Fairshaw

Fairshaw is the slash ship between Flynn Fairwind and Mathias Shaw from the Warcraft fandom.

Battle for Azeroth
Flynn and Mathias first meet and work together during an Alliance operation. The two of them - assisted by an Alliance adventurer - are sent into the Zandalari Treasury in Dazar'alor's central pyramid to retrieve an artifact called the Abyssal Scepter that the Horde previously stole. At first, the two show annoyance with each other: Shaw isn't appreciative of Flynn's constant quips throughout the operation while Flynn shows exasperation at how straight-laced the spymaster is. However, after they manage to bypass the Treasury's traps and defeat its various mystical defenders to finally reach the Scepter, the two seem to have warmed up to each other. After the adventurer takes the Scepter and replaces it with a fake one, the three are chased out of the Treasury by the "Gold Elemental" Opulence.

Following the operation, the two continued to work together during the Fourth War, such as when Shaw asked Flynn to investigate rumors about a new Azerite worldvein. After the Fourth War is declared over, Shaw confides in fellow rogue Valeera Sanguinar about wanting to get to know someone better - implied to be Flynn. Valeera encourages Shaw to find happiness where he can, to which the spymaster says he will.

Shadows Rising
After the Alliance hears rumors of loyalists of Sylvanas Windrunner in Zandalar, Shaw is sent to investigate them. To reach the continent, he contracts Flynn to take him there aboard the captain's newly acquired ship, the Bold Arva. While Flynn is giving a drunken rant on the ship's old name and asking what Shaw's dossier on him entails, a surprise lightning storm strikes the ship that forces the crew to prepare for the bad weather. Meanwhile, Flynn and Shaw go below deck, on account of Shaw being unaccustomed to sea travel and Flynn's drunkness, to wait while the rest of the crew get out of danger. While waiting, Shaw explains what his contacts have found about the current situation within the Horde - which Flynn finds a little paranoid as they and the Alliance are currently at peace. When it's revealed there was an assassination attempt on Zandalar's queen Talanji, Flynn suggests that the freak storm might be Talanji locking the continent down for safety, a hypothesis that Shaw finds "annoyingly reasonable" (even though it's later revealed to be incorrect). While they then discuss that the Horde sent a "spy" to watch Talanji, they're interrupted when Melli - a tidesage member of the crew - reveals that the storms seems to be targting them.

As the ship continued its journey to Zandalar, Flynn made the surprising move of telling Shaw about his mother - namely how she was a thief pretending to be a barmaid, and how she was doing it for him. The story captivates Shaw, which turns to sorrow when he hears that she was executed for her thievery. This causes Shaw to start feeling sympathy for Flynn as he knows executions. Just as Shaw is about to tell Flynn about his own grandmother also being a thief, they're interrupted by another freak storm that ended with the ship making harsh landfall on the coast of Zandalar's swamp region Nazmir. As the crew recover from the experience, Flynn and Shaw discuss their next move since they made land very loudly and there were no more Alliance encampments on the continent due to the Horde having retaken those areas as part of the treaty. The two ultimately agreed to go deeper into the swamp to investigate.

Before too long, the two came across an encampment of trolls that didn't seem affiliated with either the Horde or the Zandalari royalty. While investigating the camp, they find and collect some arrows much like those used by Sylvanas' dark rangers, indicating they were loyal to her. Shaw sends Flynn to take the arrows back to the ship while he does some more digging, which the captain begrudgingly agreed to do. Just as Flynn makes it back to the ship, however, he sees that Shaw is ambushed by royal guards and is prepared to join the frey until he sees that Shaw is surrendering and the spymaster orders him to leave. Realizing the situation, Flynn orders the crew to disembark and head for safety, leaving Shaw to be captured. As they sail away, Flynn reflects back on the fact that he trusted Shaw enough to tell him about his mother and now Shaw was trusting him to get help. Flynn eventually made it to Kul Tiras and informed Jaina Proudmoore and company about Shaw's capture and the evidence they found pertaining to Sylvanas, allowing the Alliance to plan their next moves.

