#<- kinda. could be platonic too

[answermywearyquery]

the theerapanyakul kids: how close are you with each other?

loan’s kinnporsche 2nd anniversary: favourite familial relationship: the theerapanyakul kids (insp: ½+½)

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀��️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[asmodeusamaryllis]

I fear nishi may have accidentally wrote iruma as aroace and only just remembered that she has a main ship she was meant to push

[kindaasrikal]

Since Jay proposed to Nya and almost accidentally accepted Kai’s (practice) proposal, that means he moved to both smith siblings. Who’s to say that since his new forbidden minifig is with Morro’s in the leaked new set, that he won’t be trying to move to both of the Wojira duo too.

And its because he also looks similar to Nya, like how Kai does.

Jay: man for some reason you look really attractive.

Morro, who looks similar to early seasons Nya: what the hell.

Bonus+

Jay: i really wanna make out with you for some reason :(

Morro: you are a MARRIED MAN.

[good-beans]

Yandere Milgram. What do you think? 🎤

Mmmmm… a prison full of society’s most unloved and forgotten people whose fates depends entirely on the love and support of others is the perfect recipe for some yandere disasters… I confess I haven’t seen much specific yandere media/tropes, but have some loose headcanons under the cut >:3 The wording skewed outside of milgram since the prisoners have more control there, but these could definitely happen within the prison just as easily.

Haruka: Spends all his time with the person he likes, doing anything for them and doing anything to impress them. Though these start off as positive shows of his love, they take a turn when he finds that their reaction to him becomes even stronger when he’s showing off his strength and control…

Yuno: Showers her object of affection in attention and gifts, knowing exactly what it is that makes them happy. When this warmth is returned genuinely, she gets intoxicated by it. She’s been seen to risk her own safety to really feel something, to get a thrill, so when she thinks she’s found someone who understands and feels the same as her, she doesn’t mind risking their safety as well.

Fuuta: He’s glad to find someone with the same interests as him, and the two spend hours doing their hobbies together. Those hours become days, and at some point he’s nonchalantly suggesting the person he likes go everywhere with him. He talks about the scumbags of society and how dangerous the world is, and before they know it, he’s convinced them to stay back at his place, where it’s safe, forever. He can be their hero, and watch over them always. 

Muu: She’s thrilled when she has someone she loves, spoiling them with everything she has. Sometimes jealousy/doubt creeps in, and she worries their love isn’t true (after all, she’s met way too many people who were fake to her and hurt her,) so she decides to have them prove it. At some point the tests she’s asking of them change from something they choose to do, to something she’s forcing them to endure.  

Shidou: So one option is that after what happened to his family, his situation would turn out similar to Fuuta’s: a well-meaning fear of what happened last time would result into a full possessive panic of keeping them at home where he can watch over them. I’m also thinking that if something did happen to them, his desperation/confidence in his own abilities would kick in early. He wouldn’t trust any other doctor with their care, and insist he can do the proper procedures himself, happy to have their life in his hands. 

Mahiru: Very similar to Muu, Mahiru’s feelings are pure when she starts spoiling her partner. She’s heard too many stories of cheating and falling out of love, and all the best romances involve major and risky tests of love – why not plan a few of her own in order to write the perfect love story?

Kazui: After a lifetime of denying himself of what he wants, someone reciprocating his feelings could completely break a damn of emotions in him. He throws himself into the relationship, loving and being loved, until that cat-like hunger gets the best of him. He starts taking and taking, keeping them home and in his arms because he can’t imagine ever going back to a life without this.

Amane: (I’m pretty sure yandere is a romantic thing, but if it can also be platonic:) Amane loves having someone her age that understands and accepts her wholly. Even if the other doesn’t share the same beliefs, they don’t judge Amane for them like the others do. She shows her love by saving their soul – she starts convincing them not to treat injuries, sometimes physically preventing them from doing so. If this person tries to tell adults, they always side with the diligent, pious, school-focused half of the pair, further convincing Amane that she knows what’s best for the person she cares about.

Mikoto: Finding someone that finally turns his attention away from job allows Mikoto to pour all that extra attention into them. The same obsession he’d usually have for his work now focuses on one person who makes him feel just as fulfilled and important. They’ve become the center of his world, and he wants to return the favor by becoming the center of theirs, whatever means necessary. He makes sure they spend all their time together, and even starts keeping tabs on them no matter where they are in the city. 

John: It’s like a miracle to find someone that makes him feel safe and relaxed. John revels in the feeling of having them around. Just hearing their voice, just seeing their face makes him incredibly calm. John’s always had a bit of a “exceedingly direct” approach to problem solving, so he decides it would be best to just keep them with him all the time, where he can see their face and hear their voice, no matter what it takes. 

