#can be interpreted platonically or romantically!! or queerplatonically!!

[synonymroll648]

i like the idea of the cognates taking keefe’s lil ‘cognate rawr’ comment and just using rawr as a greeting and/or expression of affection. they see each other in the halls going to different classes and they go ‘rawr’ instead of ‘hello’. when there’s conversation and they were talking to each other but don’t know what to say and/or want to talk to each other but don’t know what to say they just go ‘rawr’ at each other. in a soft tone btw. gentlest lil ‘rawr’s you’ve ever heard between these two

[mayhasopinions]

they r so stupid

[many-gay-magpies]

a payneland fic i read recently used the phrase "as easy as breathing" to describe charles loving edwin/edwin and charles loving each other, and of course at first i thought, well that's ironic. they're ghosts, they don't even need to breath anymore. but then... really, that just makes the metaphor fit even more. being ghosts, edwin and charles don't need to breath anymore, but they CHOOSE to, even doing so on purpose in moments of high tension to soothe both themselves and each other. in the same way, them loving each other is easy... automatic, like a leftover reflex from when they were alive (even though they never knew each other living). loving each other is as easy as breathing, but they choose to breath, just like they have chosen, over and over again for thirty years, to stay together. to love each other.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

At The Feet Of The Sun

book 2 in a slow paced high fantasy duology*

the right hand of the emperor (who is off searching for an heir) struggles with what to do after passing on his responsibilities and also discovering various pieces of information that are mindblowing to him, personally,

after adventure is thrust upon him, he travels to find His Radiancy and they go on some otherworldly adventures while growing closer and figuring out the nature of their friendship

(*there’s extra novellas & i think another book coming? duology adjacent, currently,)

[omorinovaau]

Kel's 14th birthday

Kel stood in his room. What day was it? What month was it? Did it even matter?

He heard a knock at his door,followed by someone yelling his name. He went downstairs to check who it was.

It was Aubrey. She really changed her appearance a LOT in that one year. She bleached her hair,she seemingly ran out of toner half way through though,so it had orange patches. She wore her bow as a hair tie,somehow.

She had a box of a dozen cupcakes. They resembled white bunnies with pink bows as bows.

"Uhh,you okay,Kel??? You look kinda disheveled..." Aubrey said,snapping Kel out of his trance.

"Uhh,yeah,I'm fine! Come on in!" Kel blurted out. He quickly looked at his hair. It was more matted then a mat,well,it would be considering that he didn't brush or cut his hair for one YEAR.

Aubrey entered the house,and shut the door.

"Kay! Want some??" Aubrey says,offering the box to Kel.

"Sure!" Kel took a bite out of one of the cupcakes...they were really good! When did Aubrey learn to bake?

Aubrey was already stuffing her face with 2 of them.

"Aubreeey." Kel gave her a playful glare,earning a laugh out of her.

"Sorry- These are just really good!" Aubrey said with her mouth full,spraying crumbs all over the couch.

"Woooow,way to compliment yourself!" Kel playfully told her off.

"Bleh,whatever!" Aubrey said,crossing her arms.

"...So,what do you wanna do?" Kel asked.

"Wanna bake something?"

"Yeah! What do you wanna bake?"

"Garlic bread!"

"You be one of them aces?" Kel asked,giving Aubrey a curious glance.

"Hell yeah!" Aubrey half-yelled,throwing her arms in the air.

"Me too!" Kel said,smiling.

The two got up,and proceeded to start making garlic bread. They started eating it like they hadn't eaten in 4 weeks.

After that,the two layed on the couch,and fell asleep. Kel moved like a damn rotiserie chicken until he found a comfortable postion,meanwhile Aubrey was laying right on the edge,about to fall off.

What more can I say? This was how Kel's 14th Birthday went.

