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Language:
English
Series:
Part 3 of Ria's Superhero Verse
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Published:
2025-01-07
Completed:
2025-09-23
Words:
56,231
Chapters:
23/23
Comments:
251
Kudos:
56
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3
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1,180

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Summary:

balefire-ship-tournament
📍Pinned

Welcome to the Balefire Ship Tournament!

The top eight nominated ships will battle against each other. Nominations are currently open and check out Rules and FAQ! Please do not harass people over this poll or bring it to the attention of relevant individuals.

Happy nominating! :D

Edit: Voting fraud is allowed because it’ll be impossible to moderate otherwise

Edit 2: I’m not sure what you expect coming into a RPF ship poll, but this is a RPF ship poll

Modded by:

@sundoggies (Mels), @spindrifting-away (Piper), and @bales-sidekick (Toby)

#balefire #superheroes #rpf #polls #ship tournament

231 notes

-

After Balefire saves the city, her fans host an online ship tournament. Who is the most worthy of the people's princess? Is it the best friend, the ex, the villain, or someone else entirely?

Notes:

Hi! I'm back with more nonsense :D I've been working on a Bale + Tach short story (written in prose) but I missed this format so much that I just had to write something.

Recommended to read Dearly Beloathed before this for the character dynamics and fandom shenanigans. This is comparatively low stakes and dives into fandom/shipping culture (also hetero/allonormativity).

This takes place after Dearly Beloathed (Year 827). Tentatively set in early 828.

Quick recap:

Balefire and her former nemesis Tachythanatous kill the mayor who turned himself into a Mutant. The hero rebels take over and a new regime is established. Tach is currently working at the Academy as a mentor while paired with Balefire.

Balefire Love Interest Support Group chapters (Ao3 fic within an Ao3 fic):

Chapter 7 -> Chapter 1
Chapter 8 -> Chapter 2
Chapter 13 -> Chapter 3
Chapter 19 -> Chapter 4
Chapter 21 -> Chapter 5
Chapter 22 -> Chapter 6

Chapter 1: rpf is okay

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

sundoggies

what if… balefire ship tournament… unless… 👉👈

sundoggies

Holy shit this got a lot of notes even without maintagging 👀

#ship poll? ship poll? #listen one ship is gonna dominate but it’ll be fun! #maybe #probably

67 notes

 


 

cemetery squad

 

mels  Today at 6:05pm

Guys anyone wanna mod a balefire ship poll with me?

👀2

 

spindriftingaway  Today at 6:11pm

oooh poll!

 

Toby  Today at 6:13pm

MEEE LETS GO

 

mels  Today at 6:13pm

YAYYY

brb gonna share the new blog 

 

mels  Today at 6:18pm

do you guys see it? it’s called balefire-ship-tournament 

 

Toby  Today at 6:19pm

[hacker voice] i’m in

 

spindriftingaway  Today at 6:21pm

got it!

 


 

balefire-ship-tournament 
📍Pinned

Welcome to the Balefire Ship Tournament!

The top eight nominated ships will battle against each other. Nominations are currently open and check out Rules and FAQ! Please do not harass people over this poll or bring it to the attention of relevant individuals. 

Happy nominating! :D

Edit: Voting fraud is allowed because it’ll be impossible to moderate otherwise 

Edit 2: I’m not sure what you expect coming into a RPF ship poll, but this is a RPF ship poll

Modded by:

@sundoggies (Mels), @spindrifting-away (Piper), and @bales-sidekick (Toby)

#balefire #superheroes #rpf #polls #ship tournament 

231 notes

 

balefire-ship-tournament

[Anonymous asked

will problematic ships like bale//tach be banned? like i want to make sure i’m comfortable before engaging. thank you!]

It’s difficult to define what is “problematic” because Hero HQ is currently at peace with part of the villain faction. The mods agree on no minors.

Tach is not a minor as confirmed by himself and his villain family [1] [2]. 

#asks 

15 notes

 

balefire-ship-tournament

[Anonymous asked

do you have a list on “accepted” ships? i dont want to cross the heroes’ boundaries >.<]

This is a RPF poll. If that makes you uncomfortable, please block us and corresponding tags.

piningforyou

you know what crosses the heroes’ boundaries? stealing their dna and using it to create mutants to kill them. not random freaks shipping them on this hellsite

#it’s me i’m the freak 

36 notes

 

bales-sidekick

idk who needs to hear this but RPF IS OKAY

#it’s more ethical than whatever’s been going for the past five years #tobytalks

6 notes

 


 

# baletach-quarantine

 

dangly  Today at 9:45pm

GUYS BALEFIRE SHIP POLL NOMINATIONS OPEN

[Link]

👀12  ‼️12  ❤️‍🔥12  🖤12

 

gale ☕🍂 Today at 9:47pm

baletachers RISE!!

