Hello, bookworms!
Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and while I do not have anyone to celebrate it wit, this won't stop me from bringing you the first part of latest book tag created by my friend Juls, the Uncanonical Queer Romance Book Tag — M/M Edition. Thank you to Juls for the translation rights and the banner, as usual. You are the best of the best.
Have you ever read a book and rooted for a couple, only to find out the author had no intention of granting your wishes and making it canon? If not, consider yourself very lucky. It happens to me all the time, and the only solution is to open 300 tabs on my laptop, with AO3 fanfics and tons of fanart. This tag is a celebration of that feeling, in my opinion.
But without any further ado, let's get started!
Hamlet×Horatio – a classic of which you appreciated the romantic part
Since I don't want to use Pride and Prejudice to answer this question, I had to really think about it, because I am not usually huge on the romantic aspects of classics. I decided to pick Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë in the end, even if I believe the romance in there is to be analyzed and not taken at face value. Having had a whole exam on the book, I think I can confindently say I liked the romantic part, even though I would never want anything like that.
Heronstairs — a historical fiction book with a ship which enraptured you
Juls stole my default anwer, which would have been The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles, so I am going to be petty and avoid picking anything by the same author. I'll go with A Marvellous Light and its sequel, A Restless Truth, by Freya Marske. I really loved both the main ships in these books, and I already love the two main characters from the third and final instalment in the series, so I am eagerly awaiting its publication in November of this year.
Wolfstar — a book in which a non-canon couple is considered canon by most of the fandom
I am going to pick a manga series for this one and say Moriarty the Patriot by Ryosuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi. While Sherlock and Liam (or any of the other ships, honestly) are not really canon, they are written in such a way that we simply collectively decided that they are married and that's that. You cannot have your characters say and act like a married couple and expect the fandom not to consider them canon, come on.
Melkor×Sauron — a book in which you loved a secondary couple
It happens all the times. You have no idea how many insignificant characters and couples are my favourites. It was hard to pick just one book, so I am going to say two different titles: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan and Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. These were both amazing trilogies, and both highly underrated. I need more content in general, and specifically on my two favourite couples, thank you very much writers and artists.
Victor Vale×Eli Ever — a book in which you liked a "villains" couple
I am going to cheat a little bit and generically say Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, even though I have never actually read a whole comic about them. I have, however, consumed a huge amount of panels via Twitter, and I have seen so many fanarts of the two of them that I consider them an honorary ship in my endless list of ships. One day, I will actually read a comic about them, because I enjoy their dynamics, and I hate Harley and Joker together.
Darrow×Cassius — a book in which you liked the enemies to lovers trope
I think that there are very few books who actually can pull the enemies to lovers trope. Most of the times, it is just surface level, non sensical rivalry. One author who did a great job at this trope, in my opinion, is Leigh Bardugo with Matthias and Nina in Six of Crows. They had a solid backstory as to why they were "enemies" and the transition from enemies to lovers was really well done. I think the actors in the show did a great job with them.
Kadolin — a book in which your favourite couple seemed to have a chance
I am going to expose myself here. When I was younger, I used to ship Percico (Percy Jackson and Nico Di Angelo). Don't worry, I still shipped Percy with Annabeth as well, I am, after all, one of the biggest multishippers you'll ever meet. However, there was a specific window of time in the Riordanverse, during which I truly believed I could have them as a canon ship. I'm not going to say when and why, but I did. Needless to say, it did not happen, but I am still very happy with how they all ended up, and I am scared for the upcoming books, especially The Sun and the Star. If Rick does anything bad, I'll riot.
Matrim Cauthon×Rand al'Thor — a book in which you've had very few material on your favourite couple
I am going to pick The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh for this one. I've read it back in 2021 and I rememember next to nothing about it. If you asked me to name any of the characters, I couldn't. What I do remember, however, is that there was a very cute secondary couple I liked a lot. However, being the book just a standalone and a short one at that, I didn't get any material on them, which still pains me immensely to this day.
And with this, the first part of this book tag is concluded. For scheduling reasons, I'm going to post part two in March, but in the meantime you can head to Juls' blog to read the questions. If you decided to answer either parts, be sure to give them credits! Have a lovely Valentine's Day tomorrow, whether you are taken or not, and I'll talk to you soon.
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