[fallen--starlight]

oh, this is very interesting to read! and honestly, it makes a lot of sense. which gets me thinking about the topic of a/c & love !! which is something i think about a lot cause i'm on the aro spectrum (and im also ace, which also plays a part into this), and there's a lot of overlap between my platonic and romantic expressions of love, to the point that i guess you could say my romantic expressions are nearly the same as my platonic ones, the difference to me is what i call "personal vibes". point being, i think that up until s2e6 it was very easy to see aziraphale and crowley as platonic (or at least non romantic) because for a lot of people that's just the kind of dynamic they have with people in a non romantic way, and the way i see it is as "romantic/queer platonic, because many of my romantic expressions are not conventionally romantic".

i think this was kinda messy because i find it difficult to explain my own takes on love & such cause being aroace is weird, but tl;dr: i agree with you and i think you have a really valid point that isn't talked about as much as it probably should.

few things bother me more than people saying that it’s “dumb” or “intentional ignoring” or “impossible” to have interpreted crowley and aziraphale’s relationship platonically.

and look i could go on about all the things that do point to romance but enough people have done that so i’m gonna defend myself here and explain why i read them as platonic for so long and why i think it’s perfectly reasonable to have read them platonically.

and a disclaimer that all of this is from my perspective and my opinion. so if i make a statement as though it’s matter of fact, know that i’m speaking from my perspective and just can’t be bothered to preface every sentence with “in my opinion…”

a LOT more under the cut

and it mostly boils down to one thing: their love reflected the love me and my friends have for each other.

so no shit i interpreted them platonically because they looked like my real life platonic relationships!!

i’ve talked at length about how i think there’s a specificity to the way queer people love. i think there’s something special about the way queer people show love, especially platonic love.

here’s the thing. i’ve been mistaken as my best friend of 16 years’ girlfriend more than once. i’ve been mistaken as one of my other best friend’s partner so many times her friends were genuinely shocked when she got a boyfriend because they thought she was dating me.

i understand the whole “being so platonically in love that people think you’re also fucking” situation. i unironically live that situation on the regular. so naturally i assumed that’s what was happening with aziraphale and crowley.

my thought process was basically this

1) they love like i love (specifically, crowley loves like i love). therefore, they’re platonically in love.

2) weird, everyone on the internet is convinced they’re dating. something something everyone values romantic love over platonic love

3) well whatever they’re still platonic in my heart

and it stayed like that quite literally until i watched episode 6 of season 2. and you can tell me i was being oblivious all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that i genuinely believed they were platonic. queer platonic? sure. but definitely not romantic.

i saw all the witty quips and banter between the two of them and didn’t read any sexual or romantic tension, i read friendship. i saw aziraphale damsel in distress-ing himself on the regular so crowley could save him and thought “well it’s the only way he can spend time with crowley. checks out”. and i saw the bandstand breakup and the burning bookshop and “you told my only friend to shut his mouth and die and i did. not. care. for it.” and aziraphale so desperately trying to shield crowley from the horrors of the world and obviously i saw love. a love that is deep and profound, yes. it just never read romantic to me because i would do and say all of those things for and to my friends.

one of the few things i will never cease to find joy in is my friendships. i will ALWAYS love loving the people close to me, i will ALWAYS support them, and most importantly, i ALWAYS want to protect them. even when i know what is going to happen is inevitable, i don’t want to see them hurt. i want to shield them from the cataclysmic experience of the human condition and only have to experience in the moments of joy that await them. i don’t want to see the people i love hurt or in pain or jaded by how fucked up the world is.

because i already am those things. i am jaded by the world, i’m constant falling into the pit of cynical despair that the state of the world can manage to throw you down. and i know how fucking hard it is to pull yourself out of that place, to find hope and move forward and allow yourself to even enjoy the love and support you do have in life.

and the last thing i ever want is for the people i love dearly to experience those things.

so yeah. i related hard fucking core to crowley and the way he loves aziraphale SO. FUCKING. DEEPLY. and of course i read it platonically because it’s platonic for me. so deeply platonic in the best way.

