#I AM EXPLICITLY SAYING IT IS ROMANTIC BC THIS IS WHAT ROMANCE IS TO ME

[lucky-clover-gazette]

two people loving each other deeply and physically and emotionally while not having sex can still be romantic that does not mean they’re basically just platonic oh my fu

[lovemyromance]

Bro the thing is - I'm not even anti-Elucien.

If SJM were to do a full 180 and suddenly ACOTAR 5 is all about how Lucien comes to Velaris and actually spends time with Elain and Elain starts to slowly fall for him and they have whatever XYZ cute moments - I'd be down!

I'd read that book. I have no shame in admitting it. Smash.

If SJM were to suddenly write Elucien giving each other the time of day and finding whatever "healing" in each other - cool- that's fine - smash.

But what we have been shown of their relationship thus far in the books - I legitimately cannot ship that. There is nothing for me to root for?

"But they're fated mates"

Yeah that means jack shit to me because I'm a human woman. Why would I put value in a fictional concept over love - a very real and human concept.

Elain & Lucien - as they have been written right now - literally do not have a relationship?? Let alone a romantic one I want to root for. They ignore each other. Live apart from each other all year - seemingly without issue. Elain doesnt even want to be in the same room as him. She shrinks away from him. She has a wary look in her eyes when she looks at him. She makes sure she never sits next to to him. She doesn't use any of his gifts.

So just tell me - what am I rooting for? What about their current relationship is supposed to be worth my interest? Why would I want them together if they're like THAT? That's not a romance - that's not even acquaintances. That's a pass from me.

On top of all that, we have the introduction of a male Elain actually seems to want. They have had build up - far more than Elucien has. Azriel is constantly written on the page with Elain and vice versa. Whether it's when his shadows light up at her smile or when Elain's potato steam rises like Azriel's shadows. Like why did SJM even write that about potatoes? Nobody has EVER looked at the steam from potatoes and thought "wow it looks like shadows 🤩"

They've been explicitly tied together on page countless times, far more than Elucien has even though they're "fated mates".

Not tied together through fan-theories of cloaks and sunlight and flowers and ugly black dresses.

Canonically, Elain & Azriel's is the only romantic relationship on the page.

So everything Eluciens are rooting for - is just the hope that "one day" Elain will get over it and suddenly she and Lucien will be together. Suddenly, Lucien & Elain will have feelings for each other and be in love blah blah.

Y'ALL ARE TRYING TO FIND EVIDENCE FOR A SHIIP THAT IS NONEXISTENT ON THE PAGE.

That's what bothers me. Elucien is currently not together, not interested in each other, not even around each other in any proximity.

All this debate is about current state Elriel vs pre-successful Elucien??

It's giving ... that one Jason Mendoza line in the Good Place where he says "I'm not a failed DJ... I'm pre-successful."

"It's not a dead ship - it's pre-successful!"

It's like.. let's ignore what is actually written in the text ... so we can argue about how they're not gonna work out bc XYZ reason... even though the other pairing isn't even talking to each other right now.

"All this is buildup for Elucien" how are y'all saying that if we don't have the next book yet? 😭😭 Can I then say... well your buildup is just buildup for Ultimate Elriel Engame?? Uno +4? Reverse reverse? Where does it end?

Build up - as the name implies - has to BUILD UP TO SOMETHING. How y'all saying "Elain and Lucien ignoring each other is buildup for Elucien" if there is no Elucien in sight??

I'm telling you rn - once there is an Elucien in sight - on the page - smash, idc.

But until then - I have literally no reason to doubt Elriel? So why would I consider Elucien an endgame ship if there is no endgame in sight for them on the page?

[jaegerisim]

I am going to go controversial here. Stancy is a horrible ship even worse than mlvn.

Steve and Nancy have nothing in common. Nancy is an independent woman who wants a career, not a family. Meanwhile, Steve wants a nuclear middle-class family which she has explicitly said she'd hate to have. I am not saying it's not ok for Steve to want that, but it def isn't what would make Nance happy.

Second of all, the only thing that's real abt Stancy is their physical attraction. That is objective. It is in the script. It explicitly says that when Steve does a perfect landing, Nancy finds it hot and it's ok to find ppl hot while you are dating someone but not to lead them on, which is to one extent what Nancy does with Steve. (I'm not slandering her, I love her just as much as the next Nancy stan but it is not ok to do that)

Meaning, the Duffers mishandled Nance's character this season regarding relationships. Badly but not unrealistic. I hate how they made Nancy lead on Steve or at least flirt with him when his feelings are not shared. We know Jancy is the endgame, we know bc the ending of the season foreshadowed it. Yet, her character is extremely realistic for me and that's why I love her sm. She was a teenager when her BFF disappeared while she was having sex with Steve (another reason why they can't work, Nance associates Steve with Barb's disappearance. Then she learns about her gruesome death in another dimension, she feels guilty and tries to avenge her. All of this happens and Jonathan is always there with her. Always. He doesn't leave her side. Jonathan and Nance have shared trauma, while Steve and Nancy don't even have that. While Nancy was with Jonathan, Steve was with The Party. They each find their own people. In this situation, it is normal for Nancy to be confused over her feelings as her character arc focuses on her growth and maturity as a woman handling romance and trauma.

Furthermore in S3 Steve says she likes Robin bc she isn't like Nancy. He got over her and thinks that he needs someone different from her. In the pitch, Robin would be Steve's girlfriend, yet in the end, she was his platonic soulmate. This was something I particularly loved bc this shows that Steve's character arc is not about romantic love but for platonic and brotherly love he finds in Dustin and Robin.

Now, about Jonathan's character arc. This character is unjustly hated, IMO. He is super underrated and deserves more appreciation. I love Steve but Jonathan is personally a better character. Jonathan comes from years of abuse and neglect having to take care of his younger brother who gets atrociously bullied and abused at school and home. He is forced to drop out and work full time taking extra shifts at work in order for them to scrape by. This means he has the same or more trauma than Steve. Jonathan had to go alone to buy a coffin for his presumed dead brother and grieve for him alone while having to deal with his supposedly delirious mother and abusive father. All of this at the age of 14-15.

Due to the lack of social interaction, we know Jonathan has, he has trouble comprehending Nancy as he sees her as this rich, pampered priss. She isn't and he learns this. He and she let go of their prejudice towards each other to reach a common goal, find their loved one.

Stancys claim Jonathan neglected Nancy when she was being mistreated at work during S3. In this situation, both were in the wrong. Nancy was being a bit selfish bc she wasn't taking into consideration the fact that if Jonathan lost the job, his family would have severe economical problems since they need money desperately. Jonathan showed very little empathy towards Nancy's struggle with misogyny but Steve wasn't even present here so what support did he show? Plus it is canon Steve allowed and even encouraged his friends to slut shame Nancy. Even when Jonathan lies to Nancy about going to college, this isn't such a big issue as having a bf who allows you to be publicly humiliated. Yes, Jonathan did take photos of Nancy without her consent but she forgives him.

