, and Max sinks into it. She fiddles on her phone a bit, as Liam makes more noise in the bathroom. It takes her almost an hour before she’s rushing into the bedroom.

“Hello,” Liam heaves, and Max looks up and— Yeah, okay, whatever! Liam is beautiful. Which Max knew, obviously, since before they were half-dating, half-hooking-up, and fully teammates. But, sometimes, it still shocks Max, in the way that winning grand prixs and championships will never wear off in its joy. Liam’s hair is curling over her shoulders sweetly, the front pieces of her hair being pulled back into a circlet of braids, pinned in the back with golden pins in the shapes of wings. Her makeup is glittery and enchanting, an ombre of navy blue and deep red and gold shimmer, a red, glossy lip, and long lashes. She looks like a princess, even in a sports bra and boxers. She rushes past Max, trailing her fingers through Max’s hair as she passes, and Max just watches, her mouth a little dry and her head a little light.

“Hi,” Max replies, belatedly, but Liam doesn’t notice. She’s whipped open the doors to her closet, taking out two dry cleaning bags and tossing them next to Max on the bed. She digs further, and takes out two pairs of shoes, a lacy, guazy heel and a dark, almost pitch, blue loafer. She doesn’t throw these at Max, thankfully.

“What time is it?” Liam asks distractedly, and Max hums, checking her phone.

“Two hours early,” Max says, in lieu of an actual time, and Liam nods. 

“Good, then we have enough time to get dressed and get there and be twenty minutes early.” Liam says, and Max does not groan, but only because she likes Liam enough to not complain. She also understands that Liam has committed herself to doing the talking tonight, to the sponsors and the FIA and the other drivers, so all Max has to do is show up, look as non-bitchy as possible, accept her championship trophy for the fifth year in a row, and go home. Easy. Liam begins to put on her shoes, supporting her foot on the bed as she tucks her foot into the mesh-like material of the red shoe, embroidered and looking entirely unsupportive. Liam looks incredibly comfortable in them though, and Liam takes her boxers off, and pulls up the shapewear she forced Max to understand the other night. Then, and only then, does she unzip the dry cleaning bags, which Max awaits with bated breath.

It’s beautiful. Obviously. It’s pale and a little see-through and entirely more avant-garde than anything Max had seen at these events in a long time. It’s structured, corseted, with a beaded, beautiful heart on the bust, with strands of gold stretching out like the sun from it. 

“You would not believe,” Liam starts, slipping it out of the bag and stepping into it carefully, “the amount of effort it took to get this approved. I mean, honestly, the FIA should know my deal, at this point! But, no, they said it didn’t ‘count as black tie’” Liam scoffs, air quoting with one hand as the other holds up her dress in the front. She waves to Max to get up, gesturing at the laces in the back. Max heaves herself up and tightens as Liam continues to rant, half bent over the bed. “Which is such bullshit! They let men wear the same disgusting suits that barely count as tuxedos every year, and they let girls wear essentially American prom dresses every year, but I want something that goes a little above my ankle and it’s a no go! I got it, obviously, but truly, I think they have something out for me!” Max hums and nods at all the right intervals, before patting Liam on the back in a manner of saying it’s as tight as possible, I can do nothing more. Liam takes a deep breath, and thanks Max in an exhale. Max nods, kissing Liam’s shoulder before turning her around.

“How do I look?” Liam asks, breathlessly beautiful and enchanting. Her waist is tiny and her face is porcelain, and she looks delicate but also incredibly, wildly strong. Max wants to trap her in a birdcage. Max wants Liam to slam her into a wall.

“Like you are trying way too hard,” Max says, in lieu of any of that, because she has a reputation to upkeep. Liam laughs, a little smaller than usual because she can’t exactly inhale fully, but Max bathes in it anyway.

“Alright,” Liam says teasingly, “But it’s your turn now.” Max does groan this time, as Liam insists on Max shutting her eyes for the surprise of it all.

“You’re very lucky, Max,” Liam says, as she wrestles Max’s tee over her head, “You are very easy to make look polished, you just never try. Tom Ford and Gucci’s people are also much easier to deal with than Paulo’s, but I suppose that’s the issue with talking to bridal designers. So entitled, really.” Max doesn’t catch any of that, so she just hums, lifting her legs as Liam slips her sweatpants off and slips more dressy, structured pants on. Max nearly trips over her, but Liam just giggles and leads Max’s hands to her bare shoulders which, okay, Max can be normal about that. Liam guides Max’s arms through the sleeves of a button up, which she buttons over Max’s chest, and then into a vest, and then into a suit jacket. Max, subconsciously, feels over the fabric, and it’s soft. Nice. Comfortable.