and i could go on about how a lot of this stems from how much i value platonic love. how much i don’t adhere to social norms of love and how people express love. i will loudly proclaim my love for my friends, because i love them. i’m in love with them. but that doesn’t mean i want to date them or kiss them. and that makes perfect sense to me, and if it doesn’t make sense to you. well then, idk what to tell you.

this is longer than i intended but my point is that it hurts seeing people who act like those of us who did genuinely read aziracrow as platonic the first go around are stupid or that we chose to ignore the romance.

because, to me at least, it always felt like people were calling the way i love stupid or that i’m actually ignoring my “real” feelings

[taliesin-the-bored]

Tag game: tag nine people you’d like to know better.

Tagged by: @oneshoulderangel (Thank you for tagging me!)

Last song: At the moment, I have "Losing Your Memory" by Alan Star stuck in my head, which I suppose makes it my current song, not my last song. Hm. I get songs stuck in my head very easily, but the last one I had there for a significant amount of time was a mashup of different language versions of "Les Rois du Monde" for about a week. "Lehetsz Király", the Magyar version, is probably my favorite of them. It's worth a listen.

Currently watching: Normally, the answer would be "random mostly terrible old movies/shows" or "nothing much", but I currently have a hyperfixation on the musical Roméo et Juliette and have been watching it in multiple languages. (Thus, the song).

Three ships: This is hard. Maybe as a result of being on the ace and aro spectrums, I'm more likely to care about which characters are interacting than whether it's romantic or platonic. Here goes:

Kedivere/Bedikay. It can be romantic, platonic, or queerplatonic, but whichever way, I'm here for it. I probably spend too much time thinking about how in Cullwch and Olwen, when Cai gets mad at Arthur and marches out, Bedwyr stays behind, keeps acting like nothing's happened, and isn't the one to avenge Cai's death. The feeling of betrayal on both sides has a lot of unexplored potential. And the version where Bedivere dies and Kay fights to bring his body back safely while mortally wounded himself... And the version where Bedivere survives Camlann and Kay isn't said to fight in it, so they might be left together after their world has fallen apart...

Platonically or queerplatonically, Galahad and the Grail Heroine. I really like the tragic Grail Quest friendships, but I like theirs most, maybe because there's something weird and otherworldly about them both. I like it when characters are strange and endearing and doomed by the narrative.

Ever since reading John Matthews' retelling, which I read before the original, I've had a soft spot for Caradoc and Guinier. The Story of Caradoc is very disturbing, and I have some major qualms with Caradoc over a detail Matthews cut out, but all the same, there's a reason these two have the best track record with magical fidelity tests. Each of them would go to the ends of the earth for the other, and together, they're stronger than any curse.

Favorite Color: Blue, particularly royal blue and some teals.

Currently consuming: Black licorice with chocolate.

First ship: This is a hard one, since through elementary and most of middle school, I tended to go along with whatever I thought the author's intentions were and was more likely to unship something. The first non-endgame ship I got invested in was Sonya/Nikolai in War and Peace. I didn't like Nikolai, but Sonya did, and she was my favorite character, so I wanted her to be happy. The first non-canon couple I thought was meant to be together was also in War and Peace: Marya Bolkonskaya and Julie Karagina. My eighth grade self did not think their letters could be interpreted platonically. I still don't.

Last movie: If the musical doesn't count, the last movie I watched was Quest for Camelot, which was awful. Though not Robot Monster-level bad, Robot Monster has an elegance to its simplicity which Quest for Camelot lacks.

Currently working on: Various fics, most of them Arthuriana or CotRK-related (I am woefully behind on the Badfic Bingo), and (theoretically) an epic-style poem, though I haven't gotten much of it written for quite a while now.

Tagging: @gawrkin, @emperorcandy, @wildbasil, @gorewound, @knightsofsomethingorother, @ladyminaofcamelot, @tasosotaso, @amashelle, @gingersnaptaff (I have no idea who's been tagged so far, apart from the people on @oneshoulderangel's post, so I apologize for any multi-tags)

[mlbfemslashfebruary]

Miraculous Ladybug Femslash February 2025 is now here…! 

