who’s the werewolf and who’s the hunter

Booker is the werewolf, Nile is the hunter (trying to track down the monster than killed her father, maybe?).

who’s the mermaid and who’s the fisherman

Ohh, that's a hard one. I can see it either way? I think I'm gonna say Nile is the mermaid though. Booker has a whole crisis about it.

who’s the witch and who’s the familiar

Nile's the witch, 100%. Booker is the shapeshifted black cat familiar who knocks ingredients off of the workbench.

who’s the barista and who’s the coffee addict

Booker is the barista, Nile is the coffee addict (art history grad student who camps out at one of the tables to work on her thesis and flirt with the cute barista).

who’s the professor and who’s the TA

Nile is the professor, Booker is the TA who went back to college late in life and has a huge crush on his inappropriately young boss.

who’s the knight and who’s the prince(ss)

I really wanna say they're both knights, but realistically, Booker is the one who constantly needs to be rescued from evil wizards and suchlike.

who’s the teacher and who’s the single parent

Nile's the teacher, Booker is the single parent. His kid makes fun of him about it.

who’s the writer and who’s the editor

Nile is the writer, Booker is the editor. They've never met in person, but their email correspondence is lively and scathing.

What made you ship it?

God!! They're one of those ships where you go into it like, okay, I can see it, rivals to lovers, survival, navy politics, I get this. And then the show takes that and levels it up to 10,000 and cracks it open and gives you the Victory Point scene and Are We Brothers Francis and the tenderest euthanasia-shot-like-a-love scene ever committed to metaphorical celluloid. I think I shipped it to some degree as soon as James complained to Franklin about Francis losing his joy but you really need the character development and the sweet sweet payoff of the later episodes to fully blast into the stratosphere.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

I think the slow breaking down of the walls they have both built - they can't truly see one another until that has happened, and it can only be done by the unstoppable force of the Arctic. They both have to get to the brink of death to fully know one another, and that is the beauty and tragedy of Fitzier to me.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Habibiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Wouldn't it be cool to see him in a Doctor Strange movie or comic, crossover style? Strange is fucking with the time zone as he does and he goes back in time and encounters a very talented Islamic scribe who is clearly in love with the wet rat of a former priest who is following him around. And then Strange goes back to the present and runs into Joe and he's like ummmmmmmmm sir I know you.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

I also talk big shit about being firm in my resolve and making people experience consequences for crossing me, but then I fall to pieces and forgive them quickly in no time at all.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

That he prefers to dress fashionably. Yes this is based on his amazing outfit at the end of the first film! I feel that for every period he's lived in, he crafts amazing outfits and allow him to blend in while still feelin' cute. Also that he was probably the better fighter out of him and Nicky for a long time. My understanding is that Nicky was conscripted to fight in the crusades, so I don't think of him as someone who had a ton of combat training under his belt. I think Joe had to save his ass many times.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

That he is absolutely besotted with Nicolo. I think the first film did an amazing job of showing - not telling - us how in love these two are. Always being in close physical proximity to each other, the bed sharing, speaking for each other sometimes...all so very romantic. They are clearly happy and just fine no matter where they are when they're together - "there's a TV, Joe" kinda says it all. They'd just killed a van full of private security and probably died themselves a couple of times, but then they get on the plane and wanna keep watching the football match. That's love!

Now, post TOG2 I see how Joe's softness is not just reserved for Nicky. Joe wanted to put Booker under a jail at the end of the first film, but he gets caught sneaking to Booker's exile spot in the second film. Marwan Kenzari is a master of facial expressions and he really conveyed how conflicted Joe must have felt over Booker's exile and lying to his 1000-year partner about it all.

1. Puscifer - Potions 

2. Caravan Palace - Miracle (uhhhh, very n ess eff w video) 

3. Fiona Apple - Shadowboxer

4. Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel  

5. Sheryl Crow - Can't Cry Anymore 

6. Led Zeppelin - In the Light

7. DakhaBrakha - Vesna (Live) 

8. Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good 

9. Doja Cat - Rules

10. Tool - Pneuma 

Ahhh my (current) plan for the due south big bang is a librarian Fraser AU.

5 is giving me BIG THOUGHTS

I definitely hear you! (Especially about One Fic becoming annoyingly pervasive fanon.) I admit I looove the soulmate trope (I’ve written three haha) but pretty much only as a subversion. I love to see where people are able to take the trope when you go beyond the most simplistic “we were made for each other the end” story.