“Okay,” Liam says softly, “Makeup might be a lot to ask of you, so we won’t be doing it. You can look...” She drags Max across the room, where Max knows a mirror is, “Now.”

Max opens her eyes. 

It’s a nice suit. Velvet, Max thinks. It’s a dark, dark blue, and it’s all velvet, including the vest. The only non-velvet, non-blue item, is a pale, creamy button up. Max looks nice. She looks dressy, stylish, but she doesn’t look feminine. It’s a good feeling. Liam nudges the shoes into Max’s feet, and Max slips into them fairly easily.

“It’s based on the 96 Fall/Winter show suit,” Liam says, to fill the silence, “But, I mean, obviously we couldn’t do red. We can’t feed the Ferrari rumors, after all, so Lenora asked for them to make it in blue, or at least direct us to something similar. They made it for us, though. Thank God for money and persuasive stylists, I guess.” Max nods, before realizing she should say something.

“I like it.” Max swallows, because she doesn’t quite know how to make it mean more. Liam seems to get it though, leaning to kiss Max’s neck. She leaves a bit of lip gloss, but neither of them move to wipe it off. They stare into the mirror for a bit, silently, but Liam blinks out of it eventually, moving her hand over Max’s throat. Max swallows.

“You need something here,” Liam says, and Max chokes down her natural response of your hand would be great, because, well— Time and place. Maybe later. Liam flutters to her jewelry, tossing a couple thick gold pieces at Max, vintage watches repurposed into necklaces. “Pick one of those,” Liam says absentmindedly, before she amends, “Pick a good one of those.” Max picks an entirely gold one, and Liam hums approvingly, as she piles her own hands with layers of gold rings, wrapping gold wire around her finger up to her wrist in a faux-bangle stack. Liam goes between two identical smelling perfumes, spends at least fifteen minutes choosing between four also identical red leather bags, and then throws on something that looks a bit like a fitted sheet and a comforter mixed together as a shawl/scarf/some-other-fucking-thing.

“You ready?” She asks Max, like she wasn’t the one taking hours. Max smiles.

“Course,” She says, and she means it, and they both rush out into the elevator and into the private garage, in an effort to not be seen before the runway. It’s fun, if an FIA event could ever be fun. Max supposes that Liam makes things fun.

formulafemme

[Photo of Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen arriving at the 2025 FIA Prize Giving Ceremony. Max has a pair of sunglasses pushing back her hair, and Liam is holding onto her arm a la a princess and her prince.]

OH IM GAGGED OHHHH IM GAGGEDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

#SOMEBODY SEDATE ME!!!!!!!!! #fashion #f1

dykestappen

[A video clip of Max Verstappen, in her velvet suit, being interviewed before entering the FIA Ceremony. The journalist asks her about the departure from her usual suit, and Max laughs and blushes, gesturing to Liam a few feet from her, saying: “Oh, it’s all her! Her and her stylist dressed me like I was a, er— doll, today. They had... a lot of fun, obviously, and so did I!” From off-camera, Liam says: “Oh, don’t forget to thank Tom Ford and Gucci! They made that custom!”]

i would like to thank liam lawson for giving us max in more than her normal ugly ass suits... doing the lords work for lesbians everywhere

#liam getting her butch lesbian a custom gucci suit ohhh i see u queen #god obsessed with them

lawsbian

[A photo of Liam and Max, tucked into each other on the runway, uncaring of cameras. They’re giggling, and Max is ducked down far into Liam’s personal space.]

I AM GOING TO KILL MYSELF THEY’RE SO BEAUTIFUL

#do they need a third #or a servant #or a dog #i will apply for any position available

lawstappen

[Video of Liam Lawson, speaking about Max’s outfit: “Oh, it was so fun! Me and Lenora, my stylist, had such a good time with it. I think she looks beautiful too, don’t you? No, don’t answer that, I get jealous. (She winks and laughs.) No, I’m joking obviously, she is very beautiful. I am glad she is wearing something that shows that. We got ready together and you could clearly see the change in confidence. I think good clothing changes people.]

#im not even going to comment on this #SHES CRAZY #her calling herself jealous... i know what u are

fashionarchive

[Four photos of Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen on the red carpet for the FIA Ceremony. They’re attached at the hip in every photo, with the last photo being Liam laughing, her head tucked into Max’s shoulder.]