All main girls get at least one or two pairs, but some are more popular in this chart than others. Once again, f/f starring older female characters are double-booked to allow more pairings.

.

Rules:

• Any fanart, fic, playlist, or edit is welcomed in this event. Just tag your work #mlbfemslashfebruary or @ this blog so your work can be reblogged here!

• You don’t have to follow all the key words or ships for each day, they’re just prompts to help the creative process.

• If you have another femslash pairing you want to write over a certain day’s theme, go ahead! This includes creating content for poly femslash ships.

• Please no male characters or m/m ships that are genderbended. Male characters and slash ships get much more attention in fandom spaces than female characters and femslash ships. This event is supposed to help elevate femslash content, which is much rarer in fandom (and especially lacking in Miraculous Ladybug outside of a small handful of ships.)

• This event is meant to be for romantic pairings, but you can also write platonic or queerplatonic interpretations.

• No NSFW content will be reblogged for this event, but can still be created and posted on your own time.

...

Below is also a written out list of the prompts, for accessibility purposes and in case the image is too hard to see.

[Image ID: A calendar for February 2025 filled with prompts for Miraculous Ladybug Femslash February 2025. Each day has two prompt words and one f/f pairing, with some days instead having two f/f pairings to showcase adult women f/f. Prompt words are bulleted using hearts in the image.

Day 1

• Ambition • Start

Alya/Marinette

Day 2

• Faithful • Lily

Kagami/Juleka

Day 3

• Equation • Daisy

Chloe/Sabrina

Day 4

• Manners • Poppy

Zoe/Fei

OR Emilie/Nathalie

Day 5

• Separation • Iris

Marinette/Kagami

Day 6

• Lion • Clover

Ondine/Kagami

OR Miss Bustier/Giselle

Day 7

• Start • Lilac

Juleka/Marinette

Day 8

• Harbor • Rose

Alya/Zoe

Day 9

• Obligation • Apple

Kagami/Alya

Day 10

• Abandon • Kiwi

Chloe/Lila

Day 11

• String • Grape

Zoe/Juleka

OR Anarka/Penny

Day 12

• Impact • Blueberry

Marinette/Chloe

Day 13

• Screen • Orange

Aeon/Alya

OR Nora/Clara Nightingale

Day 14

FREE SLOT

Day 15

• Opinion • Peach

Alya/Sabrina

Day 16

• Yearn • Dragon

Kagami/Chloe

Day 17

• Urgency • Queen

Chloe/Alya

Day 18

• Respect • Tower

Zoe/Mylene  

OR Miss Bustier/Ms. Mendeleiev

Day 19

• Intention • Prophecy

Marinette/Zoe

Day 20

• Finish • Quest

Rose/Mylene

OR Anarka/Claudie

Day 21

• Unity • Hero

Marinette/Socqueline

Day 22

• Legend • Witch

Alya/Lila

Day 23

• Comfortable • Dawn

Kagami/Zoe

Day 24

• Undertake • Dusk

Chloe/Alix

Day 25

• Pillow • Midnight

Zoe/Jess

OR Olympia/Barbara

Day 26

• Issue • Noon

Marinette/Lila

Day 27

• Disclose • Morning

Aurore/Mireille

OR Amelie/Nathalie

Day 28

• Sweater • Evening

Juleka/Rose

End Image ID]

[nonsensology]

So I've had these Grunkle Stan crackships on my mind for almost a year now. Could be interpreted as platonic, but I think there's great and fascinating potential if interpreted fully romantic. Full musings and explanations below (Warning: very disjointed and random).

Uncle Chan from Jackie Chan Adventures

Maybe Ford and Stan stumble across the Chans on one of their globe-trotting adventures. Both groups fight off the same supernatural threat and surprise each other with their ease and familiarity with the weird and fantastical.

