#two very handsome worsties

[maximura]

[danse--macabre]

bloodweave for the ask game you reblogged!

ship ask game

Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

I actually didn't particularly care for Bloodweave until I read First Light by Linnetagin, which is a largely Gale-focussed multi-chapter piece that is an exploration of his emotional/mental state and difficulties with his trauma in Act 2 while running alongside Bloodweave. With other Astarion ships, I've struggled to find pieces focussed on the other partner's perspective, issues, trauma, etc. so it was really refreshing to find something so Gale-centric. It definitely warmed me towards it (though I do wish there was more Gale content which was not Astarion-ship focussed in general)

Also, while many Bloodweave fans lean towards the 'toxic old man yaoi' elements and the 'make him worse' possibilities where they hate each other but are doing favours for each other and/or fucking - which I fully respect - that never quite clicked in place for me until I read First Light, where they were good to each other first. Part of my initial problem with this ship was that I couldn't really 'see it' - Gale doesn't particularly warm to Astarion in game, his blood tastes of bile to Astarion, and I couldn't really imagine what the banter would entail. Like, it's all well and good that Gale/Astarion might encourage each others' worst tendencies - but why do they actually like each other? How do they go from worsties to lovers?

However, I feel like First Light unpicks how these prickly, erudite companions might shift from constantly needling each other into playful banter that becomes affectionate. It made me see how they could also be tender to each other. And personally speaking? I think 'make him worse' and 'tragic romance' works best when you can see a way out - when, in an alternate universe, things might not have been so terrible. Seeing that helped me then be able to appreciate and enjoy darker takes on the dynamic.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Playful, erudite banter including multiple disagreements over poetry and fashion

Astarion being a temperamental, stand-off-ish, cat-like person that Gale knows exactly how to get from pouting to purring on his lap

(including delightful behaviours like Astarion sitting on Gale while he is reading. Astarion then pulls out his own book to read to add to the ridiculousness of this)

Astarion attempting to encourage Gale to be more chaotic/mischievous/worse and being surprised when Gale actually is more than capable of being such things

Astarion being somewhat thrown by how in Act 3 Gale does not seem to particularly care about morality as much any more now that Mystra is something he doesn't seem to need to appease and the crown is in the picture - and he dances between 'this is convenient' and 'this is troubling; i care about this person enough to be disquieted by it'

The hilarity of Astarion being Gale's trophy husband that lounges in a tower all day looking pretty

Astarion helps Gale dress up like a princess for his various wizard balls and events and enjoys watching his boyfriendhusband dazzle his academy peers and everyone else from the sidelines - as they should, he is very dashing and handsome especially with his help

The tragedy of spawn!Astarion and god!Gale as an ending and how that would end in a catastrophic divorce

Sexually speaking, I think it's an interesting dynamic - Astarion desires control + Gale wants to give everything, and I think it's interesting to imagine how those roles might shift as the two of them come to genuinely care for each other, e.g. Astarion might give Gale the reigns after a certain degree of trust, Gale will make pains to care for Astarion's actual wants/needs rather than projected sexual fantasies, and Astarion might also turn around and say 'you do not need to try this hard all the time you know, actually', in response to having his boundaries about not having sex respected. I also think they could have some very fun spicy sex once they get comfortable with each other and their needs.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Is 'it's overrated' an unpopular Bloodweave opinion? I like it well enough but I think I prefer other dynamics for both characters. I also think there's a level of extrapolation going on from a dynamic that could be true rather than a dynamic that is really baked into the text - if you look at their dialogue, they don't flirt as much as some of the other companions (compare the amount of flirty lines Astarion and Wyll have about each other), and they don't necessarily get on as well as some pairs of characters - for example: Gale & Lae'zel or Astarion & Karlach.

In the case of Gale, I feel like a lot of fan art and writing has Astarion attached, and I wish we had more without Astarion (though this complaint could be made about Wyll and probably half the party too, let's be honest with ourselves).

I think there's an element of 'pair the spares' going on here - if you pair Lae'zel/Shadowheart and Wyll/Karlach (two very popular ships for fairly obvious reasons), there's Astarion/Gale left. I think there's also an element of 'pair the two white guys regardless of chemistry' going on as well (and I say this as a fan! I like this ship! but a lot of it is based on ifs and buts compared to other dynamics).

I think all that said, I do still enjoy the pairing - there's enough there to go on that intrigues me

[ashxketchum]

Hi just curious about these koumi L's you mentioned, all I've seen are W's (pixiv, tri and the ending of 2020 say hi) hate to break it to you but Mimi is practicaly the little sister Matt never had which parallels Koushirou practically being the younger bro Tai never had, prettty sure mimato never even crossed kakudou's mind once during the og, anyway, everyone should continue to ship what they like canon or fanon

HI WORSTIE 😍

Glad you guys are curious about something since reading comprehension runs low on your side of the fandom!!! That Koumi L comment was directed at the shipper making an absolute irrelevant ruckus in the replies of the original post, dragging not just Mimato but every other Mimi ship and some more. It was not directed at the hsip itself. But clearly you failed to understand that, just as all other Koumi shippers fail to understand basic decency and decorum that a fandom needs to maintain in order to follow: "everyone should continue to ship what they like canon or fanon".

