Curate, connect, and discover
In the modern AU, anytime MalcEmps do anything lovey-dovey infront of the primarchs most of them collectively groan, except for sanguinius who "Awwws".
Then Malc hits them all with the classic "What? Well, how do you all think you were made?"
Lowkey, surprised by how tender and loving MalcEmps are with each other compared to what I've seen them portrayed by the fandom (art and memes, fics were a different story)
The fandom, when I was just getting started half a year ago, gaslit me into believing the two were a dysfunctional relationship at best and were more like to co-workers that fucked each other sometimes.
Cue me reading books/short stories where the two interacted and now I can easily imagine them cuddling on the couch, while discussing the fate of humanity. I can easily imagine them making exceptions for each other, knowing things about each other no one else does (which is canon). I can imagine them doing simple domestic things in times of peace or maybe in something akin to a Modern AU. I can imagine them being lovey dovey and genuinely devoted to each other.
The two versions could coexist. And I'm not saying there isn't a certain comedic charm to the fandom version of their relationship nor that it shouldn't exist (because that would make me a hypocrite, I do enjoy that version to a certain degree and controlling how people engage with fiction is. Bad. Ew. No). I'm just laughing about the whiplash I got when I was introduced to the ship through the memes on Tumblr just to get to them in the actual books and find out that the two are genuinely peak queer romance to me.