God I just love how fucking real they are. The way they’re written. They have their fights, their conflicts, their toxic moments just like any real life WLW couple would and yet all of that only shows the depth of their love rather than pulls them down and turns me off.
I swear that draws me to them more than the actual love displayed between them because the way they handle the rocky moments in their relationship is just bloody brilliant. It’s so natural the way that they come undone and then come back together again. I don’t know, I can’t really articulate well what I mean by this.
But it’s something you can watch and pick up on for yourself. The realness of them. I haven’t seen anything like it since Xena and Gabrielle to be honest, who have - arguably - the rockiest moments in their love story that is possible to have and depict in TV art/entertainment without a ratings change, and yet - it makes them better. It makes their love story far more significant because you see what they go through and what they have to overcome and the tremendous strength and effort to do so because they love each other so damn much and don’t want to lose that love.
Yeah, WayHaught are exactly like that. There may not be a “Gab Drag” equivalent scene between them but what is displayed is very reminiscent of “the rift” arc that puts Xena and Gabrielle through the ringer,… because it doesn’t destroy them completely. It only ever makes them stronger and even more in love. Which is what you want from drama and conflict.
Well-written fleshed out queer main characters provide this rollercoaster ride of representation. And - for me - WLW couples in TV art/entertainment just don’t feel real without all the drama and conflict.
But there obviously needs to be a balance. You don’t want it to be soap opera level of drama and conflict where everything that happens happens BECAUSE there NEEDS to be drama and conflict because it’s shock value and cheap viewership. But rather - you need to show how BECAUSE of all the drama and conflict, the relationship is much more real and strong and substantial than a spectacle to gawp and gasp at.
And yeah, they do WayHaught very fucking well when it comes to this. They’re in a Universe where everything is meant to be high stakes all the time so the drama and conflict between them doesn’t come out of left field. It’s organic and logical progression.
They’re really well fucking written I have to say. And it makes me all the more invested in their relationship because I love fantasy as a genre in the overall concept and environment of a TV show but I never want fantasy in a couple. I always want the real shit.
And WayHaught are the real shit. Absolutely!
It’s what I love about Xena and Gabrielle so much. That they’re a REAL couple in a FANTASY show.
Can we have more WLW ships like this please? 🙏
