F/F + Hero/Villain

[azdaema]

Let's talk about two ships I love: Phèdre nó Delaunay/Melisande Shahrizai (Kushiel's Legacy), and Eve Polastri/Villanelle (Killing Eve). Not only are these both phenomenal hero-villain ships in their own right, but they embody several core tenants of hero-villain, making them excellent case studies for hero/villain ships across the board.

Defining the "hero-villain ship"

What I am not talking about is the enemies-to-lovers ship. While most hero-villain ships do have this as a permutation of their relationship dwelling somewhere in fandom, it's different. In the classic enemies-to-lovers ship, the pair are not enemies anymore by the time they become lovers. My focus today is the true hero-villain ship: opponents who are also would-be lovers.

I loved her in a way that felt both inexplicable and inevitable. She represented a singular perfection, she had to because she contained none of the trappings of a real relationship, the awkward, the beautiful, the sweet, the ordinary, the holding hands in public, the quiet walks, the bickering at Trader Joe’s.^[1]

Well matched

The video essay "On Writing: Hero-Villain Relationships"^[2] opens by clarifying that this is not about the shipping form of hero-villain relationships, but rather the traditional narrative rivalry. The video then goes on to stress the importance of a hero and villain being carefully balanced to one another—there are many great heroes and great villains who would nonetheless make poor opponents for one another.

The main opponent is the one person in the world best able to attack the great weakness of the hero.^[3]

Heroes and villains are always counterpoints—opposed, but oddly alike in their way. While they need not always overlaps, it is undeniably true that this same feature make for both great ships and great opponents. They make beautiful rivals, but also have the capability to understand each other in a unique way, meaning that they would make beautiful lovers as well.

I don't want to gloss over this point: These pairs truly are great opponents for one another. Their rivalry and romance feed off one another, and are intrinsically linked. Their potential as a couple simultaneously makes them better and more effective antagonists for one another. These two things are inextricable.

As would-be lovers, they also hold a unique power to wound each other. They care, and that makes them vulnerable.

There needs to be a moment in the rivalry where the necessary opponent harms the hero in a way that no one else has before, or perhaps even could.^[2]

Intimacy

A mainstay of the hero-villain ship is the idea that—despite being at odds—these characters fundamentally understand each other in a way that no one else does—perhaps even in a way that one one else ever could. Both Kushiel's Legacy and Killing Eve go hard for this idea.

Most hero-villain ships involve both parties respecting one another—although perhaps not in the conventional way. With both Phèdre/Melisande and Eve/Villanelle, their respect for each other is irrefutable. Phèdre, Melisande, Eve, and Villanelle are four women who are all highly skilled at what they do. Both pairs openly admire one another's talents.

In the beginning of Kushiel's Choosen, Melisande sends Phèdre her cloak back to her, deliberately alerting Phèdre that she is afoot and challenging her to meet her. The hero-villain romance serves as an interesting plot device, justifying the villain revealing things to the hero that they really shouldn't. When the grand plot is also a flirtation, neither sides wants their plans to remain secret. Both sides may disarm themselves a little as part of their ploys—the game is more important than the outcome.

"Every artist craves an audience, my lord, and she has chosen you. Whatever is to occur, it is her desire that you know she is its architect."^[4]

Melisande is framed as a great artist who wants to be acknowledged and appreciated. In Villanelle this same idea is framed as a childish need for attention. It's a difference only demeanor; there is no real distinction in this trait as it exists in these two characters. It's all, "Look! I did a thing!" in the end. Not merely wanting attention in general, but wanting attention specifically from this one person. Both of these ships have an underlying current of, "Appreciate me—appreciate me as only you can."

Hero/villain ships are couples who will never share the casual companionship of everyday life. What they share instead is profound intimacy, in the modern, relational sense of the term.

Intimacy is "into-me-see." […] I am going to share with you my most prized possessions, which are no longer my dowry and the fruit of my womb but my hopes, my aspirations, my fears, my longings, my feelings—in other words, my inner life. And you, my beloved, will give me eye contact. No scrolling while I bare my soul. I need to feel your empathy and validation. My significance depends on it.^[5]

This description, of course, is a far softer version that these ships—more suited to real life than to flirtations in the form of international gambits with high body counts. And yet, the pillars remain the same. I will disclose myself to you as fully as I know how, bearing the parts of my inner life most intrinsic to my identity. And you, in return, will pay attention to me. You will take these disclosures make me feel profoundly understood.

"I know her better now. I know her better than anyone. Better than she knows herself."^[6]

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^1. ↩ Anna Pulley, "The only way to love a married woman."
^2. ↩ Tim Hickson of Hello Future Me, YouTube video essay "On Writing: Hero-Villain Relationships"
^3. ↩ John Truby, The Anatomy of Story
^4. ↩ Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart
^5. ↩ Esther Perel, The State of Affairs
^6. ↩ "Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?", Killing Eve