Your dear ship's event mod is running around leaving weird comments on other ship week's content, and if you feel like chalking up one incident to benefit of the doubt, then do you wanna talk about this ⬇️

The dates for Mishiro Week (who tf even calls this ship that 🤣) are the exact same dates for Michi Week and then the mod is saying "because we're jealous of other weeks" (- that being a motivation to hold an event and not the fact that you cherish these two characters and their relationship enough to celebrate it is a lil sus in itself🫣 -) clearly implies that they want to one-up another Mimi ship even though Michi Week announced their dates well in advance? You're talking about keeping things peaceful in the fandom, but maybe you should preach that to your own choir first!!!

And it's just your luck that you could've chosen anyone in the Mimato fandom to send your silly rant to but you chose me 🥹🫶🏻 The one person on this hellsite who has done their PhD in Digimon Adventure Tri, certified by Toei Animation themselves lmao 😇

Where do I even begin!!!

Content on a fanwork site Pixiv is considered a Win?? Then all the Mimato/Michi/Jyoumi/Taishiro/Koukari/Koura fanart on all fanworks sites are a Win too? Is that the logic you were going for, awww thank you 🫶🏻

And then let's talk about TRI! The series where Koushiro is checking Mimi out 24x7 like an object, he calls her egotistical/self centered for acting impulsively to save a friend - using the same wording that the mean girls in festival committee use (bully alert 🚨, he doesn't even apologise for doing that btw 🚩), only then shows up to stare at her in a cheerleader uniform, ignores all the concern that she shows for him despite him being rude to her and Meiko both and ends up having way more chemistry with Takeru throughout the series (KouKeru my beloveds ��).

But it's important to mention the guy who does take a W for Mimi in Tri, JOU KIDO!!! He accepts Mimi for who she is, doesn't criticise her actions, understands that her aggressive love is filled with nothing but pure intentions, uplifts her mood when she needs it the most and showers her words of affirmation that eventually lead to Palmon's mega evolution. And for that he deserves a big squishy hug, which he gets from Mimi 🥰 Honourable mention for taking W's for Mimi in Tri will also go to Meiko, she becomes her ride or die in such a short time of knowing her because she sees Mimi for the kind soul that she is. She also deserves a hug, and she gets it from Mimi too 🥰

In Tri we also see Mimi refer to Taichi and Yamato as handsome (and she does ask Koushiro if he's interested in her cause she's cuter, man for someone with a lot of brains he sure does care only about her looks!🚩) She starts recording TaiYama the minute they get into that Ferris wheel, she and Taichi walk a lot of places together don't they, she and Meiko share a meal with Taichi and Yamato in the Odaiba Onsen must I go on ~ Please do a full rewatch to see how Koushiro proves he's not a good match for Mimi in Tri with his ficklemindedness~

Next up: The Reboot, my other lovechild, I kid you not worstie, me and the Reboot writers share the exact same braincells, like legit, in the entirety of the series run, the most worthwhile Koumi hint they gave was them sitting in a Garage together at the end 🤣 The amount of quality time she spent with Taichi on the other hand, chef's kiss, and the instant bonding with Jou where she could tease him from the minute they met, WOW A BIGGER CHEF'S KISS 😘

THE SIBLING PARALELL -omg where my Taishiro shippers at, will you guys take this slander sitting down? 😭

Listen worstie, Taichi and Yamato do not require sibling parallels because *news flash* THEY HAVE SIBLINGS WITH WHOM THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ARE FLESHED OUT THROUGHOUT THE SERIES LOL. And I also love love LOVE how you didn't hesitate to call Mimi a sibling coded friend for Yamato, especially when 99% of the fandom is telling Mimato shippers that Yamato and Mimi don't interact 🤣 Mimato haters please pick a struggle, are there no Mimato interactions in the series or are there so many interactions that we can safely conclude Mimi is the sister Yamato never had 🥹👉🏻👈🏻 *Takeru has left the chat*

As far as Kakudou's concerned, neither of us are mind readers so why even try and assume which ship crossed his mind and which ship didn't? Did you just add this comment because you thought it'd make you sound all edgy for knowing the staff's name or assuming you understand the thought process that went into making this series? If you did understand the latter, you wouldn't be in my inbox 🫶🏻

So anyway when you're done rewatching the actual series, you can come back to my inbox annnnyyytimeee, maybe even have the courage to be off anon who knows you might learn a thing or two from Taichi 🧡🧡🧡

Stay safe out there, idiocy is very contagious in this fandom 😷