Kotoko: Surprisingly, I think her situation would be similar to Haruka’s. She’s not used to getting attention/recognition for her vigilante work, so having someone shower her in that feels amazing. She ramps up her shows of strength, both with the criminals she’s tracking down and when training with/hanging out with the person she likes. Even when she takes things too far, there’s a little thrill they respect her and her strength

Es: (Same thing, keeping it platonic:) Es isn’t used to strong feelings of affection for another, they mention never giving much thought to it before – so when it hits them, it hits them hard. They become obsessed with knowing everything there is to know about the other, loving absolutely every piece of new information they discover. Prisoner or not, they’re thrilled to keep running Milgram’s machine on this person in order to know every last detail about them.

[shima-draws]

Soooo twirls my hair out of pure curiosity and not for any other reason tee hee. What fandom would y’all like to see me do more art of 👉👈

[hpdmguy]

soft cuddles!!

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Asunder

slow-paced high fantasy

a woman who has a contract with an eldritch entity allowing her to see the dead & survives by taking various jobs

when a job searching for stranded smugglers in a cave goes wrong, she ends up with the soul of a dying stranger bound to her shadow

along with a scholar and her old childhood friend, they travel to his home country to find a way to unbind him and save them both

dark fantasy world with gods, demonic entities, arcane magic, and semi-sentient beasts used as transport

[soundleer]

I don't know if this count weird or not but what if I want to Ship Sky with my Oc? Like the same age as him or even make them older

I mean like selfshipping and oc X canon are different right? Bc if it wrong I make had to to change that character

before i answer this, i wanna say that im aware ill probably word this poorly so it'll come off in a way it's undesirable to hear but ill try my best to answer in the most collected fashion

apparently there seems to be some confusion regarding this topic and where the line should be drawn but hey ill assure you, yes selfshipping is entirely different from oc × canon. ill also say this too and in my personal opinion, i think its okay to ship sky with your oc who's also a minor!

you may not think this parts necessary but i feel like its needed as good rule of thumb for others: unless you decided to make that same oc age along with you in real-time, i see no issue with shipping an oc with sky especially if they're at the same age range as him!

*TL;DR selfship and oc × canon are completely different, therefore its not weird to ship sky with an oc thats on his age range!*

[cheriebear]

J’adore votre blog! Ça me rend vraiment content n’important quand je vous vois. Aussi, l’art que vous faites de reblog est magnifique. Vous avez un excellent œil pour ça.

J’ai aimé en plus vos commentaires sur les relations platonique et serais fasciné d’apprendre plus sur la distinction entre un vue romantique des liens platoniques et des liens vraiment romantiques.

(Feel free to respond in either English or French if you would like)

Ahhh merci beaucoup pour le message!! Tu as illuminé ma journée 🥰 J'adore aussi votre blog. Seriously, I enjoy seeing you both on the dashboard and in my notes. Merci pour le compliment aussi, I love to indulge in art, decorate my blog with it, and by doing so spread it to further audiences too since I know how important that is.

As for what you came here to discuss: I'm so thrilled you're fascinated to learn more about it! I'm not sure how broadly it's been talked about, but for much of my life I have been passionate about the distinctions between the platonic and romantic as concepts when applied to relationships, and also romanticism as an idea/movement. I very much think of myself as a romantic, as it sometimes took looking at things perhaps a little "delusionally" or with rose-tinted glasses to cope with living my everyday life in the past.

Cutting off the post here because it turns into a VERY long ramble. To read more about my thoughts on the distinction between a romantic lens on platonic relationships and truly romantic relationships continue reading below.

So, to establish to anyone else who didn't read my commentary, I'll go over the key parts to then expand. Platonic is often used to describe the love of a friend, as that is its meaning, and the antithesis is the romantic love of someone (whether you are with them in a relationship or not) which impliedly involves physical and sexual aspects because those are specifically excluded from platonic bonds.

Quite literally, the opposite of platonic is sexual. To be sexual is generally to be romantic, as romance as a definition involves a sort of "excitement" and "passion". I'm certain there's more detailed discussions on romance and being aromantic/asexual, but that's not exactly what I'm here today for. Approximately, it's understood that there are two common dynamics in love: platonic and romantic. One is non-sexual and the other is impliedly sexual.

If we look to the Greeks, there are several different kinds of love. That which is understood to be romantic (using other words that do not translate exactly) appears to have evolved into the English language to be combined with the Greek word for sexual love too. They go hand in hand in our Western society at the very least. And platonic is distinctly another type of love that is not romantic or sexual. The love of friends. Not romantic. Not sexual. Something else.

