#shipping rambles

:D welcome new friend! Realistically I figure we won't get any kind of confirmation in movie for a mxm romance beyond some highly subjective lingering looks- part of it being that moana is so heavily set up as a modern non-romantic princess. And that's not a bad thing! I'm 100% behind representation of well rounded self actualized heroines for whom romance is not a priority. its important for current and future generations to have role models who don't define themselves by their partners or partner-having potential, especially girls of color, who have gotten the short end of the stick for the majority of media history.

i personally ship moana x maui of course, because im a hopeless romantic and bisexual disaster for these two- but if moana never gets a romance it wont make me stop loving her character and story.

The other reason I doubt we'll see much overt romance is that Dwayne Johnson identifies so heavily with Maui that I can't see him comfortable with 19ish year old Moana being his self insert's love interest. especially with him wanting to fully act Maui in the live action. its one thing to voice some slightly suggestive and tender flirtations, its another to stare a teenage co-actor in the eye and not see very nearly your own daughters. of which johnson has 3, the eldest of whom is 20. (ish?)

Disney is not about to piss off The Rock.

I could write another essay on how Dwayne Johnson =/= maui, and while Mr.Johnson is entitled to his interpretation of the character he helped bring to life; I am also allowed to have my own interpretation, especially here, in the pseudo private realm. but I digress.

That's not to say there's not gonna be plenty of shipper fuel! I mean, idk if you've seen my unhinged screaming posts lately but

AHHHHHHHHH THE HUG! THE GAZES! THE MANHANDLING!

i can very easily see big dumb giant hints that at least moana has a crush on maui, and there is CLEARLY affection between them. at least in the promo material, the focus is on moana and maui teaming up again and we barely see her interact with our new storyteller apprentice & maui-fanboy Moni. he does hug her when he joins the crew, and we see Moni as the vehicle for several exposition dumps. I could see a possible romance, they have a shared interest in stories and on the surface he seems like a lovable cinnamon roll. (I'm projecting). i wouldn't hate that outcome. i also see him positioned next to Loni the ship-designer, our other near-moana's-age crewmate, fellow boat enthusiast and possible love interest *eyebrow wiggle*.

i headcanon moana as bi- altho thats not saying much, as i have a bad(?) habit of headcanoning EVERYone as bi

me, pointing at every character i remotely relate to: "youre all

so i can see moana happy with any of the 3 (maui, moni and loto)- or hell, why not all three?

i find it more probable that moni and loto get paired up as side characters, both of them seem enamored with the ideas of ocean-adventures; moni with his stories and loto with her boat designs, but not truly understanding the reality of seafaring. i can imagine actually going out and doing the things for real has quite a learning curve, and there's a built-in bonding experience. They start on a much more equal footing to one another than they do to Moana the chiefly hero, present and future legend.

as to being late to the fandom, heyyyy this is great timing!!! sequel hype is building, and im already feasting on the promo content- the actual movie release is gonna leave me feral for AT LEAST another year. if by November 2025 no one other than you ships moana x maui then I AM DEAD because aint no way they can squash my candle for this. even if the movie turns out shite i'll be there working on a fix it fic (that i will agonize over and probably never finish because of Who I Am As A Person but yeah know. #justadhdthings)

And the first comment I see under the post is someone taking it and spinning it into Stucky. And Idky that annoyed me so much in that moment. Cause A) it's not a new thing. And B) It was so minor.

But like.....Why is that a thing we do? Like why everytime a post is kinda open ended on if it's SamBucky or SamSteve.... There is someone who defaults to Stucky? And not even SamSteveBucky either. It's Sam getting Stucky together when he was the main focus of the OG comment?

I notice cute himbos and say jokingly "oh yeah he can join the polycule" but never act upon it, because the energy doesn't quite feel right. I think about the guys from Shinra's source material (Miyabi and Yukinojo) I'd ship him with if I weren't writing a crossover and hopelessly smitten with Tomonori, but I feel no need to include them.