🙌8

 

reina 🦩  Today at 9:47pm

oh chat we’re SO winning this. number one balefire ship let’s gooo

 

straight people enjoyer  Today at 9:52pm

lmao someone’s already calling them problematic and toxic 💀

 

dangly  Today at 9:52pm

I get it if it was like, years ago, but right now they’re literally friends and colleagues 

 

dangly  Today at 9:52pm

like arent they doing mentoring work together at the academy?

 


 

p(r)etty clowns 🎪

Today

 

Reina

@Ben @Lyra question: is baletach a problematic ship?

9:53pm

 

Lyra

no but i’m sick of their shit tbh

9:53pm

 

Ben

FREE US FROM THE CONSTANT THIRD WHEELING

9:53pm

 

Lyra

WHY ARE THEY ALWAYS LOOKING AT EACH OTHER???????

9:53pm

 

Ben

FREE US PLEASE

9:54pm

 


 

# baletach-quarantine

 

reina 🦩  Today at 9:54pm

yeah they’re definitely not problematic lol

 


 

burntleaf nation 🔥🍃

 

wake up babe there’s a balefire ship poll

[Link]

heather 🍡 · 10:12pm

 

omg let’s go burntleaf nation! do you think we can muster enough nominations

ceo of burntleaf capital · 10:12pm

 

probably? this is a really fast growing duo/ship tbh. hopefully we’ll get into top 4 🙏

heather 🍡 · 10:12pm

 

is it bad that i can already predict who’s gonna win,,,,

glitch/error/void  · 10:14pm

 

don’t speak it into existence 😶  

heather 🍡· 10:14pm 

 

the root of all evil tbh

😭3

ᯓ★ dana · 10:14pm

 


 

# shipping-general

 

Raven  Today at 10:23pm

The balefire ship poll is gonna be a shitshow and I know my ships will get massacred because of straight people 🙄 but I can’t look away

 

gaysforbale  Today at 10:24pm

RIGHT like i dont mind tach himself but his fans are so fucking annoying

 

🌸 chorus 🌸 Today at 10:24pm

fight for us raven… fight for yuri…

🙏5

 

Raven  Today at 10:24pm

😔i’m fighting for toxic yuri while they’re fighting each other

😭4

 

Raven | YURI WARRIOR  Today at 10:33pm

Lmao I caved. Submitted my nominations 🔥save me firecinder save me moxfire 🔥

 


 

# shipping-fics

 

Raven | YURI WARRIOR  Today at 2:04am

New chapter of coffee shop AU! <3

[Link]

💖3

 

🌸 chorus 🌸 Today at 2:04am

LFG also pls sleep it’s like 2am

 

gaysforbale  Today at 2:08am

absolutely hilarious that youre posting moxcinder while submitting their respective balefire ships lmfao. loved the chapter, nice to see arcus is getting what he deserves 

 

Raven | YURI WARRIOR  Today at 2:04am

Yeah he sucks in this fic lmao

 

🌸 chorus 🌸 Today at 2:04am

and also sucks in real life

💀3

 


 

wendyfliesaway posted a message

1 day ago

 

ok besties i’ve just been informed there’s a balefire ship poll? i’m gonna get cancelled for this but i’ll be nominating arcfire, they’re still soooo important to me :( they’re doomed hetero soulmates who never met each other at the right time :(

 

also i cannot BELIEVE they removed the dm function here and i have to post an announcement like ringing a bell in the middle of the clown square— i mean town square

 

         BestBoyfriendArcus

         @wendyfliesaway aaaaAAAAA YEAH ITS HORRIBLE WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT >.< Anyways submitted Arcfire as well, OTP forever! :D 

         13 hours ago

 


 

balefire-ship-tournament 

Your top 8 ships are here! Links will be added as the polls are posted.

Polls are as follows: 

Balefire/Dynamo (Dynabale) VS Balefire/Cinder (Firecinder)

Balefire/Chlorothrill (Burntleaf, Firethrill) VS Balefire/Aurelia (Firejelly)

Balefire/Exhail (Hailfire) VS Balefire/Moxie (Moxfire)

Balefire/Tachythanatous (Baletach, Fireangler) VS Balefire/Arcus (Arcfire)

Please do not harass people over this poll or bring it to the attention of relevant individuals. Voting fraud is allowed.

Let the campaigning begin!

sundoggies

I’ll try to summarise the dynamics!