So in conclusion, Nancy and Steve will never be endgame because of their lack of romantic chemistry and dare I say, they don't have chemistry at all except this last season which seems pretty forced by the narrative to me!

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Phullo it is I again!

I am very glad that you actually responded and given me an actual advice since I was worried about the question I sent you.

Though besides that I have another question for you (hoorayyy)!

So, about the reading books earlier- I’m fortunately a bookworm too! It’s just that I notice I prefer reading the genre science fiction/psychological horror more than… anything else!

And while the books I am currently reading, ‘Flowers For Algernon’ and ‘I’m Thinking Of Ending Things’ (these books are seriously so wonderfully made they make want to tear my walls), DO have romantic aspects of it- it’s not really the main plot of the story..

‘Flowers For Algernon’ has amazing storytelling and is very unique- though I’m not sure if you’ve read it before but, it’s actually just the main character taking notes. Hence why there was a lot misspellings which honestly makes it a great touch if you know the context behind it.

On the other hand, ‘I’m Thinking Of Ending Things’ too shares the same uniqueness as the other, possibly even more unique if I must say so myself. Though I REALLY don’t want to make my story similar to them since I want to make it more heart warming than fucked up..

Which is why I feel like I have the need to borrow or buy at least one romantic book because, I lack of it. I mean I accidentally borrowed it one time but it was kind of disappointing.

I don’t know if its a good idea and if I should do it or not since does it really matter of the genre, or just the writing?

Still, if you have any good books that are in the romance genre. Feel free to recommend some to me!

-lots of love, from another bookworm

welcome back! happy to hear you're a bookworm as well <3 im writing those titles down since i read a criminal lack of sci-fi despite loving it

i actually don't have any straight up romance recs - i don't actively search it out (outside of fanfic), so any romance i read just comes with whatever book i've picked up. just straight up romance bores me, unless its a fic with a pairing i actively like. and even then, i need to take breaks from it unless the romance is interspersed with an actual plot. im not a romantically-geared person! i dont have single Main Plot Is Romance book on my shelves!

but imo its really just the quality of writing that helps. ive never been in a romance, im the child of two different divorces, and yet ive been told that i write romance fairly well. go fuckin figure lmao.

so actually my advice on romance is to just like. wow idk what i do is pick apart the romances i see on tv / in writing. what makes them good together, how do they act around each other, what are their love languages, what's their dynamic, what traditional romance things do they partake in, what dont they partake in, do they have anything nontraditional, do they work and why do / they dont they - does that make their relationship more interesting or is it flat. are they a good match.

you don't have to have every answer, but ive found that at least understanding their characters / dynamics, and having them interact in a way that suits them will help your romance feel natural. dont conform to tropes or tradition, that will just make the relationship flat and unrealistic. and you can always sprinkle in little things that you like / would like, which will help ground the romance and get you into the groove

tldr with romance, i think it's better to observe real life (whether that's paying attention to couples or reading reddit threads) & analyze in-love or in-a-relationship characters instead of just reading romance novels. bc honestly, and from what i can tell, they can tend to be over the top or cookie cutter

just realized you did not explicitly ask for romance advice! Oopsie! i got a little carried away here....

[zukkacore]

I’m not opposed to the fanfic-to-romance-writer pipeline in principle bc there is literally nothing wrong with fanfic as an avenue for creativity and expression and practice and I don’t think it’s a lesser version of writing, and literally everyone is inspired by something and that’s ok for it to carry over into your original work, but what does bother me is that they are different mediums with different strengths & do different things for their audience & it is really tiresome to act like you can transpose the conventions of one medium to another with no legwork to learn the new thing and expect it to successful. You can’t just write a screenplay and expect it to translate well to a Broadway musical without learning the new medium. I think fanfic-to-book writing is the same way. Of all the “this feels like fanfic” insights you could have about a book, from it being light on worldbuilding and heavy on character interaction, to there being some self insert or wish fulfillment aspects in the protagonist, to a juvenile or conversational tone in the writing style, to the story having some clear derivative influence, I think the worst sin the fanfic-to-romance-writer pipeline has birthed is these books that are really sparse on explaining the connection between the romantic leads or really delving into what makes them work & instead rely on a presupposed & preconceived knowledge of its fanfic inspiration in order to be enjoyable at all. This is what I mean when I say fanfiction is great for what it is, but it is a medium that does not demand a lot of legwork in terms of worldbuilding (unless it’s very explicitly an AU) & allows you to presuppose a lot & also IS FREE. Whereas w/ a book I am paying my hard earned coin, so coming w/ a recommended prerequisite source material sucks ass. I can get behind a book that is clearly derivative of the author’s long time fandom interest but using that inspiration to craft its own story, but what I’ve grown tired of is the growing number of books that are coasting off intertextuality & nothing more.

[timemachineyeah]

Huh…that’s a good rlly point! Each group really has something for everyone,and Hasunosora really is for the people who straight up wanted a more blatant Love Live yuri cndjdj I’ve seen those cards / scenes spread around some and it’s a little surprising how they seem to be GOING for it more than usual (also like I said it still wouldn’t be surprising if they just have two of the girls kiss or say that they’re dating at this point bc CMON)

Oh yeah, they’re making marketing decisions every time, but I think the results have largely worked (with maybe Liella being the closest to an exception- I get the feeling they’d really love for it to break into a younger more Disney channel type audience and it’s doing fine with core fans but not breaking into new audiences as much as they hoped. This is PURE speculation on my part. Just a vibe I get.)

I would be surprised if characters actually kissed or admitted to dating, but pleasantly so.

I feel like Hasunosora is tapping into that very uniquely Japanese history of yuri rep that is like…

It’s like how no one ever says it directly in a Victorian romance? Like there’s all kinds of mannered society stuff at play so everything needs to be allusion only. I mentioned from the very first whiff of Hasunosora that it gave me Maria-sama ga Miteru vibes just based on the pairing of upperclassmen with younger students and taking place in a girls boarding school

But now they’ve confirmed that Hasunosora also has a long-standing mentor/mentee tradition (though far less codified than in MariMite, it seems) and I’m absolutely certain that this is one of their big influences. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if that was basically the prompt they gave the writer (who is a writer of yuri light novels), “Do a Love Live story that’s been passed through a filter of MariMite.”

(I mean the series was hugely influential to yuri for years, a huge evolution point for the genre, so it makes sense).

But while it feels wrong to say the relationships in MariMite were only ever implied, because the romance between girls is the whole story, it is also true that the tradition and codification and “purity” and other themes served to keep them from ever using the words. This feels less like queerbaiting in the modern sense and more like… a genre choice? With its own rules and appeal? Especially given the era.