(Shinra tops Miyabi, by the way, and you're not changing my mind on that. Yes, Miyabi knows how to fluster him, but it's the kind of flustering that usually precedes an angry outburst. Miyabi wants to be grabbed by the tail and put in his place. Poor virgin oni boi just can't take the hint. Either that or he's just not interested in Miyabi and I can't blame him; Miyabi's a fuckboy.)

Anyway. As much as Shinyabi appeals to me in theory, when it comes down to it I can't make myself write that ship, with or without Tomonori involved. Nor can I write Yukinra, nor can I add any of the other Scarlet Fate love interests (except Furutsugu can occasionally corrupt Akifusa with sex magic or have masochistic dreams about getting dominated by his mental image of Tomonori, but neither of them would actually want to fuck him, so he has to resort to sex magic trickery with Akifusa and can only touch Tomonori in his dreams-- dreams in which Tomonori still treats him like some fly-ridden animal corpse he found on the side of the road, because Furutsugu has discovered that turns him on).

I do not want to add other guys to this polycule. I think it is beautiful as it is. ...And that includes Shinra.

Why? Why does it include Shinra? I don't think his source material is as good (no offense to any Enchanted in the Moonlight enjoyers out there) (unless you're a Kiryu fan, in which case, respectfully, go die in a gutter) (okay, not really, I don't want you to literally die in a gutter but the man you like replaced the one I like on the main cast so I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from).

Sorry, where was I? I've been going on a lot of tangents lately.

Right. Scarlet Fate > Enchanted in the Moonlight. If you have any serious objections to that statement, we can debate it in DMs; I promise I am more friendly and respectful in private conversation than I am typing up Tumblr wall posts, as long as you're willing to approach the conversation with equal respect.

Shinra has a traumatic backstory and a potentially abusive (or at least unhealthy) upbringing based on little hints sprinkled throughout his Season 1 main story, but after Season 1, the writers stopped mentioning any of that. Not that I hate everything about his Season 2 story, I just wish they hadn't dropped an interesting plot point that explains a lot about why Shinra is such a massive fucking tsundere at times, if it was heading where I think it was heading.

Meanwhile, Shiki, Tomonori, and Akifusa are a complete polycule unit unto themselves. They grew up together. They dealt with the same trauma (okay, well, Shiki and Tomo did at least). Tomonori and Akifusa complement each other beautifully, and Shiki does a great job keeping the balance when their disagreements get a little too intense. They have chemistry: romantic, sexual, and just in general. They do not need anyone else to feel whole.

There is no good logical reason for my desire to mash Shinra into their lovely sexy balanced relationship. They're from completely different fictional works with similar themes and tropes but entirely different approaches and vibes. The time periods are different. The art style is different. There is no equivalent of a "Stab him." / "Don't stab him." choice in Shinra's route.

And yet-- and yet, somehow I enjoy mashing them all together. Somehow it kinda works. No, not just kinda. It works really fucking well. After this, I think I'll write a fic with both Shinra and Shiki (and inevitably Tomonori, and maybe Akifusa as well).

I love writing Shinra as a member of this dynamic, and I think it has less to do with "he's a cute dumb traumatized jock with an unexplored submissive side" or any other logical reasoning I could come up with that involves his similarity to Shiki and Akifusa, and more because I genuinely think he, as an overall character (or at least my headcanon of him as an overall character), fits into this polycule really fucking well.

There. I said it. I ship Shinra with Tomonori and Akifusa. (And maybe eventually Shiki as well, although there's less chance of that.)

If I swapped him out for some other random dork, I don't think it would be guaranteed to work as well. Somehow, as much as I dislike admitting this, Shinra from frickin' Voltage Inc. Enchanted in the Moonlight has become irreplaceable in this dynamic. Somehow I love him and I want to see Tomonori boss him around and comfort him and assassinate his brother (don't worry about it) and Akifusa shower him with praise until he melts.

Why does that feel like such a big, shocking confession? No one else reading this is going to take it that way. Probably not. Hopefully not.