Baletach: Former enemies, teamed up to overthrow HQ, currently paired up as mentors at the Academy

Arcfire: Exes and highschool sweethearts, they were together until 822 when Arcus allegedly cheated on Balefire with Cinder

Moxfire: Best friends, had to pretend to be enemies because Moxie was leading the rebel faction in old HQ

Firecinder: Former best friends, see Arcfire

Firethrill: Friends, they were in the same year at the Academy but got close at the rebel hideout. They’re currently doing a lot of Hero HQ PR together. 

Firejelly: They used to be a tag team to take care of the marine Mutants. I believe Aurelia and Balefire are still friends even if they don’t work as often anymore

Dynabale: Dynamo told us he used to have a crush on Balefire and they grew up together, unsure what their current status is

Hailfire: I’ll be honest, I don’t know where this came from? I don’t think Exhail is even working in Freth. (Good for him for escaping this shithole lol)

halcyonsimp

yeah exhail is currently away because hq is exporting hero labour lmfao. i think hailfire used to be a ship before we learned she was dating arcus, and it was mostly because he’s the strongest ice user and she’s the strongest fire user. 

#shipping #rpf #hailfire

541 notes

 


 

Today

 

Reina

im trying not to be invested in the balefire ship poll but i am invested in the balefire ship poll

[Link]

11:34pm

 

Archie

Why are you texting me

11:34pm

 

Reina

because you’re the one who touches the most grass and I cant talk to Lyra bc her parents are one of the top hero ships of all time

11:34pm

 

Archie

🙂

11:35pm

 

Archie

Ooh Aurelia… Cora loves her

11:36pm

 

Reina

yeah she does

11:37pm

 

Reina

PASTEL PINK AND BLUE JELLYFISH MOTIF??? MOON JELLIES?? UGH SHES SO CUTE UNDER THE MASK TOO 😭😭😭😭 norman and eden are so lucky to get her as a mentor aaaaaAAA

11:38pm

 

Reina

^ that was from cora

11:38pm

 

Archie

do you still have the jellyfish plush

11:38pm

 

Reina

cora: yes its in my room back home

11:39pm

 

Archie

Anyways don’t stress over the poll, we all know your ship is gonna win

11:39pm

 

Reina

baletach 🥺

11:40pm

 

Reina

btw have you done physics question 18

11:55pm

 

Archie

It’s 12am

11:55pm

 

Reina

yes…?

11:55pm

 

Reina

i’ve done it but i’m not sure if it’s right

[Photo]

11:56pm

 

Archie

Yeah that’s the answer I got

11:59pm

 

Reina

thank you bestie <3

11:59pm

 


 

Today

 

Tach

hi

12:30am

 

Balefire

ok what happened now

12:30am

 

Tach

do you huave garlic

12:30am

 

Balefire

?

12:31am

 

Tach

have a sudden craving for aglio e olio and you’ll never guess what i forgot to restock on

12:31am

 

Tach

can the hero balefire help me? 🥺

12:32am

 

Balefire

Can’t it wait

12:32am

 

Tach

I thought you of all people understood late night cravings

12:32am

 

Tach

ive had a rough day

12:32am

 

Tach

spent the whole afternoon healing up at keith’s and i need garlic to heal my soul

12:32am

 

Tach

:(

12:32am

 

Balefire

Are you ok?

12:33am

 

Tach

yes but would be better with garlic

12:33am

 

Tach

ill make you a portion too if you want psppspspspsplease

12:33am

 

Tach

🧄 tonite queen?

12:33am

 

Tach

It takes five minutes to walk from your apartment to mine and five seconds if you use speed

12:34am

 

Tach

Hello?

12:35am

 


 

employment era @Tachythanatous

reason 57 to wear a helmet: so someone won’t throw a whole garlic in your face

11 Replies 45 Quotes 651 Likes

|

Balefire @Balefire_Hero

Hm

29 Replies 304 Quotes 1.9K Likes

|

Moxie @Moxie_Hero 

tach idk what you did but you deserved it

7 Replies 34 Quotes 501 Likes

 


 

p(r)etty clowns 🎪

Today

 

Reina

WGAT IS OCCURRING????

7:54am

 

Ben

IDK I DONT WANNA GO TO THE MENTORING SESSION ANYMORE 😭

7:54am

 

Notes:

Inspired by various ship showdowns on Tumblr, in particular @rpftourney (and the Phan containment breaching) and @mcytblrsexymen.

The following eight chapters will focus on each of the eight ships— or more accurately the fandom treatment of them. Then we move onto the semi-finals and the chaos that comes with it.

Thanks for reading, your thoughts are appreciated! <3

[OC blog: @etcair]