After seeing some great art and headcanons between Shanilla and Mallory I kind of fell head first for the ship 🧍♀️ I wanted to contribute something to the ship since it has so little, and at first I figured I could write something. Unfortunately I was hit with the ever exciting writers block and couldn't flesh out any of my ideas. (At the time of writing this though, I did actually come up with a few! Will try and work on them later ^^) So I figured screw it, might as well try the art route. I'm not the greatest at drawing, but between using some bases and a bit of editing I think these came out pretty cute :)
Base Credit: 녹색병 (@dkdleldjqordjq) on Twitter
Base Credit: @lvlynai on Twitter
They're so cute (*´▽`)ﾉ obligatory rambling beneath the cut :3
I think a big part of the reason I like these 2 is they remind me a lot of my OCs (granted, the OC that reminds me of Mallory would have to be severely toned down lmao) And that helps me see the vision of them more. I think Mallory could find a lot of comfort with Shanilla because she doesn't have to act out a part being around her. Mallory seems like the type to have expectations constantly pushed onto her, either by family, friends, or classmates, so with Shanilla (and by default Rajeev, Spencer, and Billy if they're all hanging out) she can just relax and do dumb stuff without having to make justifications for it. Plus Shanilla supports her more niche interests that her other friends don't. While Mallory tends to have issues with how others perceive her, Shanilla obviously has issues with how she sees herself. I like imaging Mallory helping Shanilla try new styles instead of let her fall into the idea she should only wear certain things (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝) And I feel like Mallory could really help Shanilla break out her shell and make her more confident. Mallory is the type of gf to drag Shanilla to every event, whether she's willing or not, just to spend time with her, opening her up to new people/situations. They both just basically show the other they're allowed to be themselves.
Some more headcanons I have about their relationship: I feel like they both really bond over their love of blogging. Technically Mallory is never said to be into blogging, but I can feel it in my bones that girl has a Tumblr blog. She probably uses to to reblog/talk about fashion and art (to me, she screams indie vibes), same for Shanilla who probably uses it fandom/celebrity gossip. I just know they run their blogs like the Navy 🙏 Mallory just looks like someone who can paint, and with Shanilla knowing how to play an instrument (or few), they probably make a bunch of demos out of boredom. Shanilla on music and Mallory doing the art. And know for a fact Shanilla is the most awkward girl in the word around Mallory before they start dating (probably even after too lol). She has absolutely no rizz, and probably starts seriously considering Billy's dating 'advice' after a certain point, but I think she wins Mallory over just by being herself (and being pitiful). and dare I say they have a Jeremy and Candace dynamic? 🤔 E.i Mallory thinks they're a thing way before Shanilla confesses. Shanilla is thinking of ways to casually invite Mallory to a 'hangout' and Mallory is like 'Yay, my girlfriend and me are going on a date :)'
Angst potential?? 👀 (I love that in ships) A conflicted Shanilla who really wants to ask out Mallory, but doesn't want to potentially ruin her friendship with Spencer (and likely Billy since he goes where Spencer goes) and constantly gets into arguments inside her own head about if asking out a girl your friend has a crush on, even if he has never made a move on said girl, is breaking bro code because first come first serve, right? And technically she's not even a guy so bro code doesn't count! Not to mention her also being afraid to ask Mallory out on the off chance she reacts poorly to it because I know in my heart Shanilla cannot handle rejection like her brother 😔 And if they do start dating I can imagine Shanilla going great lengths to hide it as to not piss off her friend(s), which might lead to Mallory getting pissed at being 'hidden'
Though I could also not wanting to be open about her relationship. I'm sure the students at BH (and probably her family) probably aren't the most accepting so she'd probably hide Shanilla just to avoid any conflict. A big flaw I headcanon for Mallory is her inability to accept the idea of people viewing her on a bad light. It's why she hangs out with Lolo, even though she's a jerk to her a lot, because actually pissing off Lolo would mean her reputation in school would go way down. And she knows dating a girl, especially the one the school deems a 'loser' would sink her reputation, so Mallory just lies about it. Obviously this would upset Shanilla, depending on if she's out to her other friends or not. If Spencer, Billy, and Rajeev knew they were dating, I think she'd be very tormented at having to pretend her and her gf aren't anything more than classmates. Or maybe a Good Luck Babe situation? 🤔 Mallory breaks up with Shanilla, unable to deal with the stress the relationship brings her, but can't stop thinking of her as the one that got away, even years later when she's married... Ah, I love angst 🩷
