there was literally no investment in the ship itself, just the investment for attention and clout, to the point where he'd do giveaways and give money to el*n m*sk

exactly!!! people writing fics to kill off some fem char so their mlm ship can exist "in peace" are shockingly common, no matter the age range of the fandom.
+ its not surprising his ship didnt get the attention he wanted, he couldnt even come up with anything w/o copying another person

that was so surreal when he was trying to be a martyr for m/m ships lol. before tumblr most of my f/f fandom experience was ppl shipping the fem chars so they are 'out of the way' of their yaoi ship.