For the past couple months, I’ve been occasionally posting new blog
posts on here, despite having abandoned the blog for several years. I thought I’d
start out testing the waters by posting a few small posts and not saying much
about it, and then maybe quietly share it with a few friends, so as to not make
a fanfare and get expectations up if I wasn’t gonna follow through. I was
worried Google might email old subscribers without my knowledge, but no emails
were sent, so I figured I was in the clear.
Then, after two months, Google sends out a flurry of emails to all
my old subscribers and suddenly my dad’s telling me that his cousins saw my
stupid blog posts… Great. So yeah. I restarted my blog and now I have readers
so I have expectations to live up to, and I probably have to maintain some sort
of consistent brand, and post something that people actually want…
LOL just kidding! I’m gonna keep posting whatever I want until such
day as this blog may get attached to something professional, like if I ever get
a book deal. Until then, deal with my unfiltered nonsense.
And a reminder: I’m not posting with any sort of regularity, but I’d
like to post ideally once every week or every two weeks.
On to this week’s blog post: two pieces of online media inspired me
recently. One is one of my favorite YouTube series, “What Your Favorite[book/TV show] Ship Says About You,” a funny series by user Eldena Doubleca5t
that tells you tidbits about your personality based on which ships you like.
Definitely check it out, but be warned, there’s a lot of anime there, so if you
don’t watch much anime, many of the fandoms there will not be your fandoms.
The other is a post I saw called “Books to Read Based on YourFavorite Avatar Ship!” It goes over most of the popular ships from the show
Avatar: the Last Airbender, and gives you book recommendations based on which
ones you like. I thought that was pretty cool!
So my idea was to sort of combine these. Lately I’ve been super
obsessed with She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the 2018 reboot of the old
She Ra cartoon. I mentioned it in my WLW rep post as my #1 favorite TV show
with WLW rep in it. Well, I thought I’d do book recs based on favorite She-Ra
ships! However, I honestly don’t read as much as I should, and some of these
ships have some pretty specific content, so I threw in non-book media as well. And
this is obviously limited by my own knowledge base, so if you’re like “uhhh
there’s actually a WAY better book about this thing” then please let me know in
the comments!
Make sure to check out “What Your Favorite She-Ra Ship Says AboutYou” for some of the deep call-outs of my very own personality that helped
inspire this post.
Catra/Adora: We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Catra and Adora are the heart of this show. These two girls were
raised in a horribly toxic environment, and managed to find comfort and
friendship with each other. But then they became bitter enemies when Adora
escaped to join the other side of the war. Similarly, in We Set the Dark on
Fire, Dani leaves her family at a young age for the opportunity she never
wanted: to train in a boarding school to become a perfect wife for a man who,
if he knew her true background, wouldn’t hesitate to jail her. On the bus ride
to school, she finds friendship in the beautiful Carmen, but Carmen betrays her
when they arrive by bullying her and becoming her school rival. And then what
do you know, they’re both chosen as wives for the same terrifying general. And
they’re both kind of extremely gay. So if you like childhood friends
enemies-to-lovers recovering-from-trauma-together lesbians, check out this
book.
BONUS: If what appeals to you about Catradora is the sizzling tension of
their S1-S4 rivalry and constant bickering and their “attempting to kill each
other” version of flirting, DEFINITELY watch Killing Eve, a show about an oddly
charming assassin and the woman tasked to track her down.
Entrapta/Hordak: Starship from Team Starkid
Entrapdak is a quirky ship. Entrapta is a soft nerd who’ll do
pretty much anything to get her hands on technology that she can manipulate.
Hordak is… literally the main villain of the series until Season 4 or 5. He’s a
volatile dictator who hates everyone, and Entrapta is warned to leave him
alone, but she ignores this warning because she thinks his science lab is so
cool and Hordak is like “why is this small cute genius making my heart feel
things”. It’s a ship that’s simultaneously adorable, hilarious, and messed up
as hell.
You know what else fits those categories? Team Starkid’s original
musical, Starship. It’s a comedy musical that you can watch online that
features three different romances and a ridiculous plot set against a
background of alien bugs, space ships, and killer robots. One of the ships
involves a human falling in love with the killer robot, and it’s adorable and
fun. The show is SO much fun and so funny and honestly the best. Check it out!
BONUS: Read the book Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
for another story about a cranky scary magic man whose life gets upended by a
one-woman force who steals his heart (kind of literally? it’s hard to tell with
the magic in that book). Yes, it’s the book that inspired the Ghibli movie, and
the book is even better.