Meanwhile, Shaw sat in a cell within Dazar'alor yet happy that Flynn and his crew were able to get away. As he tried to talk to the guards, he realizes to himself how lonely he was and that he desired a partner. He began to think that Flynn was becoming that partner in the time that they've been working together. As he pondered this, Shaw began imagining himself and Flynn in a small cabin with nothing but nature around them as he went about resuming the story about his grandmother - how she was a thief that Stormwind captured and pressganged into being an assassin for them, and how she taught Shaw the business. He finally realized that he was born into his career, whereas Flynn had the choice to be who he could be. As Shaw sat in the cell, he was going to talk with Flynn when he got out.

Shaw would eventually be released after the chaos with the mysterious troll group and Sylvanas was dealt with by the Horde. Returning to Stormwind, he was greeted, not just by Jaina and King Anduin Wrynn, but also Flynn - who nearly shoved Anduin out of the way to give the spymaster a hug. Shaw returned it as he told Flynn there were some things they needed to discuss, and that it would be best to happen at the Gilded Rose. Learning where they would meet leaves Flynn with a bright blush as Shaw speaks with Anduin and Jaina about more professional business.

Terror by Torchlight
Flynn and Shaw hadn't had much time to be together since the latter's return from Zandalar. This changes when Flynn wins a treasure map of Duskwood from a card game and offers Shaw the opportunity to go treasure hunting together. Shaw initially refuses the offer, pointing out several problems such as the Night Watch's stance on treasure and the various spirits that haunt Duskwood, but Flynn is able to convince him and the two arrive and begin the hunt later that night. As they neared Tranquil Gardens Cemetery - while Shaw was giving Flynn a history lesson of the region - they found the Night Watch commander Sarah Ladimore injured and suffering some kind of decaying illness. Another nearby watcher explains to them that someone took the Torch of Holy Flame - an artifact that kept Duskwood's undead at bay - and now the undead were striking all across the region. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Flynn and Shaw set out to find the Torch.

The two made their way to Forlorn Rowe, where the Torch was originally kept. There, they quickly identified the culprit to be a necromancer and quietly began following her into the nearby catacombs. Once inside, they found the necromancer trying to corrupting the Torch with an unholy ritual. Shaw engages the necromancer while Flynn sneaks by and disrupts the ritual before taking the Torch. As Flynn sees what happened to the Torch, he realizes they can purify it at the moonwell they passed on the way there, prompting the two to escape, with Shaw getting infected with the same illness as Ladimore along the way.

The two eventually exited the catacombs and began flying to the moonwell via gryphon, only for them to see that the necromancer was chasing them. They got shot out of the sky and landing near the moonwell, with Shaw telling Flynn to purify the torch while he deals with the necromancer despite his condition. Flynn regarded how brave Shaw was for doing so before beginning the purification while Shaw fought on. However, despite a valiant effort from the spymaster, Shaw ends up shaken by something the necromance says to him. Before she can do anything, though, she's interrupted when Flynn uses the now-purified Torch on her, allowing Shaw to finish her off.

In the aftermath, the Torch is returned to Forlorn Rowe and the illness that befell both Shaw and Ladimore was gone. At Darshire's Inn, Shaw reveals that the Night Watch gifted Flynn an ornate mirror as compensation for their treasure hunt being effectively ruined with the whole undead situation. As they rest, Shaw realizes how many high profile and powerful artifacts like the Torch are out there that need to be checked up on, ones that doing so would be dangerous and require quite a bit of secrecy - before offering Flynn to come along with him to do so. When asked, Flynn is confused why the offer - to which Shaw responds that he trusts him. With those words, Flynn gladly accept as the two share a kiss.

Fanon
Fairshaw is a very popular ship for the Warcraft fandom. From the first time they were seen working together during the Alliance War Campaign in Battle for Azeroth, fans were quickly hooked by the contrasting image of the archetypal witty swashbuckler and stoic super spy working together like they do. It's particularly poignant as Shaw is one of Warcraft's major figures while Flynn was only just introduced in that expansion. Needless to say, the reaction from fans of the ship to its canonization in the Shadows Rising novel and Terror by Torchlight short story was overwhelmingly positive, with several arguing that the moments in both were some of the best romantic moments ever seen in something from Blizzard.

On AO3, this ship is very written about, currently having tagged entries in the 600's range. It's the third-most written ship for the Warcraft fandom, being behind only Sylvaina and Wranduin. It's also the most written ship for both Flynn and Shaw.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * This ship is one of the contributing factors for the Shadowlands expansion receiving a nomination for the GLAAD Media Awards' "Outstanding Video Game" category in 2021.