I must VERY MUCH STRESS that this is not supposed to be some sort of criticism of aromantic and or asexual identities in the LGBTQ+ community. That is not what I am here for. Aromanticism is not something I personally experience, so I am no authority on it, and I offer no thoughts on it in this post. I am on the asexual spectrum, so I feel that is partially where I come from when I talk about this topic. But I am also not any authority on what all ace-spec people think/feel/believe. I fully expect differing thoughts and opinions. I welcome them.

Now, to continue:

It has long been the frustration of the asexual community that platonic bonds are not taken seriously with the same gravity as romantic bonds. Your best friend, soulmate even, or platonic partner (generally, as you might have a platonic partner under the radar that is considered your "romantic" partner under law if you married or, in some jurisdictions, are considered a de facto partner - but that's another can of worms in the legal sense of these words) is not held in high regard compared to your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, and so on. I'll copy the post below that prompted my commentary in the reblogs and subsequently Obi's curiosity (je suis désolée, my dear mutual, I don't know your name, so I turned "occasionally bilingual" into O.B. and subsequently Obi as a placeholder).

To summarise the post: there is a common belief in our society, seen in the microcosm of fandom spaces, that "friendship is not enough to justify insane acts of love" between characters. Quite literally that is the essence of this discussion in one sentence. That platonic love--friendship--is not believed in. That friendship is not such a profound relationship of deep feelings that would motivate anyone to go to the ends of the earth over. A sentiment I highly disagree with.

As a side note: a little crudely, I think some people might be ruled more by their carnal desires than the love in their hearts, without always having the words or wisdom to internally assess the differences when acting on their feelings.

I'll be so bold as to put this to you: think of any fandom you're in. Any. Think of two characters, often of the same sex, who are friends in the canon and nothing else. Friends for the whole duration of the story. Entirely platonic with the understanding of the word as I have described it above. You got them in mind? Good. Now, I can guarantee someone, somewhere in your fandom has shipped them together romantically at some point. This is not inherently wrong. But I can tell you that someone has also argued something along the lines of "did you see [insert scene] where [character a] did this to/said this to/looked at [character b] in that way? Friends don't do that. Obviously these two characters are gay (and the author may or may not be a coward or making use of subtext)." And then that's how all the fanon ships treated as "basically canon" are born.

You could insert a heterosexual pair too; it happens all the time in our real lives. "Boy meets girl" and they fall in love because it's apparently inevitable (it's not).

It's a lot more distinct in same sex pairings though, the rhetoric around that's not what friends do for each other. Looking at them a certain way, doing something for them at their own detriment, and so on. But that's because, in an amatonormative society (one that assumes that everyone needs an exclusive romantic relationship for fulfilment in their life), many people cannot imagine prioritising friendship so highly that you might do anything within your power for someone you only have platonic regard for. That you would "waste" time and resources on someone you are not romantically attached to or pursuing (this is where my side-argument that amatonormative culture significantly is influenced by capitalism--but that may be a separate discussion for another time since I'm already yapping an essay).

There is also the fact that creatives like writers, filmmakers, and so on, are all artists. And artists have a way of romanticising some topics they portray in their art.

Romanticisation has a sort of elusive meaning in my mind. It's easier to point it out than articulate it. You could probably look up the definition yourself or the romantic movement. But it is distinctly separate in meaning/use from romantic relationships.

Let me explain.

To romanticise would be: describing the beauty of the dancing flames in the fireplace as your skin tingles with the fire's thawing heat that seeps into you like a hug from your grandmother. Or whatever. Not the best sentence in the world. Or how about this? As I lay on the glittering asphalt in the mists, I see the blue and red lights of the siren wink at me with halos like I'm looking at starry angels. Oh, or the cannibalism fans, what about this: her warm lips caress my skin as if in a kiss before her teeth sink into flesh, drawing hot blood spilling with all the darkness of wine down her chin. It hurts, but it feels good too, as if I have found my purpose in feeding her with my body.

That's romanticism. An emphasis on the unique beauty of something that can border on dangerous delusion.

By contrast, a romantic relationship is simply a bond you might have with someone where you are in love with them in such a way you experience physical desires of a more sexual nature. You can, in fact, romanticise a romantic relationship. Media does it all the time in selling amatonormativity. You could go on Pinterest right now and see boards filled with lipstick kisses on letters, suggestive silhouettes, poems between or about lovers, and so on.