Formula One athletes and married couple Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen on the red carpet for the 2025 FIA Prize Giving Ceremony. Liam Lawson in Paulo Sebastian A/W 2025, and Max Verstappen in custom Gucci, in the style of the 1996 Fall Collection red velvet suit.

wisconsingrandprix

theyre not married

fashionarchive

then why are they acting like that 😐

[usatokkiss]

pleading face emoji

[gophergal]

... I'm sorry I just love the Big Woman/Smaller Man visual dynamic

[Pillowfort]

[butchybats]

fem!armand/eleni aka lesbian children of darkness era!!! 🫣😦🥹

PUTTING THE LES INTO LES INNOCENTS!! 🥹

[strawberry-daiquiris]

having a severe attack of the niche ships again, help. want to write a r63 piastrell for an audience of 3.5 people. can’t even blame it on february anymore.

[bright-and-burning]

thank you wren @foggieststars my belovedest for tagging me. very fitting considering our convos inspired half the fics i wrote this year LOL. ao3 wrapped 2024!!!

i have not been the most active the last 2 weeks so i have no idea who has been tagged... throwing out some no-pressure tags: @freeuselandonorris @elementalmoments @wormeo-and-juliette @userkritaaay

in chronological order, the fics i posted this year are:

relax and catch the manic rhapsody (fond freak oscar x curly girl lando)

a lobby with nine hundred windows (spooky landoscar doppelganger nonsense)

cut out the middle man (landoscar shotgunning weed)

all those static codes in the radio abyss (bad day curly girl lando x guy who pays attention oscar)

begging hands knees please (landoscar first time bottoming + bruises)

dive down deeper still (landoscar a/b/o knot drunkenness)

but my tracks are better (landoscar a/b/o free use somnophilia)

the light between the lines (telepath oscar x bitter lando fighting sci fi demons and uncovering government secrets)

feels good it's a heavy copacetic (landoscar overstim + self-bondage)

wearing nothing but glitter and lashes (r63!landoscar ft vibrators and a lot of orgasms)

holy sick divine nights (landoscar dream sharing hurt/comfort ft choking) (literally posted Today, i knew i was holding back on doing this tag game for a reason)

let's not discuss the lack of variety. shall we.

-

works published: 12 (11 fics, 1 zine)

subscriptions: 128 (which is i believe exactly 120 more than i started the year with!!! sorry to those 8 from my ted lasso days who are probably no longer subscribed. lol)

kudos: 2,962

comment threads: 160

bookmarks: 1,144 (chewis number...)

word count: 35,692

hits: 33,447

--

top 3 fics by kudos:

begging hands knees please

but my tracks are better

dive down deeper still

top 3 fics by word count:

the light between the lines (10.8k)

relax and catch the manic rhapsody (5.7k)

holy sick divine nights (3.6k)

top 3 ships:

landoscar (11)

...does it count that i allude to glance in tlbtl. and logan/george/alex in manic rhapsody.

technically the zine i made had brocedes, charlos, maxiel, and landoscar?

top 3 tags:

there are seven tags i use twice (magical realism, r63, multiple orgasms, overstim, a/b/o dynamics, vibrators, and under-negotiated kink)

and no repeats otherwise. lol

my fave tag this year was "idiots to lovers but in 2k and they're fucking for 95 percent of it" tho

im. genuinely so proud of myself for this year. from april (aka when i posted my first f1 fic) on i posted something on ao3 in every month except august. i really pushed myself this year to write things i couldn't have conceived of writing in january. or in july, even. first smut, first really truly plotty fic, first... whatever the hell holy sick divine nights is... thank u all for coming along on this journey with me!!!! much more journeying ahead of us <3

[neutrallyobsessed]

I Don't Ship It But It's Pretty Good~~ UuU

• What made you ship it?/Why don't you ship it?

You want to ship a lawyer with a prosecutor THAT badly?? Ok, this is a good start! Apollo likes 'em fancy and well kept and glasses, that's Edgeworth right there!

I still prefer Apollo lean into the evil violet and Miles Hetworth is too damn good yo =w=

• What are your favorite things about the ship?/What would have made you like it?

RED/RED SHIP BABYYYY, nice color coordination we love to see it! And overall it just makes sense for Apollo to feel something for Miles, unlike the Lawyers, he has never dissapointed him and even when he was accused of murder or lost his badge, Edgeworth triumphed at the end!!

It's very very perfect ngl, this ought to be a job for Myles~~ (that's R63!Edgeworth btw x3)

• Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?/Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Well, like I said, best Apollo x M!Prosecutor ship everyone else is just plain wrong and don't have taste ;P (ah re conchuda :vv)

Edgepollo tastes like: Champagne Rosé! It is elegant and fancy with a delicious subtle feisty-ness that really makes it pop. It's also one of the few alcoholic beverages that didn't taste bad the first few sips and was able to drink a small glass of it, on a good way they are~!