Like they weren’t hinting characters are gay without canonizing it. They were saying, “these characters are gay even if they never say so and you’re not imagining it (here let us put more lilies everywhere, the Japanese manga equivalent of flying a lesbian flag in the background every time the characters talk).”

On the surface for the era it just provides plausible deniability to the audience who want to be able to be seen in public reading it - no one looking over your shoulder is ever going to be scandalized no matter how homophobic they are. Queer coding that is so explicit that it’s not so much code as plain representation, but still just subtle enough that you wouldn’t be sure at a glance.

But like I said, I also feel like it plays into really classic old school romance. Romance that is 100% about romantic tension and not so much sexual tension. Lots of het romances also aren’t explicitly stated, but we still accept that they are romances, because what else would it be for these two people to be like this around each other? It’s not like het characters have to stand up and say “I am heterosexual! And this is my boyfriend! Let us kiss on screen!” before we accept the veracity of their relationships.

And yuri has a strong history of taking that kind of storyline and the strictures of gender or aristocratic social mores and replacing them with similar quiet rules that keep our characters talking around the subject and engaging in unlabeled intimacy. Religiosity, tradition, etc.

That being said if you wanna have a discussion about about the difference between making that choice in an original manga in the late 1990s versus making that choice as a massive money printing franchise in the 2020s - I think pointing out the difference in circumstances is warranted. Is it homage or is it a cop out? Is it queerbaiting or leaving things open ended?

After all, what Love Live! sells, above all else, what it has always sold, is the characters. They are supposed to belong to you. They’re dolls for your brain to play with. You have always been meant to get attached, to have the option but not the obligation to insert yourself. Relationships are left open ended because that’s up to you. They only want to give you a prompt, not a script. Love Live on its premise sets up a series of cozy compelling ideas and leaves them a little unfinished. The fun is very much designed to be in filling in those blanks yourself.

And you are supposed to love them. After all, it’s only a parasocial relationship if the person on the other end is real. Otherwise that’s an imaginary friend or a brain toy. Love Live! have made a very well oiled Singing Blorbo factory.

This isn’t a criticism by the way, it’s impressive as hell. Like yes capitalism bad etc etc but boy do they have a system and know what they’re doing.

But because of that I don’t expect the Hasunosora girls are gonna officially date. A kiss of some kind is slightly more likely imo, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that either. I do fully expect art that looks like they’re just about to.

I do hope they get an anime in either case though because I love the character designs and art style

And the Hasunosora music is my favorite to come from the franchise in a while

[maddy-ferguson]

Ik you don't like ambigulous sexuality Mike so I would like to know, do you think canonically Mike will be explicitly gay? I don't even mean like saying the word gay I mean even just explaining that he didn't like El romantically. Bc I'm confident in endgame Byler but I find a lot of gay Mike theories far fetched in the sense that it makes sense but I don't really believe they'd do that in canon and I don't think it's what the Duffers intended (like the Phoebe Cates scene). I think that if they wanted to do explicitly gay Mike then they dragged on the Melvin storyline for way too long for it to make sense to anyone who isn't spending time analyzing Mike's behavior because so much gay mike proof is so subtle unlike general Byler proof which a lot of the GA has picked up on.

I know the show certainly shouldn't cater to the GA, but it should still be understandable to the audience even if they haven't spent hours analyzing, and I think by now they've passed the point where they could convincingly show that Mike never liked El romantically in the first place.

I know I sound like I'm repeating a lot of Byler anti talking points so sorry if I sound like a Byler anti, I promise I'm not. I just really don't understand how they would do gay Mike and would like to hear what you think.

this is from a week ago and i've talked about it again since but i was so flattered that you a) knew i don't like ambiguous sexuality mike and b) wanted to ask this to me. <3 and don't preemptively apologize omg i love you

i honestly feel like the main thing is an unhappy mlvn breakup. think this. in spirit. i am sorry to every platonic elmike enjoyer i think they could've had a relatively fun onscreen dynamic post-breakup had the s3 breakup been final i really do but this is a post-season 4 world. failed monologue and all that. only one season left. i need it to be clear somehow someway that this relationship hurt el and that their relationship was bad from the get-go. no idea how realistic this is btw but i feel like they can't afford to have them break up off-screen or to have it be vague à la season 2 stncy because it's their quote unquote main couple lol.

i feel like making it apparent that the relationship was bad for both of them would be ideal. and specifically el not being all mature all oh it's okay because i don't love you either would be good i think. we would've had that had the monologue not happened but we're past that now. i don't think they'll be on bad terms by the end of the show they're not gonna hate each other or anything but i don't see them being instant best friends after breaking up AT ALL

and yeah i agree that a lot of gay mike proof is only proof in the sense that it's in there and some of it is inconsequential. but that could also be said of some byler proof lol, like no one in the ga is thinking oh look blue met yellow in the west they're color-coded!!

i don't think they dragged mlvn on for too long and i can't for the life of me word it in a way that makes sense so i'm gonna link this post (inluding the tags from my mutual who reblogged it) :) i hate mlvn, hate with a capital h but i think them staying together this long (it's only been like a year and three months in the show which is kind of crazy) makes sense for them for multiple in-universe reasons (mike being the one who introduced the concept of romance to el, el only getting back together with mike after hopper died, i can think of about a thousand reasons for mike), but for us as viewers, yeah idk, obviously ending the season 4 with them being broken up for good would've made it easier for the ga to accept the possibility of byler being endgame and of mike being gay but it would've also been very obvious so i can see why they didn't do it. they still need people to tune in and also we needed to feel like we lost at the end of season 4 and that includes me and the other...27k tumblr bylers at the time

when you look at the facts i don't think gay mike would seem far-fetched to the average non-homophobic viewer: mike takes in a girl. kisses her after being told by everyone that he must like her, after telling her that his sister would be her sister and that and after 8 episodes of her being repeatedly mistaken for a boy and for will specifically. doesn't see her for a year, spends a season glued to will's side, kisses her again at the snow ball. pushes will away in season 3, inadvertently calls him out for being gay and for not growing up. starts having problems with his gf as soon as said gf starts to look like a girl and learns that she can have preferences of her own. lies to gf and gets broken up with, is very obnoxious about it all season. indirectly tells will he actually doesn't want to grow up and wants to keep playing with him at the end of the season. goes back to playing dnd as soon as s4 begins, which goes to show that he actually didn't mean what he said about wanting to grow up last season (either that or he's a hypocrite and hates will specifically. lol). acts weird with will again. focuses on his gf WHO LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE WILL IN A DRESS for the day. gets lied to by his gf and is then left behind by her, isn't as obnoxious about it but also keeps talking about his relationship without ever mentioning why they fought so he never has to explain why exactly he couldn't say That thing. to his boy best friend who he keeps having emotional talks with. doesn't say the thing until he gets told that he's the heart and all that by said boy best friend and still struggles to tell gf that he loves her. end of the world

i really think most of them are just not thinking about it. i remember asking my friend how likely byler being endgame was to her in august and she was like i...had never considered the possibility of el and mike not ending up together. then i talked her ear off for 60 minutes and she was like okayy i can see it maybe And she was sad for mike. so!

i think no matter how it goes we're gonna get an interview confirming it because they had to do it FOR WILL because people couldn't possibly imagine that the character who'd been called gay for the first time in the first twenty minutes of the show could actually be written to be gay

but maybe he'll tell us he's gay himself lol who knows

[bees-nest]

probably controversial opinion about the g.ood o.mens l.eak

[Post-rant edit: To be clear, I am not saying it would be an objectively bad thing. I'm just saying it would make me feel bad.]

