I recently did a post about how a lot of my mlm ships follow a similar dynamic, and it got me thinking if there’s a pattern amongst my wlw ships too. There is! And it’s essentially grumpy/sunshine, but expanded to mean ‘dark-themed character who likely has goth vibes and a tough exterior x brighter or cuter themed character who is probably blonde and likes the nicer things in life’.
Not all my wlw ships follow this blueprint, of course, but a lot do! And there’s definitely some mlm examples as well that were too obvious to ignore. I’m going to affectionately dub it the fuffy dynamic, even though I know it predates fuffy, and I’ll be scoring my ships in terms of fuffiness, so it’s only right to start with…
Fuffy - classic good girl x bad girl. Buffy is the chosen one, carrying a huge legacy and responsibility which she tries her best to uphold… Faith is her foil, her dark mirror, the other side of her coin. Buffy has plenty of angst in her life, but her inherent personality is bubbly and fun-loving; Faith is detached and callous, but can’t deny how much Buffy matters to her. Even if you don’t ship it, their relationship is incredibly compelling. And, obviously… 10/10 fuffiness.
Gelphie - THEE goth x girlypop ship! Elphaba is a misunderstood and marginalised outcast who keeps everyone at arm’s length. Glinda is the rich, pretty-in-pink 🎶popular🎶 girl forced to be college roommates with her. They end up falling for each other despite themselves, and no amount of being doomed by the narrative can stop them from having tender, tearful eyesex at every opportunity. 10/10 fuffiness.
Wenclair - yeah these two are just reskinned gelphie but I am SO OK with that. Wednesday is not just a goth but a Heritage Goth; it’s her whole culture, and she despises anything cute, cuddly or colourful. Enter Enid, her rainbow-wearing extrovert high school roommate. They ought to hate each other, but they end up mutually enamoured and completely ride-or-die, with a ‘friendship’ so sapphic they walk around wearing lesbian and bisexual flag jumpers (OK, technically only Enid did that, but still). 10/10 fuffiness.
Bubbline - these two fit the fuffy blueprint more in terms of aesthetics than personality, but aesthetics are actually a pretty big part of it anyway. Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum is the all-pink sugar-themed ruler of candy kingdom, with a reputation to uphold. Marceline is a rebellious and irreverent punk vampire who loves to get under Bonnie’s skin (or gum, I guess). They’re exes who never got over each other and they were one of my first ever sapphic ships! Iconic. 8/10 fuffiness.
Catradora - OK, this time the aesthetics aren’t very fuffy coded but the personalities are on point. Catra is VERY Faith coded imo, with her snarky but flirty attitude, pathological need to push everyone away in case she gets hurt, and slightly (ok, more than slightly) unhinged edge. Adora is less girlypop than Buffy, but she absolutely is the badass chosen one trying to do the right thing. These two are less yin/yang than fuffy but they have that same ‘we were supposed to be on the same side but instead we’re fighting each other but honestly we could start making out any second now’ energy. 8/10 fuffiness.
Swan Queen - my beloved! Another one based more on personalities/archetypes. Emma is the chosen one, destined to be a hero and defeat evil. Regina is… quite literally the Evil Queen. Emma drives a yellow VW beetle, makes dorky jokes, always believes the best in people, and has perfect blonde princess curls without even trying. Regina dresses exclusively in either maximalist goth ballgowns or tailored officewear, verbally eviscerates anyone who looks at her wrong, and will probably never be done punishing herself for all the crimes she’s committed. They are loving bi4bi wives with a beautiful son together. No notes, perfection, and 7/10 fuffiness.
Voregon - this one takes me back!! Vod is a much better Faith analogue than Oregon is a Buffy one, but I think they still just about fit the blueprint. Vod is punk/goth/just generally counterculture and likes to pretend nothing much matters to her. Oregon is a Type A wannabe It Girl who cares far too much about absolutely everything. They live in a dysfunctional sharehouse and become possessively fond of one another despite how wildly different they are. 7/10 fuffiness.
Dani x Jamie - OK this one is a stretch but still fits overall I think! Dani is an au pair at a haunted manor house, and she is just… so Soft. Soft of hair, soft of eyes, soft of voice, soft of jumpers, and soft of heart despite her trauma. The only soft thing about Jamie the cynical and sarcastic groundskeeper, however, is her soft butch aesthetic (ok, more like futch but whatever). Oh, and her enduring love for Dani, which persists through death itself and makes me cry like a little bitch every single time. 10/10 tragic doomed lesbians, 6/10 fuffiness.
Thus concludes my wlw ships for this dynamic, but I can’t deny there are some outstanding examples in the mlm category too, such as…
Ineffable Husbands - I mean… literal angel x demon, come on!! Aziraphale is certainly no high school popular girl, but like Buffy, he’s a bubbly blonde with a taste for pretty things and an innately good heart. Crowley, meanwhile, is pretty much Faith if she were an ancient androgynous entity with a thing for bullying house plants. They SO fit the fuffy dynamic of ‘diverged paths from the same starting point and ended up perfectly complimentary opposites’. Plus the homoerotic friendship thing. 9/10 fuffiness.
Blackbonnet - full disclosure I hated OFMD S2 and still can’t bring myself to rewatch S1, but S1 WAS a delight, and so were these two. They are 100% just reskinned Ineffable Husbands but that’s certainly not a bad thing. Stede is a sweet, bumbling, naive dreamer who wants to live a fun pirate fantasy except with fabulous clothes and fine cuisine. Ed is a disillusioned leather-clad ACTUAL pirate who stabs before he thinks and is prone to fits of depression. In each other, they find the missing pieces of themselves. 8/10 fuffiness.
