The Ultimate BNT Ship Formula Rating

• Unhealthy/Toxic relationship dynamics.
• Mentions of suggestive/slight NSFW.
• Assume all characters I bring up here went through some stuff, so some heavier elements from their stories will be mentioned.

As of present, the most well-known (among my friend circle) template for the ships I write is MordBen, a pairing between Ben Adler x Morden. There are many mirrors of MordBen out there in my OC universes, so I might as well rate them for funsies.

Shoutout to all the friends who clocked the MordBen energy from my pairings (even the ones that weren't intended to be their clones), that eventually led to this post.

This criteria is a mix of MordBen's features and... the ancient pairing that started it all. I am too embarrassed to share that ship in public.

• Intent: Did I create these two to be expies of MordBen on purpose? Did I get inspired by them? Or was it just my subconsciousness seeping into those two?
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: The "Ben" is taller and older. Even if it's just 1cm taller or 1 month older, I'm taking it.
  • Color Palette: The "Ben" is associated with red or warmer color palettes, or at least more colorful than the other. Meanwhile, the "Morden" is associated with more monochrome or cooler palettes (bonus if it's light blue/teal).
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Basically how they even met in the first place. Their first meeting wasn't something pre-planned.
  • Went Through Shit Together: They experience the horrors. Bonus if said horrors involve dehumanization/loss of autonomy (e.g. being experimented on).
  • A Mirror of Each Other: Deep inside, there are some similarities they share with each other. Not a foil, but a mirror. (Fun fact: The proto-MordBen leans hard into this. An ordinary guy and a monster taking an eerily similar face as him.)
  • Distance: Whether they have their own missions, live so far away from each other, or at least have a wall that separates one another...
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: If both of them are well-adjusted, it's not really MordBen to me... They gotta end up in a messy fight at least once.
  • Dependence: Mostly when it comes to each other's emotional needs. There's this dependent aspect that veers towards toxic direction...
  • Possessiveness: Bonus if it goes both ways. In a less toxic direction, it mostly takes form of protectiveness for the other.
• The "Ben":
  • Charming from the Outside: Bonus if they look conventionally attractive. If they're considered attractive in-universe, then yeah, they check this box.
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: This trait stems from the proto-MordBen, but there's gotta be at least an eerie aspect about them. It can go from "oh their personality is somewhat off-putting" to "this is an monsterous being from another world who eats people". Bonus if this aspect of them goes hand-in-hand with dehumanization.
  • All-Consuming Obsession: They gotta be at least somewhat fixated on the other, sometimes to the point of their relationship starting to look like a psychological horror.
  • Identity Loss: Memory loss, identity loss, if it fucks with their identity then it can fall under this criteria.
  • Isolation: There is a core loneliness inside them that warps them into the person they are.
  • Domination: Is usually the one leading the relationship, dragging the other around. But beware, they may act deceptively docile. (I usually make them dominant top by default.)
• The "Morden":
  • Charming from the Inside: Despite their bitter exterior, the real "cute" part about them comes from the inside... Or at least, I personally find them cute that way.
  • They Need A Break From It All: Life keeps throwing lemons at them. The fate of the world is on their shoulders. They're pulled along the strings of fate. They're forced to fight with terrible cards on hand. They can't catch a break.
  • Avoidance: They have a tendency to push others away that may or may not become a self-fullfilling prophecy. They will bite. They will flinch at affection. They will hate you. They will burn bridges. They will run away.
  • Haunted: The past still lingers. They can't forget about it.
  • Grief: Went through some kind of grief. Had exes. Lost family. Lost friends. Lost loves. Loss shapes them.
  • Submission: Is usually the one being dragged around in the relationship. In more extreme cases, they're straight up subservient towards the other. (I usually make them submissive bottom by default.)

The one and the only! The most famous template of my ships at the moment! This ship features Ben Adler x Morden from Ashverse. Ever since I started fixating on Morden, I went ham with their dynamic to the point they end up being... my personal flavor of dysfunctional ship dynamics.