I know how it sounds, but man, if they really do get together romantically in season 2, i will be... "Devastated" is too strong a word, but. It'll hurt.

And there is still a part of me that also goes "omfg, that would be AMAZING!! That would be HUGE!!!" And yeah it would be, but i'd still have very conflicting feelings about it because

This is, like, my one (1) (singular) (sole) (solitary) mainstream example of [what is arguably-] a QPR that I can think of. And even though I've never been actively in the fandom, I've always held go.mens close to my heart because of that. I know the fact that n.eil insists it's not canon that they're romantically together can seem homophobic (from what I've seen, it seems to me that he's just respectfully saying "that is not what we put in the book/series, and I don't do 'word-of-god' statements." But there is certainly lots I haven't seen), but it has always felt incredibly validating to me. Like, it's nice to see that he's "on my side" about relationships not needing to be romantic to be deeply significant

I know it's not a logical reaction, but I would feel so cast aside if the characters actually had an on-screen, explicitly romantic relationship. Bc what I had held so dearly for so long as sorely-needed representation for myself was actually just a lead-up to something else entirely, because once again, the romance is seen as a deeper, more important stage of the relationship, for which the platonic part was just a stepping stone. Only significant because it leads to the romance.

And I'm using "representation" lightly here... I know it's highly arguable since it's not stated in canon. But I feel strongly enough to make this post because-

I've seen multiple people now say something to the effect of, "I know there are ace/aro people who care about the characters' platonic relationship because they see themselves in it, but if the average straight person can't tell it's queer, then..."

And I can't get that out of my head tonight... Why is the average [allo]straight person's opinion at all relevant to the value our representation holds? Why is it our problem if the general public doesn't know about us? If the romantic relationship does happen, I doubt there will be a point in the show where someone says "btw this relationship here is Gay, it is a Gay relationship with Gay people in it." And people watching will still understand what they're seeing because they have knowledge of gay relationships in the real world...

And what I'm saying is, I don't think lesser-known identities/orientations should necessarily have to have a moment like that in order to be valid representation. I don't think a show featuring a QPR should necessarily have to have a moment with "btw this relationship is Queer, it is a Queer relationship with Aromantic people in it" because I don't think the average allo person's opinion is necessarily a very important factor in this equation. Like... We, too, should be able to have representation that doesn't necessarily serve an educational purpose for outsiders.

Like if you tell someone go.mens features a queer relationship and their response is to be patronizing (a complaint I also saw), that's not an issue with the show, that's an issue with the asshole you're talking to.

Idk. I think I'm kinda talking in circles. I should probably block the go.mens tag.

[terresdebrume]

.

[yellowocaballero]

hey, i can't praise you enough for the consistently good discussions of asexuality in your fics, on top of your already super quality writing in general. a lot of people talk about the absence of sexual desire, but not everyone gets the other desires/relationships that take its place. (yes, this is because of the clones--Fox & Leia are incredibly important to me now). many thanks!

THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR BABY. THAT'S MY NICHE. THAT'S MY MOTTO. MY ETHOS. God I can go on for years about the weird position of romance's monopolization in media etc but I'll try to focus.

I do notice that allo people have difficulty writing ace (and from now on what I say applies to many aro people too, and all of this is especially aroace ppl bc I lean that way) people sometimes. Beyond just little examples where they just kind of assume we care about the same things they do, ace people are just generally written as Allo People: Now With Less Libido. I just spent ages in The Magnus Archives fandom, which had an ace main character (who was stated in universe not to really do the sex thing, but...), and I just saw this time and again.

There is so much variation in the ace experience. There are completely and totally tons of ace people who who do live lives very similar to allo people: just with less libido. But that's basically exclusively how fandom writes ace people. It is hugely apparent especially when people want to ship an ace character with an allo one. This isn't even getting into aroace people, who are given a spotlight so infrequently - because lots of fanfic basically don't put an emphasis on characters outside of a ship!

It feels kind of like how straight people write a gay relationship as Basically A Straight Relationship, But With Two Guys. And that's true, I suppose, but...is it? Does it actually capture the enormity of the queer experience? Do you actually see your life reflected on that page? Does this difference and marginalization start and end in a romantic relationship, or is it an identity that significantly impacts your life and who you are?

I write the relationships that are important to me. I like to just depict two people and their relationship, and not really put a name to that. Fox and Leia just loved each other, and that love saved each other. That's it. You don't really need to know more than that. You can read their feelings for each other any way you want, it would probably be valid. Relationships can take a million billion different forms, and the really important thing is how we affect and change each other. And aro/ace people are more likely to...search outside of romantic relationships for things that allo people are more likely to assume only belongs within the confines of a romantic relationship. And this isn't even getting into the incredibly isolating experience of being aro/ace in an allonormative world.

Everybody has different representation needs. It's highly meaningful to some people that Jeeves & Wooster live in secret 1920s gay love, while for others it's simply important that they're two people who were very dedicated to each other and loved each other very much. It's also one of those weird pointless issues that are only predominant in fandom. In real life and speaking to my mother, I don't want to settle for 'well they cared about each other', I want them to say explicitly they're in gay love. But I also think that there is something very queer about the way an aro/ace person experiences all relationships, much less romantic ones, and allo people have a hard time nailing that.

Many many thoughts. So many thoughts I have written a 60k fanfic on the topic of being an asexual person in an allo world, and also a romcom. I have also written a fanfic of a shoujo romance manga where both characters are (unknowingly) aroace and they struggle with the confusing nature of their love for each other. I got feelings. Oh, lord, do I have feelings.

TL;DR: Watch Mob Psycho because that show has done the most amazing job of any show of depicting a gigantic array of human relationships in the weirdest forms physically possible. It is the most asexual show. Study it like a bug.

