iāll be honest.. i ship abel/lute proudly and tbh, itās because of the narrative fruit it could bear. like people have already started to voice their opposition against the whole āif i couldnāt have the dad, iāll go for the son insteadā but in my eyes, i think that particular concept could genuinely be interesting to unpack because the psychology behind it (lute trying to hold onto the last vestiges of adam by entering a situationship/secret affair with abel, whoās literally the closest person to adam), the impact of the relationship on both characters (either he softens her edges or her presence has him experience a morality slip, they either get better or get worse depending on who is writing them) and the consequences that it might have on the narrative (in the case of āworse,ā abel embraces his role as head exorcist and participates in the violence alongside lute / in the case of ābetter,ā lute accepts abel into her life no longer as an extension of adam, but as himself).
like people writing this ship off as toxic is funny to me, because yeah? it is, but i personally think thatās worth exploring! itās what makes it so fun to ship them! theyāre both a mess, and could be messes together! i even like calling them my āgriefcoupleā cause to me, their relationship is born from grieving adam (even though abel barely looked like he did, but in my mind, he totally did). abel and lute could be arguing with other, crying and then fucking each other raw and iād sit down and watch knowing that thereās layers to their relationship even if theyāre not ideal.
but thatās just me tho, and sorry for exuding major āenglish major with all the time in the world to unpack and examine mediaā energy but with the recent backlash against the ship, itās got me thinking about a lot of things. i just hope that the ship doesnāt discourage anybody from shipping it because imo, itās super ripe with what-ifs and what-abouts and all that jazz.
NO NO NO ANON YOU!!! YOU GET IT!!! This is exactly it! I think some people just kinda look at the toxicity of the ship and think we just want it to remain in, stasis or something skdjkdfgj idk, but to me a lot of the appeal of a toxic ship is how it can EVOLVE from that
Like YEAH I'M DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN IT *WHILE* IT'S TOXIC but I also like to explore how that could change over time, and what events would shift their dynamics and feelings. I love the way you're describing their development because yes I agree, that's also how I see it evolving. I think Lute would start off seeing Abel as pretty much just a replacement for Adam and use him to cope with her loss, but then maybe.... she starts liking some of Abel's own characteristics too? Adam wasn't kind or gentle with her, and this new Abel is starting to act more like Adam, but some of his own personality traits are.... kinda nice too??? what is this????
Exploring that route, or even an alternative one where, like you said, Abel just becomes worse and worse and more influenced by Lute to be like his dad, that's really interesting too! It doesn't have to be wholesome or a good relationship model to follow, it's about creating stories and developing characters in interesting ways.
So about the backlash it may or may not get, it's not even worth my time lol, again, you can't stop me from enjoying the ship and there's no reason for me to care what their opinion is, so idk good luck on your mission to be miserable online for no reason i guess