Criteria Used: MordBen Criteria 1.0

• Intent: THEY ARE THE MORDBEN. THEY ARE THE ONE. Though, whether I intended to make their relationship turn out That Way in the first place... no. I did not see this coming. I didn't expect the grip they'd have on me.
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: It's not that much, but it's still there as a very subtle flavoring for this ship. Ben is a year older than Morden, and like 4' inches taller. Larger age gap wouldn't work with what I intended for the ship, since I wanna give them the effect of "they're roughly the same age yeah".
  • Color Palette: Ben is associated with Red, sometimes pink. That man's palette fits the bill. On the other hand, Morden dresses in all black and his Death Curse gives him a little cyan accent for me to play with. The palette checks out.
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Ran into each other by chance during the Aesir experiments. No childhood friend history here. Just two strangers who went through the same shit together.
  • Went Through Shit Together: Got tortured + experimented on together. Definitely fits this bill.
  • A Mirror of Each Other: Hmm... I mean, the fact they're demi-gods with unique/special powers count, maybe. Otherwise I'm not sure what's so similar about them apart from going through similar circumstances.
  • Distance: They keep parting in the story. They have their own missions. As much as they want this relationship to develop, there are other obligations that keep them apart... Yummy.
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: Oh boy. Oh boy... Both are pretty fucked.
  • Dependence: A core part of their dynamic, that started from them relying on each other to cope through the horrors from being experimented on... Afterwards, they have way less chances to lean on each other, but hints of dependence are still there, often taking a shape of longing.
  • Possessiveness: Hehe. I haven't really told people that they're possessive x possessive pairing, have I? You can probably clock that Ben being that type of guy, but for Morden... It's much more subtle, but it's still there, lurking in the shadows.
• The "Ben":
  • Charming from the Outside: Ben looks kinda handsome™ so there's that.
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: The most "monsterous" parts about him are his character. He has shown hints of apathy/sadism here and there, not to mention the unchecked anger issues.
  • All-Consuming Obsession: Connecting to the point above, his fixation towards Morden is also what's scary about him. He's mainly motivated by the sheer obsession for that man.
  • Identity Loss: Lost his memories about the experiments and his past life.
  • Isolation: The one thing that haunts him.
  • Domination: Initates the relationship. Dominates. The top. What's more to say? Though, he does normally act subservient around Morden here and there, eager to care for him.
• The "Morden":
  • Charming from the Inside: He is cute. It's not "he's cute despite his mental illnesses", those flawed parts also endear him to me too!!!
  • They Need A Break From It All: Insert all the shit he's going through in Arcane Odyssey story.
  • Avoidance: What I lean into when it comes to my personal interpretation of Morden. He has run away from Ben many times to pursue his own mission and keep Ben away from it. He will not stop running away.
  • Haunted: He remembers it all.
  • Grief: Lost family and friends during the experiments, enough said.
  • Submission: I mean, yeah. He's usually the one receiving the affection and getting dragged around in the relationship. I'd say he finds it more comforting this way too. (<- guy who struggles with expressing affection)

The first MordBen expy to be featured here. The Adler x Mordred from APCverse!

Criteria Used: MordBen Criteria 1.0

• Intent: Yep, created to be their expies on purpose.
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: Another case of "can't really have a big age gap or it won't really work" except it's from the fact I want them to take the same grade in school. Alder is like months older than him. The height gap is smaller than MordBen, but Adler remains 2' taller than him.
  • Color Palette: Literally got MordBen palette going on, maybe except for the fact Adler dresses in less red...
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Their first meeting doesn't really register as "met by sheer chance" to me? They're child prodigies and end up in the same school competition together, and their relationship grows from there. They give me the vibes that they'll keep running into each other one way or another...
  • Went Through Shit Together: Both faced their own family + academic issues and coped about them together. And now, they're dealing with what their life throws at them together.
  • A Mirror of Each Other: Yeah, two people with high expectations from family, have interests in magic, matches each other's freak, yadayada.
  • Distance: Some emotional walls, yeah. But otherwise, they travel and live together. MordBen got separated so often so Mordler can be physically very close with each other.
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: I mean, yeah. Though I'd say they're in a more stable environment than MordBen, so more time to cope.
  • Dependence: Hell yeah...
  • Possessiveness: Hehe.
• The "Ben" (Adler):
  • Charming from the Outside: Adler's pretty cute, yeah.
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: His ass is the one demonizing himself. He isn't that bad...
  • All-Consuming Obsession: Not as insane or intense as Ben, but hints of batshit insane obsession is still there...
  • Identity Loss: I mean, man's went through identity issues throughout his life.
  • Isolation: One very prominient aspect about his childhood.
  • Domination: Is more in charge of the relationship, yeah. Will be at Mordred's beck and call though. Woof woof.
• The "Morden" (Mordred):
  • Charming from the Inside: My cutie patootie... (Looks at a character who'd glare at strangers.)
  • They Need A Break From It All: In backstory, def. Right now, he still has his Winter Magic situation to worry about... But Adler's with him :)
  • Avoidance: It's still there, yeah.
  • Haunted: Yeah...
  • Grief: Not a traditional sense of "his friends/family died" but it's still there.
  • Submission: It might look like he's the one in charge at first.