[noirineverysense]

Okokok, I have one more question. Are Isaac and Arthur a couple? I’m sorry if this is a dumb question- my aroace ass is terrible at detecting romantic relationships, the only way I can tell usually is if one of them explicitly asks the character out, asks to be their S/O, if they kiss, get engaged, or are married. It’s easier to tell with straight couples since I can usually assume they’ll get together if they so much as talk, but like I’m pretty sure Isaac and Arthur are a couple? Am I wrong?

Well firstly, feel free to ask aa many questions as you like <3

Secondly, its completely fine to be confused it's pretty implicit and vague.

Okay short answer, they get together at the end of the first story, when Arthur says "I love you too." in the last chapter that's the start of their relationship. So before that, they arent a couple but theyve had feelings for each other for a long time before that. Hope that makes sense.

Long answer under the cut

I initially wrote them to be platonic bc i think platonic intimate male friendships are interesting to delve into. So for the start of the series, you can kinda tell that they are.

It's only when i started writing their backstory that i was a bit oh? whats this? I think their reactions to each other made sense in a romantic context and Isaac's grief and the way they end up interacting later in the story just seemed unhealthy? Like they were hiding something from each other. And they have this codependency thats pretty not great even after they get together.

As a fellow aroace, i sort of resisted it i guess. That's not what i wanted to write! I batted them apart with newspaper, i wanted to write a cool platonic relationship! Even make them a qpr! But it felt forced in a sense to keep them platonic, i think it just made sense in the end.

It's intentionally vague bc i dont really get romance either, also theyre bad communicators but also through their long time friendship, they kinda get what the other is saying without actually using the right words. So having a full "Will you go out with me?" scene just didn't make sense to write for them. And a kiss to confirm mutual romantic attraction is just a cliche i dont like.

As far as engagement or marriage, i dont really imagine that with them. I think theyre comfortable in their relationship without annnouncing it to the world, theyre both pretty private people. Also seems a bit dangerous considering how many people, including government officials come after them.

So yeah, theyre in a romantic relationship at the end of the story. Hope that answers your question.

[thejsorcerer]

4. Are you romance favorable, neutral, or repulsed?

50. Any arospec headcanons?

53. What is the best part about being aro?

Thanks for sending in your questions 💕. I answered question 53 in my last ask so you can check that out in my feed 🥰. Onto the next:

4. Are you romance favorable neutral or repulsed?

I am a romance favorable and romance indifferent (ambivalent?) demiromantic, meaning that I do enjoy typical romantic gestures like going on dates, holding hands, giving gifts, kisses on cheeks, etc; but I wouldn't mind if I don't have an explicitly romantic relationship and instead had a qpr or a platonic partnership with the person I like! Romance isn't a priority I guess 🥰

50. Any arospec headcanons?

OH MY GOD YES I HAVE A TON!! I can't recall many by name but I've watched many shows or read books that make me go: YES YOU ARE AROSPEC NOW 😏.

You must know that any character that doesn't show any kind ofnromantic interest or says something along the lines of "I am never falling in love" or "I don't want to get married" is automatically arospec to me, aka. Elsa from Frozen, Jo March, Saiki K etc. And if they do have an ark where they didn't have an interest in romance until they met this one person and now they do fall in love or whatever: they're demiromantic to me now bc THAT'S ME LOL, aka Will Byers, Elizabeth Bennet, etc. Or any other microlabel depending on the case (greyromantic, lithromantic, cupioromantic, etc.)

So yeah: all characters are aromantic or aromantic spectrum bc I say so 😉💚.

[ranboo5]

whats 'the clip' and knifetrick?

Augh. Under the cut for shipping discourse and p/dophilia ment (nothing graphic or specific). Gets long bc I discuss my thoughts on DSMP shipping in general. You are setting me up fr anon

Some quick vocab -

intimacy here is used to refer to. Well. Any kind of intimacy between characters, of any sort, as an umbrella term /r, /p, and /qp here are used as shorteners to denote "romantic," "platonic," and "queerplatonic," both as adjectives And as verbs ("to /r" = "to portray romantically") shipping here is used to refer to any focused examination of intimacy between characters

And some clarity that Should follow from the essay next but may not - """anti-antis"""" and RPF writers delete forever

The Clip is from one of if not the? most recent Discord stage(s) Mr Live has done (which I missed when it was live RIP) wherein he issues a hard ban on shipping him ("do not ship me, in any way, with anyone!") which would less influence c!beeduo (which has been portrayed/stated to be romantic AND nonromantic both conflictingly for a while until being confirmed unconfirmed several months ago, that being the last was heard) without its direct invocation if he hadn't also cited for the reason as being underage ("'Cause, one, it's straight up pedophilia") which is! a) immediately applicable to At Least his DSMP character, Partially and b) while not Strictly True (should b obvious that portraying a relationship within the bounds of what it is in canon and in a nonsexual way is not That, and /r-ing c!beeduo etc was possible to do Appropriately again by remaining w/in the bounds of canon) is Clearly Indicative of the fact that baggage-wise it IS associated with people being fucking creeps

This Really complicates things bc like okay the apparent solution is "lol just don't /r it" but it's really like. A Worse issue than that bc like.

Okay the reason shipping in terms of fictional characters is a Different Bar is bc it's an examination of Intimacy and certain lines exist in certain dynamics of intimacy that Isn't Shown (which is the whole Within The Bounds Of Canon thing) which is important in a medium like DSMP because of the smaller gap + more personal relationship b/w character and streamer. Examining intimacy beyond th bounds of the consent that has been established in that regard is Weird at best and Violating And Creepy more often and, As Mentioned In Ranb's Stage, Literally Evil at worst

Which is why writing abt like. QPR or platonically intimate Techno and Philza (characters) is smth that is fine because that's smth that has been shown and repeatedly stated onscreen; it's in the bounds of canon n thus within th bounds of what the streamers've consented 2 be done with their characters. But writing T3chza making out or whatever is fucked up because it's smth that's beyond those consent barriers

And the thing is right

Slapping a /p on T3chza makeout doesn't. Make it less violating

Like what you CALL romantic is not the measure or whether it's past those barriers yk? And if it's indistinguishable, if it's in extrapolative territory that is Past The Bounds, it Does Not Matter how much you /p it EVEN IF IT IS TECHNICALLY PLATONIC y feel? Like at the end of the day placing a moratorium on some/all forms of shipping is placing a moratorium on certain examinings of intimacy

And okay 2 go back to Mr Live and his character. What it implies taken in context w/ older portrayals of c!beeduo and said by invoking smth that both evokes Really fucked up baggage (that does unfortunately exist btw I'm sorry if you didn't know that but People Really Do B Fucked Up Abt Beeduo) AND applies to his character is a revocation of consent to examining deep intimacies:tm: with his character, which is gonna apply regardless of the nature of that intimacy (even if nonromantic)