I feel Uncle is kind of a weird in-between of Ford and Stan. He is knowledgeable but not a nerd like Ford, is generally cranky but doesn't get into trouble like Stan does, although he does have a level of disregard towards authority if it gets in the way of his goals. He's quick to do research instead of impulsively charging into a situation.

I think Uncle's dynamic with Stan would be hilarious. They would argue a lot on how to deal with a threat, but once they agree to work together, they could kick ass. Once he gets past his initial annoyance, Stan would probably enjoy Uncle's quips, even more so when he realizes that Uncle does not say them to be funny, he's just naturally snarky.

Uncle is never shown having any romantic interest or relationships, so I kind of headcanon him as ace, but I think it would be really interesting to see what kind of queerplatonic relationship he and Stan could form.

Jade and Mabel would probably hit it off immediately, and while Jade isn't as studious as Dipper, she also has an enthusiasm for the supernatural so she'd probably get along decently with him. She'd also probably think Stan and Ford are super cool, especially considering their lax attitude toward giving children weapons. Though they do still take the kids' safety very seriously.

Jackie is doubtful of Stan, much like he was with Viper, but seeing Stan look out for the kids would probably endear him a little. Ford might also help ease his worries, and maybe they both could have fun discussion about archeology.

I think Tohru and Soos could get along decently, though Tohru would find Soos' eccentric musings odd at first.

Additionally, Uncle's shop is in San Francisco, practically next door to Dipper and Mabel in Piedmont. The kids would easily visit each other every weekend.

Bruno Madrigal from Encanto

Stan has been to prison in Colombia, so I don't think he'd willingly travel there for fun, and Encanto Valley seems relatively closed off from the rest of the world, so I imagine their meeting is accidental, maybe a result of the Stans getting caught in a storm or something. They stay for a while in the valley while repairing their boat.

Stan might initially be outraged at the idea of the Madrigals not charging anyone for the use of their gifts, but perhaps lightens up when he sees how close-knit the community is. He'd still come up with ways they could show off their powers Mystery Shack style, probably butting heads with Alma in the process, lol. He might encourage Bruno to adapt a more showman-like approach to his seer abilities to make it more presentable and less intimidating.

Bruno and Stan connecting over their shared feelings of isolation from family is definitely what drew me to these two together in the first place. If they ever got serious about their relationship, I can imagine the biggest hurdle would be deciding if they should continue a long-distance relationship, since neither is keen on asking the other to be separated from their family.

Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Major spoiler alerts for both series. It's been many years since I've read them, and Tsubasa had so many plot twists that even CLAMP (the writers) admitted they were confused by the end result. I also might be misremembering some details, so bear with me. Factoring in the plotlines for both series and Gravity Falls would make for an incredible AU fanfic that I unfortunately am not qualified to write.

Due to Yuuko's shop being in Tokyo, a whole ocean away from Oregon, I like to imagine some timey-wimey space mumbo jumbo allowing Yuuko and Stan to meet in the dream realm. Maybe at some point, Yuuko's shop would obtain a door connecting it to the Mystery Shack.

Stan and Yuuko both have a mischievous side, though Yuuko is generally more reserved. They could start out as drinking buddies, though I imagine Stan would probably favor a light beer, while Yuuko loves sake.

They also both use aliases (it is never revealed what Yuuko's real name is), but Yuuko would likely be upfront about it. As their relationship progresses, Stan would probably feel comfortable telling Yuuko his real first name, even after she tells him the supernatural dangers of giving your real name.

While Stan scams his customers, he generally sells harmless entertainment and trinkets, whereas Yuuko grants wishes and operates strictly on an equivalent exchange basis. To quote the wiki, "All of Yuuko's customers must pay a price in order to grant their wishes, which can be no more or no less than the one demanded, or else harm will come to one's way. She is not one to tell the customer the most direct way to solve their problems because in the end, it can only be solved with that person's own realization and resolution to change themselves... Her abilities are not unlimited and may almost seem like a curse as it appears that she is unable to do anything for anyone or grant any gift (other than feelings) without it becoming a binding transaction." 

