I want to talk about shipping, tropes and Ghoulcy for a moment.
For context, I’ve shipped Ghoulcy from the moment the Ghoul said “Well I ain’t torturing you sweetheart, I’m using you as bait.”
I know, I know—basically the moment they met. When Lucy bites his finger off and he cuts hers off to match…well that just sealed the deal for me.
And I know what some people see. A violent, toxic relationship between two diametrically opposed people. How could you ever ship something like that? Well for one, it’s fantasy. For two, it’s Fallout and not a single character or faction has ever been the perfect example of moral goodness.
But let’s not pretend that Enemies-to-Lovers isn’t still one of the MOST popular tropes in literature and media to this day. The fanfiction and book community is built upon it. People are constantly asking authors to write this trope in its truest form. Because people actually want the characters to nearly kill each other before they get together. Anger and desire burn at the same temperature and it is always so fun to watch it consume everything in its path.
Intentional or not, Ghoulcy is written with that formula. The opposing views and hatred, forced proximity, begrudging respect, the banter and the budding trust mixed with vulnerability. The inevitable betrayal. Even down to the fact that Lucy and Max are dangled in there as a safer, sweeter, alternative relationship. Those are all check boxes on the list of how to write that trope well.
I’m not saying you have to ship it. Hell, the writers might even pivot at the last second and say “Oh no, just kidding. We were just teasing you with that.” I’ve seen it before.
But I’ve also read, analyzed and reviewed enough books to know when the writers are using that trope as opposed to the cut and dry ‘found family’ father/daughter trope people like to reference when talking about this ship. It’s just not written that way.