Like I don't /r c!beeduo myself, do not, never have, but I talk to people who have and have consumed content where they r background /r; I also don't think it matters. Like I don't Actively /r it and I don't Actively Not /r it because imho w/ the intimacy regarding c!beeduo that is plot relevant and character important whether that intimacy is /p /qp or /r doesn't really matter. I don't consider myself Less of a c!beeduo shipper than someone who /rs them because that would be dumb as hell and while none of the content I've made* is Intrinsically or Intentionally /r it certainly can be read tht way as much as it can be read /qp or /p. It's be dumb and hypocritical of me to like, dunk on ppl for /r-ing c!beeduo when I'm also invested in these two and my tonetags r not gonna suddenly Delete the picking apart I've done of the dynamic @ hand

Which Has Been. Within Bounds Of Canon. It's been what's been shown (sometimes to my great distress. There is a reason that the :canon_beeduo: emote looks the way it does) Directly Onscreen and in general keeping with the tone n intensity/directions of what they've Done With The Characters

HOWEVER

As mentioned up there. Revocation of consent

It makes. Full sense 2 me that Mr Live wants to place a moratorium or fullon ban on shipping his characters perhaps where he wouldn't have before because of the Unfortunately Very Extant trends of people being Fucking Weird about shipping his characters AND of using them as a Thinly Veiled Excuse to ship HIM, which. I should not have to explain why shipping real people is fucking abhorrent

THIS creates a problem which is a. Bit of a vacuum in interacting with what is a facet of c!Ranboo's arc, decision making, and character. Like you CAN have c!Ranboo w/o cbeeduo but you Can't Really have his plotline without examining c!beeduo. And as I mentioned earlier: even if your examination of c!beeduo is fully platonic, the significance of it To the plotline means that any examination of it and its relevance to the plotline and characters IS gonna be an examination of intimacy, which. Regardless of it's platonic, Is Still Shipping

Unless some HARD retconning happens it leaves this like. Hole in an aspect of c!Ranboo's arc and decisionmaking and it's very. Uncertain? God. Fucking months ago I was already kind of :huh. Does he know what the fuck he's doing: irt c!beeduo and desperately wishing for things to be cleared up and now it's only That Much Stronger

NOW. KNIFETRICK, FINALLY

Knifetrick (or, as it’s actually listed, Bishop’s Knife Trick) is a fic about "Ran and Jackie from The Pit TFTSMP" in a "canon-typical ambiguously romantic relationship." As you can tell from the scare quotes, especially if you've seen me vague, both of these are, to put it politely, Doubtful. I've read the fic; I will not be sharing my opinions because that would be neither productive nor responsible (I will just say I can't recommend it and leave it at that) but I WILL say the following that Is relevant to the conversation:

Ran's and Jackie's characterizations respectively have very little to do with characterizations from The Pit, and bear a dollar-store-version resemblance to tropes and personality motifs found in ESPECIALLY fanon c!beeduo, especially later in the fic. I would not go so far as to say they are Intentionally Literally Ranboo and Tubbo but they are transparent expies and were clearly written at LEAST unintentionally w/ c!beeduo in mind (esp since. Ran and Jackie barely interacted in The Pit), and for a readerbase that, as far as I can tell, is HUGELY dominated by /r c!beeduo shippers. Like. Sorry. This is off-brand c!beeduo.

The dynamic between the two is pretty unambiguously romantic, also; despite what the fic's white knights claim, romantic tropes and implications/motifs/imagery from at LEAST chapter two, and is very much explicitly romantic by the most recent chapter.

FROM CH1:

"And now, with raised eyebrows and a pursed lip, the newly named General Jackie observes Ran in such a way that makes the enderman’s skin crawl. Ran reminds himself that this kid, as short and harmless as he may look, is trained to kill. [...] Jackie narrows his eyes and tilts his head a little, as if he’s trying to read in between every one of Ran’s imperfect scales."

FROM CH2:

"It makes Ran’s skin itch with discomfort. [...] 'That actually doesn’t explain much of anything at all,' complains Jackie, and he pops a few croutons into his mouth with one hand. 'Tell me what you’re thinking, pretty-boy.'

"Ran feels his face flush, no doubt mildly glowing green.

"Yes, that was the other thing. The unnecessary compliments to his physical appearance.

"They don’t happen very often, and don’t seem to have very much meaning or intention behind them— Jackie often speaks like an unthinking kid— but when they do happen… they’re embarrassing. [...] It’s annoying how the rug is pulled out from under his feet in these moments when he’s 'embarrassed'. Like the conversation see-saw has temporarily shifted weight in the general’s favor."

I am not going to include excerpts from Chapter 6 because it's just the entire chapter.

I WILL SAY, HOWEVER, STEPPING ON THIS SCORPION BEFORE IT STINGS: they are not written in an RPFy manner and I don't think there's any grounds, including Vibes, of accusing Knifetrick of being like. Closet truthing or whatever. Also, while I think there's certainly Some Weirdness ESPECIALLY around the reaction, the romance itself is Not written in any way I'd call weird or problematic pre-clip; it's nothing inappropriate or like Weirdly Fetishy or whatever. Knifetrick is not #problematic or anything and I don't have beef with like the concept of liking it intrinsically; if I thought it was like. Abhorrent I wouldn't be sharing excerpts lmao dhjfnhdsbvdnfjh. Hence: if anyone uses this post or anyth like it to send harassment or bad faith ANYTHING to anyone involved with Knifetrick I will hunt you down in the fucking night even if it WAS #problematic that'd be the LITERAL OPPOSITE of productive and as it stands it's Literally Not. Essentially: Knifetrick is a (questionably-written /mean) fic using Ran and Jackie from The Pit as a vessel for a large chunk of the dynamics and headcanons of fanon /r c!beeduo in particular

And again, I would not call it problematic in any way (aside from the disingenuity of the insistence that it's TOTALLY UNRELATED TO BEEDUO and TOOOTALLY WASN'T INTENDED TO BE ROMANTIC GUYS like own your shit please)... IF it weren't for the advent of The Clip, which is calling in2 question the Entirety of the problem of /r-ing any variant of c!beeduo or any of Ranboo's characters at all

I really do not have an answer for this tbh. I genuinely wanna hear from the streamer on this more specifically because I like,,, I got no clue where 2 go from here? Do I just consider an arc retconned? Was it an issue of speaking abt a troubling subject kneejerk wise and I'm reading too much in2 it?