Where I think people sometimes trip up, especially as seen in fandom since I haven't experience this in my real life to this degree, is when the romanticisation of platonic relationships is mistaken for an allusion to romantic feelings/a romantic relationship between characters.

Let me reiterate my earlier point about platonic bonds: by definition, they are inherently non-sexual and are not considered romances (God, the limits of the English language lead me to regular crash outs over words like this, not gonna lie).

Non-sexual. No romance. But can be viewed with a romantic lens (romanticisation) that I distinguish from a lens that views characters as being romantically involved.

This could be seen in the way your heart swells when your bestie does in fact confirm you two are best friends, or how your friend's eyes light up when they see you across the parking lot, or the easy flow of conversation between you as you sit in a cafe and bask in the buttery warmth of the morning sun and each other's smiles, or dropping everything at a single text to come help them move apartments, or fight their boyfriend, or comfort them over a death, or provide tutoring on a class they're worried about failing. There's love in all that. Not romantic love. But the way I described it all was a romanticisation of a platonic situation/bond.

There might be people who read that paragraph and thought at some point, Oh, no, "just friends" aren't like that, they must be in love or going to eventually fall in love (romantically) someday. To that, I say, please, sit down and broaden your mind a little. Treasure your friendships a bit more. Romantic love and sex aren't everything or all that matters in this world.

I just typed way too many words in an attempt to explain, basically, that there is beauty in the love shared between friends which should not be mistaken for romantic love. I know in fandoms we love shipping. It's just part of the culture. No one's gonna be able to stop anyone from it and nor should they. I can't even really ask anything of anyone.

As I said earlier, I also have no authority on this topic. These are just my thoughts and opinions. I've long been an advocate for the asexual community, and I only recently understood my own identity. Unironically, I believe in the power of friendship. I believe the love between friends is equal to the love between romantic/sexual partners and should be treated as such. "Just friends" is a term I don't like all that much. While I suppose you could argue that adding sex to the equation equals a romantic bond, changing it from platonic, I think that kind of talk downgrades the value of platonic connections and only creates pressure for people to have sex or be in romantic relationships to be considered valid, happy, and human or "normal"--the kind of view I don't think we need in our society.

Normalise going above and beyond for your friends again. Doing things because you care. Because you're a good friend. Because you're happier with the company of a community in your corner. You shouldn't derive all your needs for connection from a romantic partner. It's a lot to lay on one person. That's why you have friends and family and friends that are your family. Romantic feelings can be way fickler too. Friendships are more likely to stand the test of time.

Just some food for thought.

Friends can look at each other adoringly. Friends can sacrifice everything for each other. Friends can be your soulmate. Platonic merely means non-sexual and it is a separate kind of love from romantic. Sometimes people get confused when friendships are romanticised and celebrated, taking them to be romantic relationships. It happens. There are distinctions to be made though. Romantic in terms of beauty and romantic in terms of love/emotion are two different things that sometimes go together. Just be careful with it. English is a confusing language.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Hope this longass discussion post satisfied your curiosity, Obi 💝If you had any thoughts you'd like to add, feel free to do so in French or English.

[donaviolet]

Friendship is the most special thing in the world because no award could be give me bigger happiness than jumping around in my room and smiling because my pookie asked me if I wanted to match pfps

[titanbabyeams]

okay but how insane would I be if I admitted I was curious about the ship dynamic between The Ghoul & Norm?

The only issue I foresee is that, in my head, Norm is the younger brother and cannot possibly be over 22 years old… but boy, does that little worm in my brain bring up the ship every time I write.

Sometimes I just think it’d be so interesting? Norm has gained some backbone by the end of the series and I really think he wouldn’t be afraid to just… say what he thinks to The Ghoul’s face. He’d also have none of that ‘Vault Dweller Goodness’ that The Ghoul has associated with Lucy. There’d be a strange combination of respect and animosity… plus, I think he’d appreciated Norm’s dry humor.

Imagine: Lucy & The Ghoul are traveling together and Norm joins them at some point. Norm is keeping records of all the Wasteland creatures he comes across because he’s genuinely interested in how the surface has affected things and people…

…which leads him to asking rather probing questions to The Ghoul. Does he have genitalia? How long did the process take to become a ghoul? Are they experiencing radiation exposure just by traveling with him or do they have to be in closer proximity? Is he semen irradiated?

Purely scientific, of course, but The Ghoul would turn it right back on him and ask if he wants to experiment to learn these things.

Norm is disturbed, initially, cue crisis…

Who knows who knows.

