The Newt Boot

I'll be honest--when I first saw that punch in the trailer, I laughed my ass off. One of my favorite things in media (and in Rivals) is grown men acting like idiots, so a punch-out between these two over Taggie is right up my alley.

But my second thought was exactly what you mention here: What is the way they resolve this love triangle is via Bas character assassination? What if they take this charming, sincerely kind man and turn him into some sort of Latin Lover stereotype (I mean, in the current plot, Bas does already kind of serve this narrative purpose, even though I eat it up lol) and make him suddenly a sleazy, self-centered asshole to establish that Taggie needs to end up with Rupert, rather than making it about Taggie and Rupert building and maintaining a meaningful connection that binds them together and stands and shines on its own? (This is probably my least favorite way to resolve a love triangle trope, even if it might be common in media.)

I spun out about this for about an hour, then a friend talked me off the ledge, and I've decided to not catastrophize. (Although, I am a deeply cynical person, and if they'll real-assassinate Monica, character assassinating Bas doesn't seem impossible to me, even if unlikely lol.)

Here is the logic my friend explained, which is imo solid:

Yes, Bas is a slut like everyone else in Rutshire, but so far, in both seasons, he's one of the few people who demonstrates real emotional intelligence and who seems sincerely kind. Making him suddenly a gross, unkind asshole would be wildly out of character, given how he's been written.

Also, upon re-watching the punch scene, it looks like Rupert and Bas are clearly not in Rutshire (polo trip to Argentina, perhaps?) and are talking in the middle of a party. I can totally see Rupert finding out that Bas and Taggie hooked up or have a thing and having a proper meltdown, and Bas, being Bas, rubbing it in. I think we got the seeds of this on Taggie's birthday, as there was definitely a territorial vibe. In this case, Rupert probably wouldn't need much motivation at all to fly into a jealous rage and throw hands. Just knowing Bas and Taggie had crossed a line into non-platonic territory would be enough. I think Rupert never really saw Seb as a threat (for good reason lol), but someone like Bas (read: a man) represents a very real threat in all sorts of ways.

Or, the punch may be related to goings-on with Perdita, who seems to be there, too, and giving Rupert the eye. It may be a red herring (but I suspect it's Taggie-related).

So, to summarize, do I think the writers might character assassinate my best boy? Maybe. If they do, I'll be disappointed, but not entirely surprised. As a cynic, I need to be prepare myself for worst-case scenario lol.

But do I think it's more likely just 30-something men being idiots instead of properly expressing and processing their feelings? Probably.

At least, that's more consistent with all of our characterizations thus far and frankly, more complex and engaging storylines. So I'm going to stick to this vision for the second half of season two. (This is also more consistent with the book, where Bas does want to sleep with Taggie, but even there, he isn't an aggressive sleaze to the point where he gets punched, so imo, more evidence to support "simple jealous rage" hypothesis rather than "sins of Bas.")

Omg I know. I felt like some sort of crone in a cave last year, popping out every few weeks to hex AO3 with a new Tasil fic. I'm so thrilled that more people are into the ship now. I really, really don't want my fics to be gumming up the entire ship tag LOL. I WANT TO READ OTHER PEOPLES' WORK AND SCREAM IN THEIR COMMENTS. I am sending all sorts of vibes out into the universe that others will start writing...

Short answer is, I definitely consider writing outside the Tasil-verse! I'm currently working on another fic rn (inspired by that fucking eggplant drop), and I've written a horrendously long historical AU fic with a temporary Tasil marriage of convenience (if you can't tell, when I lock into a universe and a set of characters, I really lock in lol).

I think this idea is a really interesting one! Sort of my thought process behind that line is the nature of the relationship I wanted Bas and Taggie to have in this AU. I think their positions in their families is similar, I think their personalities have some similarities, and I think their interests overlap. All that means that they have the potential to have a really lovely, intimate friendship, and I think that emotional intimacy has the threat of bleeding naturally into physical intimacy, even if they're not "together"--it's a powerful connection that I think would be hard to sever. I also think that in relationships (including marriages) that span long periods of time, people can and do drift apart, and to some extent, [spoiler] this drift does happen later in the rutag canon. I definitely think infidelity within a marriage can be a really fascinating way to break characters down, put them through the emotional wringer, and put them back together again (or not), but it's not a dynamic I've ever written (as close as I've gotten was open marriages/a very temporary and consensual Tasil [marriage of convenience] + OC throuple in my historical AU lol). I do think this dynamic would be really interesting and complex, given how Taggie in particular would navigate it, given her baggage about her parents' marriage and how she perceived/fit into all of that. All that to say, I would read the shit out of this premise! But I wouldn't trust myself to necessarily write it, as it would be entirely uncharted and rather sensitive territory.

My favorite thing about fanfic is how it allows for creative/unhinged remixes of canon, and having Taggie/Bas end up together was a fun (for me) way to explore that.

One thing that's always stuck with me is the part in Rivals where the family friend whose restaurant Taggie worked in, telling Declan that if Taggie had a "barrel of self-confidence, she could be the next Escoffier." She's kind and gentle and selfless and diligent, but she's also brilliant. I feel like that gets lost in the mix of the big personalities/talent in her family. Her cooking becomes just another way she caretakes in the private sphere, rather than a marketable talent that also has the potential for widespread fame (I'm also a rabid watcher of The Bear lol). I wanted to imagine a path for Taggie that allowed her to flex her creative genius on a scale with the rest of her family (where I'm going for the end of that larger fic series). It's not that she couldn't do that with Rupert as a partner, but I think it's fun to explore this path for her with Bas, as he's got a lower profile (relatively speaking) and is already integrated into the restaurant industry.

I also like the parallelism of Taggie and Bas, as people on the margins of their own families, making each other stronger and better and carving out their own identities/futures, on their own terms. Definitely different tropes than RuTag, but I think it's fun!

It's what fanfic is for! :)