I just. I dunno

Tl;dr (AT LONG LAST)

- The Clip is a clip of a Discord stage where Ranboo (streamer) loudly explicitly decried shipping in a way that implicitly applies to characters he plays - This would be all well and good but is rendered complicated by the plot relevance of c!beeduo, which does not stop being shipping if it's /p'd due to it still necessarily being an examination of a particular intimacy in a way that is in canon hard to distinguish the /p, /qp, or /r nature of - Bishop's Knife Trick is an AO3 fic centered around using TFTSMP characters as /r c!beeduo expies which is not a bad thing in and of itself unless it also is covered under this moratorium - Things remain unclear until and unless we get clearer word from streamer, but considering Mr Live seems to be allergic to clarifying anything abt c!beeduo this is doubtful

*very little if any of the content I personally have made 4 c!beeduo has been posted publicly, for related reasons. You May have seen it if you're in servers w/ me, depending on Which Ones

[samscompliment]

honest to god i’m getting like. mad watching buffy on behalf of what spn could’ve been. because buffy is SO good and it’s so obvious which aspects of it the spn writers have drawn from and im not being obtuse when i say buffy and angel are paralleling dean and cas and vice versa!!!! but it’s making me mad bc im like. wait buffy and angel are a romance. dean and cas are a romance. but one of them is allowed to be explicitly romantic and it actually just highlights all the ways the other one wasn’t and i KNOW it doesn’t matter i KNOW im beating a dead horse and i KNOW i am creating problems to stew ab on purpose. but i’m still cross about it

[cassyapper]

Apart from Jotaro and Kakyoin (unfortunately) what are your other favourite jojo ships? I’d love to know

OHHHH POST YOUVE OPENED A CAN OF FUCKING WORMS LET ME GO OFF

i have a disease that makes me invested in the joestars’ happiness to an absurd level so bc of that a lot of ships i enjoy involve,,,one joestar,,,but there r others i swear let me just start rantingi

jonaeriwagon is soooooo so so cute it involves the most wholesome and purehearted jojo characters and it makes me smile so wide. erina and jonathan r childhood sweethearts and erina helped jonathan back on his feet after he lost EVERYTHING in the first fight against dio at the mansion. jonathan and speedwagon are best FRIENDS OKAY!! SPEEDWAGON LITERALLY CHANGES HIS ENTIRE WALK OF LIFE BECAUSE OF JONATHAN AND THE KINDNESS HE SHOWED HIM. i know erina and speedwagon didn't interact a whole lot in part 1 but like they're BEST. FRIENDS. in part 2, so much so joseph thought something was going on between them. i bring this up bc then it’s proof that this ship is full of ppl who just care for each other so much. they just adore each other and love each other and I'm crying

caejoseq is my FAVVV OKAY they're so stupid and in love. i love love love love imagining caesar and suziq falling in love slowly when he’s first training as lisalisa’s student and like they never do anything about it cause they're both so shy (yes caesar is shy bc these feelings r more genuine romance rather than sexual, unlike his other flings) but it’s obvious enough they both understand to a degree the other knows they like them sjkd;dn cuties. but then JOSEPH BARGES IN with his stupid hamon-breathing mask and his stupid blue-green eyes and his stupid lax personality combined with the moments he takes thing seriously during which is works hard as fuck/smart as fuck. he just completely sweeps them off their feet they had no fuckin warning whatsoever. so after a bunch of messy and intense pining from the both of them they eventually sit down and are like okay. we should do smth about feelings actually. so they Do and it ends with the polycule and I'm (”: smiling so wide they loved each other do u understand

AVPOL!! DO NOT GET ME STARTED OKAY it’s the survivor’s guilt and cherishing and longing for me sis!!!!!! I'm just saying both have pasts (araki said avdol’s backstory was so sad he didn't wanna put it into sdc so that’s where I'm drawing this from) that leave them focused on things other than their direct happiness/their own futures but then they connect and even though they're so fucking different they are SOOO different they're still the same on this level and i think!!! that would be everything for them finally someone who understands...listen I'm ging to go insane do you hear me. avdol loves this stupid fucking Frenchman so much because said stupid fucking Frenchman just cares so much about everything. meanwhile polnareff is in love with this fuckin god of a man who’s patient and kind and funny and a skilled enough fighter it’s stated explicitly in canon “oh avdol’s the one we need to worry about most not jotaro” like fuck polnareff is ENAMOURED WITH HIM!! AND I DONT FUCKING BLAME HIM!! and just dude. when pol thinks avdol came back to life and he starts crying tears of joy and hugs him so tightly and avdol just laughs but hugs him back imfmfjfj help. help. help. help. help. POLNAREFF LITERALLY ASKS HIM OUT ON A DATE THIS IS FUCKIN!!! CANON!!! i cant do this stupid fuckign idiots i love them

JOSUYASU!!!!!! TWO GUYS BEIGN DUDES WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT??? like listen we have such a SLEW of wholesome moments between these two the opening to the tonio episode is literally just them going on a date OKUYASU WAS GONNA FEED JOSUKE AND JOSUKE DIDNT EVEN FUCKING QUESTION IT OKAY THAT’S KINDA GAY THAT HAS ROMANTIC FUCKING UNDERTONES!! and them fighting against shigechi idk man i just love their dynamic it’s such a pleasant bro relationship and i love them. but even beyond the wholesome moments when okuyasu fucking dies josuke loses his SHIT!!! DO YOU HEAR ME HE GOES FUCKIGN INSANE!!!!! HE’S SCREAMING AND CRYING AND BEGGING OKUYASU TO WAKE UP AT THE EXPENSE OF HIS LIFE FUCKIGN HAYATO HAD TO SHRIEK AT HIM TO MOVE HIS ASS OUT OF THE WAY OF KIRA’S BOMB LIKE!! listen the recklessness and furiousness of josuke’s tactics after okuyasu “”died”” haunts me. he didn't want to live in a world without him and meanwhile okuyaus LITERALLY TRIUMPHS OVER DEATH BECAUSE HE DOESNT WANT TO LEAVE JOSUKE’S SIDE HELP ME GIRL FJKF;NDJN FUCK. fuck. so yeah i lvoe them

fugionara... any combination of this ship makes me go nuts okay okay. the dynamics in the bucci gang will forever leave me in tatters but THE ONES BETWEEN THESE THREE IN PARTICULAR. FUCK ME UP. it’s the healing it’s the animosity it’s the regret it’s the trying to figure out your own mentally ill self while also the world ur in with these ppl u love so much and I'm going crazy okay okay okay. idk how to quite put my feelings for them in worlds i just have a lot of them and they are fuckin. overhwelming. just narancia for example meant EVERYTHING to fugo as evidence by purple haze feedback (literally every other paragraph is a flashback) and the only time giorno cries in the anime is when narancia dies. meanwhile fugo saved narancia’s life and giorno knew when to take narancia seriously as opposed to a joke. and then THE WHOLE DISCUSSION ABOUT GRIEF FUGO AND GIORNO HAVE IN PURPLE HAZE FEEDBACK? listen something about these three make me go insane and feral