They didn't even start as MordBen... But in essence, they share very similarities to ships that started off as MordBen, so here they are. This ship features Rill x Zero from APCverse.

Criteria Used: MordBen Criteria 1.0

• Intent: Not meant to be a MordBen. However, AveBen did subconsciously branch off from proto-MordBen dynamics, and they were created with AveBen as the base... So yeah, in essence, they can be one on a more primordial level. Honestly, AA Ben is way more similar to the Morden archetype than AO Ben archetype.
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: Rill is like 4 inches taller, and his poses/outfit usually makes him look much bigger than Zero... However, Zero is older. AveBen pretty much runs on "i need to see that old man topped", so yeah...
  • Color Palette: ...Not really? Though Rill (the "Ben" of the relationship) has a brighter color palette so there's that. The contrast is still there.
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Yeah. Ran into each other in a bar.
  • Went Through Shit Together: They're the "couple who looks like they've been married for years" out of Ghost Chase's main cast. They've gone through thick and thin together. <3
  • A Mirror of Each Other: If you think they're similar in some ways, please do inform me. Because these two register to me as a polar-opposite pairing.
  • Distance: A teeny bit of emotional wall or a difference in their characters, I guess. But other than that, they're almost always seen together.
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: Honestly, both are pretty well-adjusted to me, despite inflicting lighthearted psychic damage at each other. There are potential where fights between them go messy, yeah, but they'll make it out at the end. (Though, the idea of Zero giving Rill silent treatment during their fights and making it everyone's problems is kinda doing things to me.)
  • Dependence: It's there, yeah. A bit of unhealthy dependence but it's not as bad as other MordBen expies.
  • Possessiveness: Hmm. Honestly, it manifests more as protectiveness to me. And even then, they're the type to have enough trust for each other to not go full overprotective mode 24/7. Not really possessive.
• The "Ben" (Rill):
  • Charming from the Outside: Check.
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: ??? He's not that bad. What did bro do. I don't think he's as bad as other possible ships in here???
  • All-Consuming Obsession: Not as dangerously obsessive as the other pairings on this page, but it's still there. Big love.
  • Identity Loss: No?
  • Isolation: ...I fucking guess??? I see how'd this work. But IDK..
  • Domination: Not the traditional sense of dominant in my relationships. He's pretty much the one "tamed" by his partner. He still tops nevertheless—
• The "Morden" (Zero):
  • Charming from the Inside: He's moe to me...
  • They Need A Break From It All: That's my idea for Zero's history, yeah. And some of it may continue to haunt him in Ghost Chase's story...
  • Avoidance: Ohohoho. Yep.
  • Haunted: Yeaaaaaaaaah babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
  • Grief: Ahahahahahahaha. Man. Why are you even an alternate Ben variant? You're way more Morden coded—
  • Submission: Is technically the one in charge of this relationship. Has him on a leash. Though you can say that he's more of the receiver of the affection in the relationship...

Like RillZero situation... These two didn't even start from MordBen, but came from somewhere more primordial... I guess they count. They're less MordBen-y than RillZero is to me... This ship features Silver x Lumina from APCverse.