[sophaeros]

Just need more fab/nick fics like for some reason I ship them so hard like that one interview where it describes them as a comedy duo or something

BRO FOR REAL. fabnick is a happier place than casamond honestly theyre so besties forever. in rock & folk 2011 iirc nick says he and fab hung out almost every day in the years between fioe and angles 💔💔💔💔💔 not to mention nick taking so many photos of fab during early tours that people called him nick's muse IM SICK im sure theres a compilation of pics nick has taken of fab somewhere in my fabnick tag. if not i might make one sometime this week

my friends and i actually do have some fabnick aus..current favourite is the good ol college au with fine arts major fab (i just realised he went straight for a sculpture specialty irl but i think it might suit his character arc more to not specialise in anything yet? tbc) and photography major nick modelling for each other's projects 😋 fab didnt even have a project due he just panicked and lied so he could hang out with nick more

in this au they only meet in college. nikolai decided to go to this one specific college known for its arts programs for english literature, julian followed him to stay close to him and went for political science (stroke of genius on my part if u ask me it's so funny. hes the only non-arts student in their group and extremely annoying in seminars), and nick followed julian. fab and nikolai are roommates and nikolai introduces him to the other two whereupon fab gets a crush Immediately. meanwhile in the background of fab and nick's meet cute albert and julian are roommates again and having their domestic drama love story. oh and nick's roommate is ryan BSJFJSN i think hes a business major lmfao

this became less about fabnick than i intended oops. hope my mutuals dont mind me sharing this au we were talking about i really wanna draw or write something for it bc it's sooo cuteeee. learning how to value yourself for who you are and that youre deserving of unconditional love via seeing yourself lovingly rendered by someone who loves you. the slope of your nose in clay or the unconscious turn of your body in a candid photograph. that one james baldwin misquote the role of the lover is exactly the same as the artist. if i love you i must make you aware of the parts you do not see.

[itscuntingseason]

this one wtk writer on ao3 who writes top-tier poly OT4 wotakoi fics, but i kinda flip flop on how i feel abt how they write hironaru......

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

The Day Death Stopped

NA contemporary fantasy

in a world with witches - most of whom have random insignificant powers - one per generation is the Zaro, the magical leader with almost endless power, until the power was born into two people

Claire is perfectly happy being a stage magician, pretending to be a normal witch, while the other is raised to be the next Zaro - but when he casts a spell to stop death (entirely, in the worst kind of way) to ‘protect her’ she has to get involved

nonlinear storytelling, quirky omniscient narrator, footnotes

ace MC

[queennai714]

Random hcs I have because I may be cringe but I'm free part 27 (Ninjago)

More platonic oppo (but still mostly Kai centric) because their friendship has infected my brain (strap in, it's a long one)

Ok so this one is kind of a mashup of 3 different headcannons, the Chinese Kai hc, the "oppo are best friends" hc, and the one im gonna talk about here that possessed me to write this in the first place, but hear me out-

(Tbh, this could take place at pretty much any point in the series but I usually imagine it somewhere between seasons 4 and 8)

Just take a second to imagine, Kai peacefully going about his life as his proudly bilingual self, until he realizes: outside of Ignacia, its insanely rare to find someone who speaks Mandarin.

This, in turn, sparks two more revelations: One, that just makes the fact that he was born and raised speaking Mandarin all the more cool, and two, that he would have virtually no chance to use/show off his first language with someone other than Nya or Zane, and he would only ever get to use Ninjargon.

This motivates Kai (desperate to keep his spot as one of the most cultured on the team) to learn THREE more languages, those being French, Italian, and Spanish (as any reasonable person would do)

The only person he ever outright tells is Wu (seeing as he's fluent in like every language ever so he's great to practice with) and he mostly keeps it a secret from the others so that he can keep surprising/impressing them by pulling another random language out of nowhere whenever its needed.

What he didn't expect however, was how Zane would react.

Turns out, being a total bookworm and a literal walking computer means that not only does deciphering other languages come easy to Zane, he also absolutely adores studying languages in all their forms. So, when he heard from his friends that the criminal they were supposed to go question didn't know any Ninjargon and that Kai had managed to hold the rather intense interrogation entirely in French, he was beyond delighted. Once he had finished cleaning up after dinner he practically ran to Kai's room to talk, and of course, he immediately insisted Kai do all his explaining in French for the rest of the night.

From that day on, anytime the two of them wanted to have a private conversation and couldn't just pull the other to the side (or, more commonly, if they just randomly felt like it) they would simply start talking in one of the four languages and fall into easy conversation with the other as if they hadn't just simultaneously stopped making sense to anybody else around them.

TL;DR (and the simple seed from which this essay of a hc was born)

Kai talks shit about people to Zane in different languages