Scorpia/Perfuma: HBO’s Betty
This is MY favorite ship on the show! It is so wholesome, so soft,
and makes my heart feel SO many things. Scorpia is this absolute angel who’s
been through hell and just wants to love her friends, and Perfuma is a soft
useless lesbian who sees Scorpia and essentially thinks “not ONLY is she a
gorgeous butch, but she’s ALSO the nicest person I’ve ever met????? I’m just
one lesbian how can I handle this”
For those of you who love the soft, sweet, extremely gay nature of
this ship, please check out HBO’s new show, Betty. It’s about a group of girl
skateboarders hanging out in New York City and their friendships and romances.
It will warm your heart the same way Scorfuma does, and it is equally as gay.
The show is mostly heartwarming and fluffy, but it also tackles trauma and
difficult issues, such as unjust arrest, sexual assault, and abusive
relationships. There is nothing graphic or explicit on screen, and by the end,
there’s a beautiful scene of all the girls creating a line of movement winding
through the sun-filled city.
BONUS: Read my Scorfuma fic it’s very good and I’m proud of it, no this
post was not just an excuse to promote it but still.
Glimmer/Bow: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
If you like Glimmer and Bow, you’re probably a fan of the soft but
awesome boy meets total badass magic girl dynamic. You’re also down with
romances that more or less pass as romantic-but-not-canon friendships until the
veeeery end, and couples that take down evil oppressors together with their
powers. Well, in that case, you have to check out Sorcerer to the Crown, one
of the best-written fantasy books I’ve ever read. In it, Zacharias has just
inherited the position of Sorcerer Royal in eighteenth-century England from his
adopted father, and people are being kind of racist about it because he was
adopted from Africa, even though Zacharias is an extremely skilled wizard that’s
handling a whole lot of problems. To keep up public image, he heads out to give
a speech to a boarding school of young witches. In this society, women who have
magic are taught to suppress it, but Zacharias finds that despite everything he’s
been taught, the girls at this school are wildly talented- especially the fiery
Prunella Gentleman, who latches onto Zacharias as her one-way escape ticket out
of the boarding school (she’s one of the teachers). Together, the two of them
take on the racist, sexist hierarchy of British sorcerers and help handle some
serious diplomatic issues with the fae. And also, they’re totally in love and
adorable about it.
Sea Hawk/Mermista: Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Clueless hero who just wants ADVENTURE? Check.
Totally-done-with-his-bullshit woman who’s the coolest character in the book?
Check. Fun times on a boat? Check. Falling in love against all odds? Check. The
movie is also very good.
Spinnerella/Netossa: Steven Universe on Cartoon Network
These two were the first canon gays on the show, and they’re a very
sweet married lesbian couple. They remind me a LOT of Ruby and Sapphire from
Steven Universe, who literally have a wedding on the show to represent their
500-year-long devotion to each other, and who also are a total power couple.
Lance/George: The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater
If your FAVORITE ship is Bow’s dads, then a couple of things are
probably true about you: You really like canon m/m ships. You really like
academic couples. You think magical lore, and the people who study it, are
super cool and fun. In that case, there’s a good chance you’ll like The
Raven Cycle series, where a couple of private school boys and one extremely
awesome local girl work together through the power of magical research to
figure out what the magical hell is going on with ancient Welsh kings, dream
forests, ley lines, and their Virginia small town. And two of the guys end up
together in one of my favorite ships from anything, so keep an eye out for
that.
Kyle/Rogelio: Fanfiction about Jenny and Madame Vastra from Doctor
Who
Kyle and Rogelio have nearly zero canon content because they’re
minor characters and one of them is literally a lizard man, and the closest thing I
could find to that is Jenny and Vastra, a ship between a Victorian serving girl
and a lizard woman from the dawn of time. Yes, we have got content for all you
lizard fans out there. Here’s two excellent fanfics about this couple:
Five Firsts for Jenny and Vastra by gnimmish
A Series of Short Stories on Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint by FriendsCallMeTonks
Angella/Micah: Song of the Sea from Cartoon Saloon
Angella and Micah are a tragic couple and their whole love story is
shrouded in mystery and magic and softness. Their main relevance in the show is
that they’re Glimmer’s parents. I get similar vibes from the stunningly
animated movie Song of the Sea, which is about the two children of an
Irishman and his wife, a selkie, who disappears early in the movie, leaving
behind a grieving son and a daughter who’s mesmerized by the sea for mysterious
reasons. Please watch it, if only to see gorgeous animation.
Glimmer/Adora: Thelma directed by Joachim Trier
We’ve entered the non-canon section of this post!
So, imagine a girl who grew up in a very toxic environment that she
mistook for a healthy family. She grows up and leaves that place and quickly
finds out she has immense magical powers, and meets a really nice girl who
befriends her and helps her find herself, and is horrified to hear about her
childhood. Still, the shadows and demons of her past keep chasing her, and
despite the other girl’s support, she finds that she has to defeat those demons
herself. Am I describing season 1 Adora and Glimmer, or the movie Thelma?