[bubblegum-blackwood]

Armand Ship Fest ~ Armand/Lestat

more r63 you can't stop meeeee

[meightyone]

thoughts on r63 oscarmark? (either way around or even both tbh)

there is a grave shortage of it... and honestly that includes the inside of my brain. mark/femoscar would be committed grossmaxing but it doesn't really compel me. if we're only r63'ing one of them i do prefer femmark/oscar... but that's mostly just because i have something wrong with me sweatemoji. i'm usually all or nothing if i genderbend ships - concolor vroombeams is a great fic and i think captures the right vibe for lesbian oscarmark

i really hope this doesn't sound pretentious or something but as much as i love r63 art when it comes to the inside of my brain i don't tend to genderbend unless there's something i can get out of them being the other gender that i can't in their current state. i need Purpose i need to be Moved to action. and i haven't found anything to scratch that itch with oscarmark. but again that's just in my own brain and i'd love to see more art/fic from people more creative than me

[hellwurld]

you vs the girl he tells you not to worry about

7.3k, 1/2 chapters

Charles surrounds herself with pretty people. It’s not conscious, and it’s not even from a judgmental standpoint. It is largely because she is an athlete with majority athlete friends, so most of her friends are going to be, at the least, fit. Strength and athleticism aren’t the only qualifiers to beauty, obviously, but there is always beauty in strength and drive, which is what all of Charles’s friends have, men and women. It is a strategic move, because if Charles is just as pretty as everyone else in her circle, then the focus will be on her talent, on her brain, on her career, which is far more pleasant to talk about than her looks. Esteban Ocon is not part of Charles’ circle for many reasons, but a big one, a main one, is that Esteban Ocon is not pretty. Esteban Ocon is fucking gorgeous, and there is a difference between the two, no matter how much everyone else wants to pretend there isn't.

you are charles leclerc, and you are a very pretty girl, but your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend is the most gorgeous woman in the world. you think he might still be in love with her. you think you might be in love with her. you get another drink

[usatokkiss]

g…. girls…. 🙈

[maroonshirt81]

My Fics Masterpost

WIP:

A Court of Thorns and Slumber (landoscar)

One Shots:

Am I No Joke to You? (carcar)

Have I No Worth to You? (carcar)

spanish accent (probably fake)... (carcar)

Watering Lando's Orchid (carcar)

Sandwich + Sandwich (double-stuffed) (carlandoscar, r63)

Tumblr ficlets:

ao3 masterpost

carlos can read minds (carcar)

soulmates/meet ugly (carcar)

cruise ship (carcar)

burger restaurant (carcar)

valentine's day (carcar)

post-aus25 hurt/comfort (carcar)

(coming up...)

carcar Shapeshifter (request fill)

Sandwich (deconstructed)

Oscar/fem!Carlos (request fill)

[sunriseverse]

soooo how DO u write fem aus that don't feel stilted and ooc? :O

hello anon i owe you my LIFE thank you for asking <3 this is a topic i have a lot of feelings on. i'm not like, the One True Fem AU Rules Maker, obviously, but i think that having a multitude of fem au fics and getting praised on my ability to write canon male characters in character in fem aus gives me the right to have some thoughts on the topic.

okay, to start with: my complaints on things that i've spent over a decade running into. historically, i've found that fem aus tend to have a couple persistent problems across fandoms (and i do mean across fandoms—i've seen these in everything from massive fandoms like marvel, middling ones like pacrim, and tiny cnovels). in my experience, usually they boil down into two flavours: "that's not [xyz character], that's a female oc with his name slapped on" and "oh, you just have no idea how most real sapphics live, do you?". oftentimes these two are entwined; it makes for an off-putting, often cringe-inducing experience as a lesbian trying to read something that's supposedly meant to speak to my experiences—and this is a shame, because often the concept of whatever the fic's plot is is pretty interesting!

(i should specify that i have no experience with het shipping for fem aus—when i say “fem au” i mean all parties romantically and/or sexually involved are women* and that the dynamic is a sapphic and/or lesbian one. also i haven’t seen (much) het shipping with r63 since i started to aggressively curate my online experience—though i remember when i was younger it was often a way for fanfic authors to get around the squeamishness of shipping two men.)

the "that's an oc with a canon name" problem: this is the one i see the most often. for reasons i cannot fathom (i can. it's misogyny), a lot of people writing fem aus come off as, rather than writing "what if these men were women", instead writing the idea of male characters as Women, since, as we all know, Those Soft Pink Women are an entirely different class than Big Strong Men. it's gender essentialism, to be blunt—sure, not an insidious manifestation of it, but one which reinforces misogynistic, sexist stereotypes nonetheless. instead of considering ways a character's traits would remain as a woman, they're reduced to Idea Of Woman. i should specify—i'm not saying that men and women don't often have different lived experiences, especially when it comes to gendered social expectations and what's permitted/not permitted by society. but what often gets missed is that a lot of things can remain the same. you've met a gnc woman, haven't you? i'm not going to get into specific things like "should you change a character's name in a fem au?" because i think that in a lot of cases you can make arguments either way; my point is that, if a character is stubborn and argumentative as a man, why can't they be as a woman? if they're toxic as a man, or passive-aggressive, or intensely emotional, what stops a female version of them being like that?

