#Friendship or romantic relationship

[aitsuheart]

to add to your “why can’t they just be friends” post - why can’t kairi and sora just be friends ? the subtle clues in the storyline of KH is def leading down that path

Yeah I don't get why there always have to be a supposedly girl "love interest" character. But the phrase why can't they be friends is never stated for any straight relationships

I'm not going to pretend there wasn't something between them but after the first game, it seems Sora doesn't feel the same.

and I don't know it's not very interesting with barely any chemistry between them. In kh2 what was that reunion between them. It was awkward and their feelings have passed, but Sora being Sora didn't want to lose her and still wanted to remain her friend.

I don't think their relationship as romantic now. I think it's developed into more of a friendship. and in kh3 the paopu doesn't have to be inherently romantic but how come he felt awkward at first and only took it as a good luck charm

KH has a problem every action movie has where there always have to be a straight romantic interest when why can't they be friends and have the female character get more developed.

[thestarfishface]

“There is no platonic explanation for thi-“ Sprays u with water. Sprays u

[keplercryptids]

i just think that, most of the time, you really do need to teach people how to love you. and equally, you need to be taught how to love others. this can feel scary and hard and even like a failure, especially if you're approaching a relationship with trauma - shouldn't it be easy to love me? yeah ofc. but love is an act of translation between people across experience, geography, culture, memory. it's constant, purposeful translation. and though it can be hard, there is real joy to be found in the teaching and learning of love.

[malewifesband]

it is insane, crazy, nuts how good for kabru being friends with laios is on multiple levels

he has to be honest and direct with laios to communicate. laios is so so earnest and thoughtful to him, and genuinely shows him affection thru food (and kabru cant cook or care for himself) with the harpy omelette (despite the um. misunderstanding between them), promising to take him to a restaurant as a sign of how sincere he is about being kabrus friend now, and kabru returns that favor by not just helping the faligon, but eating it, and staying to eat it until its almost done even though laios assured him he didnt have to. he can get angry with him and not feel like hes fucked it all up by showing his real emotions. something about laios puts kabru more in touch with his deeper desires--he acts in ways he doesnt understand around laios, betrays himself to his conscious mind, because he wants to badly to put his faith in laios and laios did not let him down, not where it mattered. he gets to take on a job laios cannot do for himself as prime minister in training where his skillset is valuable and he can indulge in work that really interests him and it will always be appreciated deeply by not only laios but the whole nation theyre building. for as long as laios is around, he never has to worry about monsters hurting him or his home--and laios is actively working on building a world where monsters can be made tamer through knowledge about them, and has already defeated kabrus biggest fear, the dungeon. laios gives him a safe context to conquer his fear of monsters at his own pace rather than forcing himself into traumatic situations where he dies all the time

[heartless-aro]

It is very important to criticize the “Why does everything have to by gay? Can’t they just be friends?” attitude that homophobes have towards gay characters, but it’s possible to do that without saying things like “This character literally did xyz for the other. Friends wouldn’t do that!” or “But character A says character B is the most important person in their life! There’s no way that’s platonic!” or even things like “Actually, they should have sex with each other instead of being ‘just friends.’” Whatever it is you think that friends can’t do, they can. Friends can think of each other as the most important person in their lives. Friends can go through pain for each other, risk their safety for each other, be physically affectionate, rely on each other, and die for each other. Friends can share beds, kiss, or have sex.

Friendship is not a tier below romance.

[gremlin-pattie]

“there’s no platonic explanation for shawn and gus’s relationship” maybe to you. i understand them though

[houseswife]

gregory house “try not to make every interaction with wilson into a gay sex joke” challenge: impossible

[stealingyourbones]

I desperately need more mentor uncle figures and mentor brother figures in DPxDC to fill the interesting relationship dynamic gap that father figures stories can't always fill are u picking up what I'm putting down. Hell, just a regular friendship relationship with absolutely 0 familial dynamic.

[buggachat]

ladybug and chat noir having a partner spat and going to marital counseling over it

[saebaragi]

"literally what would be the platonic explanation for this?" are you sure you're ready for that conversation?

[plutonicbees]

season 1 tao's "once you get into a relationship, friendships don't matter anymore" vs season 2 charlie writing "charlie ♡ tao" on the heart locket + "wait, isn't that for you and nick?" "no."

sorry yeah I'm just lil emotional over the portrayal of platonic love as something that can be just as worthy as romantic love. i'm okay.

[rosieyart]

what they chattin’ about !! ??

[pixieverse-icedtea]

"you look happier" is one of the best compliments >>>

[linkcharacter]

Oh I have so many thoughts on aroace Curly, I think it brings so much on the table when analyzing the game's story.

