Ishmael ships, ranked:
Ishqueg: solid gold. the best of the best. what's funny about this is that the source book is more open about how gay they are, but kjh doesn't want to threaten Ishmael's imagined sexual availability to straight men too much. Ishmael service top btw.
Outmael: SSS tier. they have an actual arc of growing closer while still annoying each other. also Outis canonically knows what Ishmael's hands feel like. let's use each other as substitutes for our absent wives yaaaay fun. grandma is getting put to bed!!!
special poly mention: Ishmael/Outis/Rodya. yuri poly ships are all blessed but this one is my favorite.
Faustmael: it intrigues. something something the contrast between knowledge gained from exploration v knowledge piped in from faust.exe. fire and ice. Ishmael likes that Faust had a soft side. 1,000 emotions girl x :| girl.
Rodmael: they both know a thing or two about papering over the howling darkness inside. also Ishmael, with a smile on her face, talking about Rodya's grip strength. Liu rodya × ishy is adorrrrable.
Ishdon: it's really cute, I'll give you that. Just look at them 😍 also they attract really nice fanart.
ryomael: the violence is compelling. sadist submissive ishy x dominant masochist shushu, btw. chief butler Ryoshu bullying butler Ishmael until she snaps so that she can get off on Ishmael beating her. that kind of thing.
cathmael: pretty funny. not high tier but the comedy potential of heathcliff and linton getting cucked is so funny to me
ahabmael: horrid 👍 don't vouch for it personally but it is juicy. ahab should be with me instead. who said that
Ishmael × any female character I didn't mention: I'll hear it out. let Ishmael rail Hermann until she turns from evil to good. why not. the next character who's gonna distort suddenly hears the voice start moaning because Ishmael's slurping whatever carmen's working with down there. sky's the limit.
gregmael: no ishmael het ship is anywhere close to good, but this one's fun to think about. they know a thing or two about problematic mother figures and being in a Situation.
sangmael: I like their platonic friendship but she's way more like his lesbestie than a lover. absolute maximum I could accept is that he's allowed to watch and jerk off while she fucks Faust.
ishclair: nonsense. but I can slightly appreciate the vision. actually hold on I can get there with a transfem Sinclair having noble and tender t4t yuri moments with Ishmael. don't vouch for it personally since I prefer to leave Sinclair to the experts, but it's not nothing.
hongmael: nah. don't get it at all. probably exchange hair care tips but that's the extent of it. I do think that she realized that Hong Lu and Heath were falling in love with each other before they did, though.
ishsault: boring and without chemistry, but they sit together. best I can get is they work through a book of lateral thinking puzzles together during long stretches of down time.
ishcliff: look. ordinarily I'm a believer in "ship and let ship" because, like, who cares? people often can't help being trapped in the heteronormative thought prison. but this ship is the exclusive province of marks, rubes, and chumps. look, heathcliff, the last girl you fumbled so bad it had cosmic consequences. stick to gay sex, pal!
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