foolymes like okay. okay. I'm shaking like a dog trying not to go overboard on this justification just listen to me. hermes and jolyne first find someone to trust in prison in each other. jolyne cares abt her enough that she first learns how to use stone free’s string-on-a-telephone ability bc she wanted to watch over hermes. hermes loves nd respects jolyne that after she wakes up from getting a stand shes like “hm. wonder where jolyne is” and goes to find her before all that bullshit happened just hey okay LISTEN TO ME!! and then they get foo they save her it’s just like fucking kakyoin they give her another chance and they show her what relationships are supposed to be like (fulfilling) they enjoy her company and make her laugh and she makes them laugh in return ohmy god EVERYTHING FOO FIGHTERS DID WAS FOR JOLYNE AND HERMES DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!!! the marilyn mansion debt collector arc. the kiss of love and revenge arc. foo fighter’s death. I'm going to eat rocks in an attempt to stop feeling oh my god JOLYNE DIDNT EVEN BELEIVE FOO FIGHTERS WAS DYING AND THEN SHE GOT HYSTERICAL LIKE “BUT WE CAN JUST REMAKE YOU RIGHT WE HAVE YOUR STAND DISC??” SHE DOESNT WANT HER TO GOOO HELP ME HELP ME. I'm in tatters these three girls loved each other so fucking much they just wanted each other safe and they DESERVED to be safe and happy together but araki is fucking evil

jotaweather I KNOW THIS IS A CRACK SHIP I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW DONT FUCKIGN LOOK AT ME JUST HEAR ME OUT. jotaro and weather r both of similar demeanor that is quiet soft-speaking intimidating strong big aura of sadness coming from them. both have powerful stands and both had real fucked up luck in the love department. i also hc both to be autistic so that’d be another similarity. i jus think them settling down together after everything went down in a stone ocean au would be very soft and sweet yknow? they wouldn't even necessarily start it off in a romantic sense but they just take the time to try and heal with each other and eventually it just kinda veers that way. yeah

gyjo for OBVIOUS reasons like are you serious? gyro changed johnny’s fucking lfie from the SECOND they first interact johnny begins to push himself and tries to reach further/go further. and in turn johnny shows gyro you cant always be a wet blanket you need to take a stand this both helps his resolve to save the kid AND helps him to take the measures necessary to get to his goal. like gyro would not have been able to find johnny in the “who shot johnny joestar?” arc if he hadn't gone through, say, the ring roadagain arc with johnny first. listen man their relationship is literally the catalyst for this whole part it’s the driving force i just. they love each other they love each other thank you goodnight I'm emo

yasugap is just so so so so sweet it makes me so happy,,like okay josuk8 literally has a daydream where all that happens is he gives yasuho some candy and she eats it and is like “aw josuke this is so good thanks!” and she smiles at him and that’s IT THAT’S THE DAYDREAM 😭 listen they just love each other so much and i am emo. they literally SAVED EACH OTHER OKAY LIKE yasuho pulls him from the dirt and like she mentioned during the flashback chapter with the hairpin and her dad, it was also the other way around....saving josuke also saved herself and just LISTEN TO ME. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. it’s a very sweet and healthy relationship and i hope to god araki makes it canon please sir ill bite you

anyway yeah these are the main main ones ? that i ship ship. like you'll get me excited if u mention them. anyway this post has gone on long enough so I'm gonna end it here by saying i really do have a thing where the relationship focuses on healing/helping one or both parties to save/improve themselves

[bees-sknees]

Unpopular Haikyuu opinions

1. Not all of them are queer ???

Suga is literally the straightest mf on the show like,,, percieved femininity does not equal queerness

Diachi is literally that one straight friend whos confused but supportive

Tanaka may have been down for experimenting but hes probably straight (or Kiyoko-sexual)

The bench warmer 3 are literally there for a few scenes??? Why are people assuming they are into each other

Kiyoko is also straight sorry (this hurts me too) she's the lesbian protector but still straight

I want to take this moment to say that Yachi is fully a lesbian and totally had a crush on Kiyoko

Btw when I say they're not all queer I am 100% including other teams

Also bonds between 2 characters do not have to be romantic. We need to let go of the idea that romantic bonds are inherently more important and significant than platonic ones

2. Hyperfeminizing the characters is literally homophobic no I don't take criticism

If you see a gay couple WHY do you feel the need to insert them in heterosexual roles

There is no mom or girl in the relationship???? They're gay (except for Yachi in which it would be reversed)

Stop destroying the characters so they can fit in your preconcieved notion of what a relationship is

3. The writers gave us so many well developed characters, its beyond disrespectful how some people are destroying their characterization

STOP NARROWING THEM DOWN TO ONE TRAIT

They're teen boys stop infantilizing them, hyperfeminizing them and SEXUALIZING THEM

Like they common perception of them is them being teens STOP SEXUALIZING THEM

I realize that being teens, they can have sexual thoughts, but using the sexual appeal (yes appeal) of teenagers regardless if they're fictional or not is disgusting

I'm totally fine with headcannons but please don't go against integral parts of their characters

AND THEY HAVE SO MANY COMPLEX AND INTERESTING PERSONALITIES PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK INTO THEM INSTEAD OF TAKING ONE IRRELEVANT TRAIT AND RUNNING WITH IT

4. Oikawa would absolutely not be the super feminine, completely out character everyone portrays him as he'd be closeted as hell

A pretty significant part of his development is how he feels inadequate because he doesn't fufill other's expectations of him (as well as his own)

This boy would find out hes gay and repress it so hard that even a reference to it would give him a fever

The reason he is so attentive to his fangirls is probably because he feels like they are a measure of his manliness

"I can't be gay if all these girls like me"

ALSO his biggest concern being Kiyoko rejecting him???? That probably wasn't bc he actually liked her but because being rejected by her (in his mind) was an insult to his manliness and "straightness"

Also his sister has a son whose father is never talked about and is largely cared for by Oikawa??? Strong single mother/ possibly teen pregnancy vibes

If this is the case I'm willing to bet that his parents put more pressure on him to be The Perfect Man with a lovely wife and children

There's sm more but I'm gonna leave this here for now

5. Things don't have to be explicitly stated to be canon

This includes relationships, characteristics and Oikawa's injury

Thank you

6. The show is good regardless of percieved romances and each characters' growth, development, and successes is much more relevant and deserves to be spoken about

This is not all tbh but it's something I've been wanting to say for a while ALSO I love haikyuu and I also have ships in it and think that the writers are literally writing soulmates at times.

I want to clarify that not all my thoughts on the show and the fandom are negative, but I find that these are pretty important and not talked about enough, so if you have any opinions and ideas (as long as you and they are respectful) please feel free to comment them as well!!