Amanormativity ties in with the reoccurring mentions of the nuclear family, from Wrong Organ making 1950s mock advert posters, to Swansea talking about how getting a wife and kids didn't bring him any fulfillment in life.

In the cake cutting nightmare sequence, where Jimmy talks with Dream Curly about the mediocre cake, Dream Curly begins to talk about how sometimes you can only get the subpar stuff in live. Sometimes he'll get promoted, buy a house, fall in love. But other times he'll just have some awful fucking cake with his friend.

I think there is that subtle implication that Jimmy does buy into Amanormativity, with him projecting his beliefs on Dream Curly that a platonic relationship is lesser then a romantic one. But we never see Curly suggesting that he wants such a thing in the pre-crash.

With Jimmy thinking that Curly has everything in life, except for the desire (although I think Jimmy would view it as Curly not having the skills for it) to get a romantic partner, he would heavily lean into getting the one thing that Curly couldn't get in life to one up him.

THATS EXACTLY WHAT IM THINKING!!! AMATONORMATIVITY BE DAMNED!!!!

Looking at Mouthwashing through an aroace lens is interesting

"Jimmy thinking that Curly has everything in life, except for the desire", well said, well said! And references to the nuclear family fit in very cleanly thematically for Mouthwashing.

Jimmy leaning into amatonormativity is a smart observation. Jim internalizes all the social norms and standards on what you have to do to have a normal and desirable life, who sees everything Curly has and what Jimmy wishes he had, and is offended that Curly isn't satisfied, that he has the "audacity" to be unhappy. Curly meanwhile only wishes for his life to be something he doesn't have to run from, because by all means, he has already reached a point where he should feel accomplished, but isn't. Curly doesn't want to be a freighter captain his whole life, he doesn't want to settle with his sustainable position, he just wants to be happy. Like Swansea who has reached the "ideal" outcome of his life, having a wife, kids and a good career, it will never feel as good as embracing all what society deems undesirable yet right for you.

Jimmy does imply to seeing himself as lesser as a friend, "fall in love" being a goal and a "cake with a friend" being something he "has to settle for", it's all in the subtleties with underlying themes of "what you're "supposed to want" by society's expectations" against "what feels right for you". Jimmy is frustrated that Curly is going to "leave the dirt behind him", when in actuality, letting the crew and him go is the last thing Curly wants. Curly wants to be with his friends, he deeply cares about his crew, and about his close friend.

Mouthwashing as a whole reads to me as platonic through and through. Swansea and Daisuke having such a meaningful familial bond, Curly and Anya being sweet, playful and caring without romance, Anya and Daisuke having something of a siblings dynamic are dear to me. Also it's really rare to get to see representations of "toxic friendship" in media. Its always toxic romance this, toxic yaoi that, toxic family there, however in reality, friendships aren't excluded from being as rotten and abusive as the others, yet they're often overlooked. Jim and Curly are especially unique in this way. It's very impressive how they managed to showcase Jimmy's mistreatment of Curly in such a platonic way (at least that how I read it). Jim too, like Curly, in general avoids hints at romance and attraction explicitly related to him during his gameplay, not with Curly, nor with Anya (dear god thanks for that at least). It's all spite, annoyance and parasitizing off of these two. (That man's dry and lowkey hates everyone and everything) No attraction attached, no desires except hoping it hurts.

Curly to me is very much aroace, or at least on the spectrum. Like, the trivia fact that one of Curly's fondest memories is that of his friends putting in effort to make a shitty awful cake, tells us all we need to know on how dear his friends are to him. Platonic relationships mean so much to Curly, even when it's Jimmy fucking Mouthwashing, the worst friend ever imaginable.

[srslylini]

just saw the video and there is just two things Im gonna say, really.

1. Throwing away your only genuinely healthy relationship and saying well Jayce only used Mel for the sex is absolutely disgusting and weird. For multiple reasons. Throwing in the line that she was his cover up? shut the fuck up. oh my god. Mel is so not appreciated in this fandom alone and for CREATORS to join is so very insane. Especially here.

2. The undervaluing of friendship in media is quite frankly very weird. It's always "they can't be JUST friends because they did this and that" as if platonic love is somehow less. If my best friend was on the brink of literal death I'd also leave everything behind to be by their side. No question asked. And I'm so serious when I say that if anyone thinks that for some reason this must mean I'm in love with them, then I have to say

I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry that you never got to experience the gentle love of a friend.

[stil-lindigo]

shallow grave.

a comic about accepting when your relationship is dead.

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