Criteria Used: MordBen Criteria 1.0

• Intent: Not meant to be MordBen. Though I guess DaveBen (the ship I based SiLumina on) is kinda MordBen if you squint...
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: Hmm. Silver is slightly older + significantly taller so there's that.
  • Color Palette: Both are warm color palette couple to me. Pink and orange.
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Literally met each other by chance. Silver barged in the inn to deal with the sprite and bam, the spark.
  • Went Through Shit Together: In the future.
  • A Mirror of Each Other: Bro where... Though I guess they're like two softies who wound up together.
  • Distance: I mean, yeah. Relationship distance. Work obligations. And other stuff that keeps them away...
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: Silver is well-adjusted to me, while Lumina... She's also well-adjusted to me if I'm being honest. Though there are def moments of weaknesses, yeah. Their current coping mechanisms are bound to be challenged.
  • Dependence: Not that dependent but like. It'd be nice if they lean onto each other just a little...
  • Possessiveness: It's more of protectiveness, yeah... Though I guess Lumina has a little more possessive tendencies, since I see her to be the type to get heartbroken if Silver rejects her and falls for someone else.
• The "Ben" (Silver):
  • Charming from the Outside: He's cute! He's handsome!
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: ...? Bro where. He isn't anywhere I'd call monsterous.
  • All-Consuming Obsession: Hmm. Hmm... Not as intense as the other MordBen expies but it does fuck with his judgement every now and then.
  • Identity Loss: I haven't fleshed out his backstory enough to confirm whether he went through this or not.
  • Isolation: I see the vibes.
  • Domination: He's only taking charge when it comes to sprite safety and in bed—
• The "Morden" (Lumina):
  • Charming from the Inside: She's cute from both outside and inside...
  • They Need A Break From It All: (looks at planned Lumina backstory) Um.
  • Avoidance: Will likely be pretty subtle but I can see it.
  • Haunted: Hehe.
  • Grief: Heheheh.
  • Submission: Usually the one initating the relationship and more in charge? Might seem more submissive at times but she has him by the collar.

Gonna do this with the vampire yuri I've been brainrotting about recently too... This ship features Valerius x Cielo from APCverse.

Honestly, they're dangerously close to my primordial ship dynamic.

Criteria Used: MordBen Criteria 1.0

• Intent: Not really. I made up their dynamic on the spot and they end up being like MordBen if they lean way harder into the monsterous aspects. You can probably argue that they're barely anything like MordBen.
• Visuals:
  • Height+Age Dominance: Oh my god. These two play much harder into this aspect than MordBen. Valerius towers her (6' taller) and is like 50 years older than her. If you don't notice the sheer height + physical age gap, I don't know what to tell you.
  • Color Palette: Now this... both of them have pretty dark and muted colors. I guess Valerius has red eyes and is more stylish than her, so style points to her. Cielo is too apathetic about outfits for me to register her as "oh she likes to wear all black".
• Story:
  • Ran Into Each Other: Just their first meeting. It was by chance that they'd end up in the same house. From then, Valerius locks the fuck in.
  • Went Through Shit Together: Haven't really fleshed out the details, but this is the kind of stuff I see them having once they maintain their master-fang dynamics. They're gonna go through stuff together.
  • A Mirror of Each Other: Kind of. Valerius displaying some traits Cielo has but in a more controlled way... And there's this aspect where Valerius can mold Cielo into a mirror of herself. Hehehe.
  • Distance: Yeah, no. It's there. They may be physically together a lot, but emotionally? Oh boy...
• Mutual Dynamics:
  • Mutual Emotional Dysregulation: Ooh boy... And no, Valerius being the "someone who has superpowers to control and manipulate emotions" don't really help with a healthy relationship either. If anything, her control makes their whole deal more dysfunctional... Heh.
  • Dependence: (looks at master-fang dynamics) I sure do wonder if they're dependent.
  • Possessiveness: Ahahahahahahahahahaha.
• The "Ben" (Valerius):
  • Charming from the Outside: She looks handsome, yeah.
  • Otherworldly Monsterous: She's straight up a vampire (especially the Paradise's Ruins variant, which I personally think people may find them abhorrent). I think that says enough.
  • All-Consuming Obsession: Ahahahahaha. Cielo, you are so screwed in many ways. Poor thing.
  • Identity Loss: Being a vampire does come with some form of identity loss, doesn't it?
  • Isolation: Is she really that lonely?
  • Domination: She's literally the alpha/sugar daddy coded/master/dom of the relationship I don't know how much I can put it in your face.
• The "Morden" (Cielo):
  • Charming from the Inside: (paragraphs of me describing Cielo's unpleasantness) She's so cute~
  • They Need A Break From It All: Haha.
  • Avoidance: Heheheheheh.
  • Haunted: Ooh, boy...
  • Grief: My first concept for her is literally "a vampire who lost her master", I think she's doomed from there.
  • Submission: Her whole concept is that she's the weapon obeying her master and a living tool I don't think that is anywhere dominating.