(and to go on a tangent, of course, if you keep these "unfeminine" traits, you instantly have the opportunity to do some really fun exploration—if this character is one who actively tries to conform to their gender as a man, how do they handle this? how do the people around them treat them differently (or not!) for being "unfeminine" in personality? assuming, of course, that those traits are even considered unfeminine; it's very cultural.)

a note i'd like to add here is that, if you want to keep a character from being ooc as a woman, it's a good idea to keep their dynamic(s) with key characters in canon as canon-typical as possible. of course, this isn't always going to be possible; sometimes, dynamics are a certain way because of gendered presuppositions/assumptions, but that, too, can be something that makes it feel more real! however, i should say that, generally, if you're making a slash ship femslash, unless there's a very compelling reason (and i've almost never run into one), keeping their canon dynamic as best as possible will make not only their relationship, but the characters themselves feel more in character.

the "have you ever met an actual sapphic" problem: this one, i'll emphasise, isn't restricted to any type of person—i hate to break this stunning news, but even if someone isn't straight, this doesn't exclude them from writing something worthy of showing up on what i've personally dubbed "r/straightpeoplewritingsapphics" (and, i should be upfront, some of my early femslash aus suffer from this as well, because i hadn't really ever met any other sapphics, so all i had to go off of was stereotypes around sapphics and sapphic relationships). but i think this stems largely from the fact that fem aus almost never get much traction—so they aren't discussed in wider fanon, so there aren't examinations of dynamics happening the way they do for slash, so writers aren't prompted to critically analyse their depictions, so the depictions tend to be one dimensional or skewed or just badly ooc and feeling unrealistic, et cetera, and into infinity.

however, i think another problem is that, similar to the problem i raised earlier with writing what feels like ocs, is that instead of writing about sapphics, people are writing about the Idea Of Sapphics. i see people go into long internet research rabbitholes to make slash ships make sense for the time period, or culture, read and watch and investigate personal accounts by lgbt men about their lives and relationships, etc—and yet, i don't see people doing the same for female characters as often, let alone sapphics and sapphic relationships for fem aus. and i don't mean that you have to read critical feminist theory and writings about lesbian eroticism if you want to write a 3k oneshot fem au; i just mean that the experiences of sapphics, especially lesbians, are not given importance, even when it comes to portraying us. if you were writing about firefighters, wouldn't you consider how their lives might be different from, say, a doctor? and yet, often, fem aus feel like two (or more) straight women who kiss each other and maybe have sex—hyperfeminine, highly gender conforming, without any connection to other sapphics, sapphic culture, sapphic history, sapphic experiences. you've seen the complaints about two actresses giving the most pursed-lip kiss when they're supposed to be romantically and sexually involved—this is, in my opinion, the fanfic version of that. if you want to portray sapphics and sapphic relationships better—don't make assumptions! read posts or watch videos or read novels or watch films or read manhwa etc etc by and about sapphics and sapphic experiences. if you're not sapphic, it'll help give you a better idea of portraying sapphics; if you are sapphic, you'll probably learn new things and find a greater sense of community! (this is what happened to me—being a lesbian who loves and is friends with and spends time in lesbian spaces is so much better than being an isolated lesbian as a young teen!)

however, i'll leave on a bright note! i've found that, historically, for danmei novels, fem aus tend to be more in character and realistic feeling—hualesbians, for one, and shl fem au fics, for another. i think this has a bit to do with the fact that danmei novel fans tend to be more likely to be sapphic, or at least spend time around sapphics, and fem aus are just more common to start with.

anyway, thank you for the ask!

[madtomedgar]

I know we are all tired of this way of describing things but "Lesbian Hornblower in Space" would actually be amazing because the sci-fi setting would allow you to keep a lot of the important and appealing things about age-of-sail fiction while also allowing you to make the story exactly as woman-centric as the original is man-centric. If you go the solar sails route you can even keep some of the ship porn. Just saying I think there should be way more spacefaring stories that are just r63 age of sail fanfic with the serial numbers filed off.