Uh and that's pretty much all I have to ramble on about them. I might talk more about Mallory hanging out with the other guys when her Shanilla starting dating because I think that would make for a great dynamic between everyone, and I already have some shit post memes ready to post so hopefully I get on that 🙏
Also can we think of another name besides Shallory? Spencer and Billy have a ton of cool ship name variants that aren't their names smashed together so I think we can cook up something for these two. Let's get the ball rolling folks 🙆♀️
Decided to take you up on your offer to ramble some more about Shallory in your asks :3
To expend more on Shanilla worrying about upsetting Spencer by asking out Mallory, I don't believe he would actually be upset. I see the idea coming more so from Shanilla having an active imagination and considering every scenario that could happen if she asks out Mallory, and unfortunately her mind just keeps getting stuck on the worst ones. I imagine Shanilla values her friendship with Spencer (and by default Billy) very much, so the idea of losing them over it makes her very hesitant to try. Especially with them being one of her closest friends besides Rajeev. In actuality, Spencer has always seemed level headed and reasonable to me, so he'd probably just be amused at Shanilla's worrying and assure her he was cool whatever her and Mallory had going on. Plus, he does have Billy to cheer him up ^^
As for Mallory seeing Billy that's also really fun to play around with. Would definitely love to do something with it, just haven't thought of anything concrete yet, lol (if you have any ideas, you should definitely share!❤) But I do have a general concept of how they meet. E.i when Shanilla and Mallory start dating Shanilla realizes pretty quickly 'wow, it's hard to hide the present of a ghost when your in the same room as him and has no semblance of subtly'. During group hangouts they can't exactly ignore him, because he's Billy, so Shanilla is quick to introduce them, mostly so to not look insane when addressing thin air 😂 I think they'd give her a piece of jewelry, either a ring/necklace/etc and just sit her down at Spencer's house and let it go from there. It probably takes awhile for Mallory to get used to Billy, her being nervous around ghosts and all, but after she gets past that I can definitely see her becoming close like everyone else. Billy being Billy is always his energetic self, probably does the usual routine of trying to help and failing, but Mallory can see the genuineness in him, and that likely helps her warm up to him. I can also see them seeing a hit of themselves in each other, always putting on a front for most people, only letting it down for a few. I like that relatablity with them :)
I also adore your add ons ^^ The idea of Shanilla being the first person to tell Mallory she looks beautiful without makeup is AJWOEHBRMA 💖💕 it's so sweet, and definitely something I can see happening. You're so correct that Miss Potato head is Mallory coded, even just think of the lyrics I can tell those lines are something Mallory has stuck on repeat in her head before meeting Shanilla, which were, as you said, put there by her parents. I see both of them having complicated relationships with their families, both for similar reasons. They aren't accepting, or they have a set future laid out for them with no room to change it, etc. Just more strain on the two that I can see them helping each other out with. I really would have loved to see more Shanilla and Mallory in the show, or at the least more of who they were, but unfortunately this is dtmg were talking about so we gotta write our own lore 😔
Thanks for reaching out.
I mean, what you describe it's just anticipatory anxiety plus I think Shanilla and even Rajeev knew about the love between Billy and Spencer, before even Billy and Spencer knew it, like both of them being too oblivious about their feelings. In fact, I even made a post about Shanilla and Rajeev reacting to Spencer coming out; sorry seems like I cant talk about Shallory without thinking about Ectofeature (blame my adhd). "Spencer has always seemed level headed and reasonable to me," I don't think so, it's more like (this fanart) if Billy and Spencer shared 1 braincell.
Nothing much to say, but Billy and Spencer are always mains on DTMG, and tbh that's why I'm here, Sorry but the yaoi is what keeps me more on this fandom than anything. Like if I'd brought back the series Billy and Spencer would still be the main characters, except for 1 ~ 5 episodes centered in other characters like Shanilla, Mallory, etc. (depending on how many episode I can do for the comeback).
