#platonic jealousy exists (and he wasn't even jealous lol that was NOT it)

[aestheticsfandomsandmore]

“wai wouldn't have been so affronted and upset about pran not telling him he was in a relationship with pat if he were not in love with him” / “the only reason i can possibly have to explain his actions during episode 9 is that he was jealous”

oh thank you for bringing amatonormativity to this meeting, you can put it on the coffee table (since i don't even like coffee) and then you can leave

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Ok I have so many thoughts about painland ending up canon or not and I. Just.

Listen I AGREE that their bond goes beyond being romantic or not. It's obvious, it's beautiful, I love it and I love them and their friendship and I truly do think it is important that media has this kind of relationship portrayed.

But.

But.

I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be disappointed if it doesn't turn romantic. It involves a lot of things.

1: I want Edwin to have that. He'll still be happy without it, yes, but god can't he have that? He's been through so much. He had a speedrun through his sexuality issues and confessed in hell. Like wtf. Can't he have that???

2. Bisexual Charles would actually be so important to me. And yeah he can be bi and not in love with Edwin but come on lol. The thing is, there's not many bi men in media. Even less bi men figuring out their bisexuality. Even less bi men figuring out their sexuality when they were raised in the 80s and knowing their best friend is in love. Do you see how many layers exist here? How amazing his story could be? Charles has so much we still don't know about him. And yes, I would like that one of those things could be something I relate to. Besides trauma. Call me selfish. And like he's so bisexual coded it would be offensive for him to be straight I'm sorry.

3. They exist in other universes. Let them be platonic there. Let them be romantic this one time.

4. I know falling in love with a straight person is a very common story and I don't think it's wrong for it to happen in a show, but honestly, it's not what I sign up for when I'm watching queer stuff. Think Our Flag Means Death. It probably changed my brain chemistry because anything less than that gets really hard to swallow. I know, we all have queerbaiting trauma, and I know this wouldn't be the case, and it never claimed to be something as queer as OFMD. But I got so attached that... Well, I wouldn't stop watching if this happens, but it wouldn't sit well with me. It's a bitter feeling, you know?

5. They didn't have anything be explicit, but come on, they did set us up. Charles got jealous at Monty, and only Monty, for that matter. I wouldn't say his thing with the Cat King is necessarily jealousy, more like protectiveness, but that can be disputable. And both George and Jayden said more than once that Charles' response to the confession let things open. So I mean if that door wasn't closed, then please don't close it now! The road until things happen can be long, dramatic, tortuous, whatever, there's many ways to tell a love story. But if I'm sitting for it, then I don't want to get shot in the face later on (unless it's for plot reasons which ok).

6. Have I mentioned that bisexual Charles

Anyway I feel kinda bad for wishing so much they get romantic because I see and agree with the whole platonic discourse. But yeah those are all the reasons why I can't stop myself. Have a good day everyone

[stilldancewithyou]

When do you think the boys knew they had actual romantic feelings for Belly? For Conrad it’s been obvious he’s felt something towards her but really committed to it after their almost kiss on Fourth of July, but for Jere, it’s hard to detect his romantic feel towards Belly. There were a few moments where he showcased jealousy but nothing major. In the beginning sequence, you just see how Conrad has his arm around belly and the way he looks at her in the photos, and when lover plays and there is this moment between them… he was so relieved to see her. Most of his happy moments were with Belly and they have the obvious angst; to which belly and Jere don’t have. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but I feel like especially with tv/movies, couples always have this slow burn and major tension, I honestly feel like if a couple doesn’t have that it’s not believable. Does that make any sense, lol.?

okay, so this is a little bit complicated and loaded of a question but I do feel confident answering it.

Conrad has always had feelings for her, and no one will convince me otherwise. In the 3rd book in his POV he says he doesn't know exactly when he started having feelings for her and he doesn't have any one specific moment where he fell in love. He says "It was like gradually waking up. You go from being asleep to the space between dreaming and awake and then into consciousness. It's a slow process, but when you're awake, there's no mistaking it" and I think this true in the show as well. He always loved her and slowly realized it. I think he knew it prior to the start of the first season of the show/first book. Cause like you said, when she gets to the summer house on the first day, he's so happy to see her, like he'd been waiting excitedly for her to get there. Before she even showed up and he got to see her grown up he was clearly thinking about her. And that's why the first thing he says is "I liked you better with glasses" as in he liked her before, even when she thought she looked dorky, and that's what he was thinking about when she pulled up. The tension and angst and intensity they have together is too much to have only started this summer. there's too much depth to their love.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, is a whole different story. I feel like he's always loved her too...but platonically, in a best friends type of way. He didn't look at her romantically until this summer. That doesn't invalidate his feelings or make him a bad person, it's completely understandable given that he grew up with her and saw her as his best friend and just one of the guys. But seeing her grown up and looking like a woman, he realized she was in fact a dateable person and started looking at her in a different light. But that wasn't the moment he knew he actually had feelings for her. Because he didn't mind her being with Cam as much as Conrad did, he was a little jealous but he was also making out with Luke and flirting with everyone at the pool like Belly didn't exist. Yeah, he thought she had grown up to be gorgeous but it wasn't burning him alive. The moment Jeremiah realized his feelings, I believe, was when he saw Belly with Conrad and realized that Conrad had feelings for her, and that Conrad could get to Belly in a way he can't. Because every other girl and guy he talks to and flirts with, melts into a puddle at his feet and can't resist him. Except for Belly. She's the only person who isn't effected by him, and the person who does effect her is Conrad. And I believe that is what really got Jeremiah boiling. Also I think he felt like Conrad was stealing Belly from him in a way, like if Conrad was dating her he would lose her as his friend. I stand by this and here is a direct quote, Jeremiah's words, not mine, for the disbelievers "I'd known her my whole life. I'd never thought of her as a girl. She was one of us. She was my friend". So yeah. He didn't have romantic feelings before this summer. Which is why I believe they don't have the same slow burn factor.

to your other point, I totally get what you're saying and I agree. Conrad and Belly are the obvious endgame and they have the angst, the slow burn, the major tension, the most time devoted to telling their story and setting the scene for their moments. So maybe that's why I didn't find Jelly as believable or convincing as Conrad and Belly. they just don't have that same type of passion. But I do think Belly needed to explore both before making a choice or she would have always wondered.