Actually, both. Thelma is a LOT darker than She-Ra season 1, but if you want
that good friends-turned-lovers with a side of recovering from trauma via
magical abilities, definitely watch Thelma.
Glimmer/Catra: Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Honestly, I couldn’t find much that captured the Glimmer/Catra dynamic, mainly because I really don’t ship them at all, but if you like bi girls in magical worlds who delve into their dark sides the way Glimmer does, then definitely read Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. It’s book 2 of the Wayward Children series, but it works as a standalone. It’s about a pair of twin girls who accidentally enter a twisted and horrible dimension run by a sadistic vampire lord. One twin, Jill, loves the luxury of being the vampire’s favored ward; the other, Jack, escapes to do grueling necromancy work for the mad scientist who has a tenuous deal with the vampire lord. While there, she is able to explore both her dark side and her bisexuality in a healthy way, and falls in love with one of the local girls.
Glimmer/Catra/Adora: Rescuing Her Redeemed Omega by Lia Meyers
This ship has polyamory, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and
fighting an evil space empire. You know what else has all that? Rescuing Her
Redeemed Omega, an erotic novella with a Star Wars-esque plot and a healthy
and loving polyamorous group.
Scorpia/Lonnie: Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
If you like this ship, you either really love butch women (who
doesn’t?) or you just want good things for Scorpia (who doesn’t?) or you thought Lonnie deserved more screen time (who doesn't?). I realized
that I have NOT consumed a lot of media with butch women in it, unfortunately.
However, this comedy special delves into the realities of living as a gender
non-conforming woman, and of how to recover from trauma, and of why endlessly
focusing on getting a laugh isn’t always the solution even if comedy was your
old coping mechanism, and how love and friendship is the real solution. Aka, if
you love Scorpia, you’ll love this. You will cry, though. Like, you’ll laugh,
but you will cry. Be warned. Serious trigger warning for discussion of sexual
and physical assault and homophobia.
BONUS: The only other media I could think of that heavily featured butch
women was the movie Pariah. It’s about a teenage Black lesbian dealing
with homophobic parents, trying to get a girlfriend, and thinking about how to
incorporate her talent for poetry into her future. It will also make you cry a
lot, but it has a hopeful ending.
Bow/Sea Hawk: The Adventure Zone by the McElroy brothers
Full disclosure: I never finished listening to The Adventure Zone,
because I have trouble focusing on podcasts. However, this podcast, much like
SeaBow, is full of wacky hijinks, lovable buff guys fumbling through adventures,
and eventually, gay content. (I didn’t listen far enough to get to the canon
gays, but I’ve been assured they are there).
Catra/Scorpia: BBC’s Merlin
My personal relationship to Catra/Scorpia is weird. I “ship” them in
the sense that I think something romantic happened between them, but I
do NOT ship them in the sense that I want them to be together. However, if you
like Catra/Scorpia, you’ll probably like BBC’s Merlin. Merlin and Arthur, the
two main characters of the show, have been (rightfully) compared to Catra and
Adora, but they also remind me of Scorpia and Catra. One lovable but kind of
assholey character in a position of power who’s dealt with a colossal amount of
parental abuse, and one endlessly loyal servant who’s endlessly
underappreciated, and the not-canon-but-might-as-well-be love between them. Merlin
is a sarcastic dork, which differs from Scorpia who’s a very genuine and
optimistic dork; and Arthur is an upbeat jock, as opposed to Catra who’s a
pessimistic goth, but the DYNAMIC is very similar. Arthur shows a lot more love
and appreciation to Merlin than Catra shows to Scorpia, though, so it will be
more satisfying in that sense… but the show no-homos them pretty hard, so it
will be less satisfying in that sense. However, you get to see Katie McGrath
and Angel Coulby, so that should be sufficiently enjoyable for any lesbians out
there.
Mara/Light Hope: The Good Place
The main reason Mara/Light Hope shippers would like The Good Place
is because of Jason and Janet. Janet is a Siri-like character who’s essentially
an immortal, infinite database in the shape of a friendly woman. Jason is a
clueless but extremely sweet guy who dies and meets her in the afterlife. The
two of them somehow fall in love. In general, the show is a sitcom that takes
place in the afterlife and centers four humans who died and have to figure out
their morality and what life and death means, and deal with the corrupt and
inefficient afterlife bureaucracy- all of which are similar themes to what Mara
has to grapple with when talking to Light Hope.
So, whew! I hope the, like, three people that this might appeal to
enjoy this post! Once again, if you think there’s a piece of media that works
better than the ones I listed, please let me know. And if you haven’t seen the
new She-Ra, definitely go watch it, because it’s amazing.
Thanks for reading!
