#middle school me was many things but a bad-taste-haver she was not

[mishkakagehishka]

nani ga itai nande itai doushite konna ni totemo itai nani ga itai nande itai doushite konna ni itagaritai

[diamond-vic]

In the light of the newly revealed Marcy’s Journal pages, I am imploring the Amphibia fandom as a whole to please keep in mind the core of the show is the girls’ struggle with their friendship, not repressed/ unknown romantic feelings

Aka: an aromantic amphibia fan shares their thoughts on the importance of the girls’ friendship as the core of everything (including possible relationships between them)

As a whole, I see far more content of Sashannarcy than I do of anything else in the show, and while I love the ship to death, it does gloss over many important things in the show. I’ve seen repeated mentions on how the girls’ actions in certain circumstances were because of how ‘down bad’ they were for the others, which leaves a sour taste in my mouth. This is not how it is in canon; they do not do anything just because of crushes (at least, nothing major and life changing)

To start with, addressing things in the journal. Admiring others, adoring their company above all others, even calling them ‘loves’ is not inherently romantic (I’m rather sure I have either called, or been called, this between my friends)! While it can be, and while I encourage you to see it that way if you wish, saying there is no other explanation is just.. untrue??

There are queerplatonic feelings, for one, which do not get brought up nearly as much as a possible ‘explanation’ for lack of a better term, and also friends who function in relationship like non-blood family members. As an Aromantic person whose friends are my entire world, it stings to see so many things with the messaging that what Marcy does is so substantial, and so driven by emotion, that she HAS to be in love with Anne and Sasha to have done it. It comes across that she wouldn’t have made the decisions she did if she wasn’t. This places friendships as less of an emotional investment, and so less prone to irrational, emotionally charged actions, which is blatantly untrue. My life was majorly affected when a best friend of mine moved away when I was in middle school, because he was one of few friends I had, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I didn’t adjust in a way that allowed me to recover and grow past it. There was nothing romantic about that relationship, but it shaped my middle school life and continues to have effects on my present. The circumstances are similar enough to Marcy that I feel for her pain. There’s no reason why Marcy’s feelings couldn’t be similar, no romantic feelings involved whatsoever

Furthermore, romantic feelings are (from what I understand), at least initially, out of the havers control, and may cause them to behave in ways maybe they typically wouldn’t. An actual relationship, on the other hand, whether platonic, romantic, queerplatonic, or anything else, is a choice of genuine devotion.

What Marcy does in Amphibia is a choice. She chooses to take matters into her own hands, because she doesn’t want her relationships with Anne and Sasha to change or end. Their role in her life are as constants, pillars she cannot live without, who love and protect her and who she adores. These are kids who have been friends since kindergarten. That is 8 or so years of being in each other’s lives, through who knows how many hardships off screen. That is a very special kind of friendship. While, yes, of course something like that can lead to a relationship, it needs to be seen as that; a very special friendship that becomes a different kind of relationship!

I want to make it very clear that I’m not trying to be one of those ‘why are you shipping this, just let friends be friends’ people! I just think that, for a show like Amphibia that is so heavily centered around deconstructing and rebuilding unhealthy friendships, it is important to pay respect to those friendships. The show is a wonderful representation of how friendships can be at the core of your life and guide your actions, just as family or other relationships could be. No matter how you view these characters (platonic, romantic, or some flavor of queerplatonic as I do), it is their friendship at the beginning of it all, and it is the want to preserve that friendship that guides the characters’ actions within the show. I’m not delusional and I do see how gay the journal is so far, of course! You can look at Marcy gushing over her friends in the journal and say ‘that seems gay!’, without also saying ‘the major actions she did were because she is in love’

I hope this is coherent enough and makes sense! I feel very strongly for this show and its characters, and I just can’t help but feel some of the things I’ve seen with the Marcy journal especially miss the point of the show sometimes. Maybe I just see things different than others since I am aroace, but I felt the need to throw in my 2 cents. Maybe someone feels similar? If nobody sees this, at least I got it out of my brain (and as an aroace queerplatonic Anne and Marcy believer, I want to spread my propaganda a little too)

TLDR: The trio’s friendship is the core of the show and the major actions they take, and claiming these actions have to have romantic origin downplays platonic relationships’ ability to be powerful and devastating. At the same time, shipping them is fun and meaningful as long as it isn’t framed as the motivation for those major actions, and rather as a result of the long standing bond the characters have shared for the better part of a decade (their friendship is the core of any sort of further feelings)