When Stan finds out just how powerful Yuuko is, I think he might react with a mixture of hesitation and awe, especially when she reveals she knows about his past, and Ford being lost in the multiverse. I am on the fence on whether Yuuko would use her powers to bring Ford home sooner, or let Stan continue working on the portal because he's already close to completing it and this would be significant in defeating Bill.

I found that the main villain of Tsubasa, Fei Wang Reed, surprisingly parallels Stan. Both endanger reality to bring back someone who is lost, but while Stan does it out of love and devotion to his family, Fei Wang Reed only did it in an arrogant plan to prove himself a powerful sorcerer. And in Fei's case, the person is already dead. CLAMP's universe establishes that the dead cannot be brought back to life, and Fei's wish to do so would cause the universe to be destroyed. I wonder if Bill would factor Fei as part of his plans.

Stan also surprisingly shares a lot in common with Fai D Fluorite. Both use their twin's name (Fai's real name is Yuui), and for much of the series Fai's tragic backstory regarding his twin is unknown, and he hides his trauma under a laid back exterior. I think Stan would empathize a lot with Fai, after he finds out his backstory.

Kimihiro Watanuki is revealed to have been created to fill a void left by Syaoran after the latter wished to turn back time. I remember Watanuki's character arc involved realizing that people cared about him. "Don't disappear", "Continue existing". Stan would probably take Watanuki under his wing, much like he did with Soos. Watanuki might find life with the Pines family far more chaotic than he's used to, but slowly warm up.

Yuuko is revealed to have died a long time ago and has basically been in magical stasis due to Clow Reed's unintentional wish. When time finally moves forward again, Yuuko eventually passes on. She doesn't return in the canon series, but Watanuki is stated to have also suspended his time to wait for her return. In this AU, maybe she reincarnates in the past and reunites with Stan and the Pines in the present day.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

hot take about silco x vander that no one asked for

okay so it's 3:25 am and i spent too much time in pinterest comment sections so now i have Thoughts and y'all are gonna hear it (this is mostly spoiler free even for s1 but it won't make much sense unless you've watched arcane so go wATCH IT if you haven't). so there were a bunch of posts shipping Silco and Vander and in the comments people were really pissed coz they're said to think of each other as brothers.

TLDR: They did not grow up as brothers, they think of each other as such, and those thoughts can change over time or evolve without it being incestuous (with nuance), and of course it could stay the same too.

and I have a bunch of things to say, starting with for one, some folks were legitimately confused because they thought silco and vander were biological siblings. so, first off, let's get that clarified, they're definitely not. they weren't adopted or step siblings either. they met in their early adulthood, i believe, in the mines.

i'm gonna continue below the cut coz this is gonna be looooong.

now, the thing is, silco and vander explicitly state that they were each other's brothers and/or call each other brother. why? there could be multiple reasons for that. one, that's how they saw each other. they were as close as brothers and they saw each other as family. two, in the sense of being brothers in arms, fighting together against a common cause that brought them closer. three, they felt affection for each other and that was the closest term they knew to describe it. or something else.

and like, i do not mess with found family, that shit is sacred. if someone told me my brother isn't actually my brother because we didn't grow up together or share blood, i would happily punch them in the throat.

HOWEVER, Silco and Vander are fictional characters. so if someone headcanons that their relationship changed, and evolved, that's not disrespectful or incestuous. it just means the person believes that how they saw each other changed. or maybe they didn't realise how it was that they felt for each other. or any number of other things.

and hey listen when i was a teenager in two of my long-term relationships, i thought at the start that what i felt was platonic love. i'd literally call them my brother. because that was the way i knew to describe the intensity of my affection. i was figuring shit out, and then i realised that what i felt was romantic, and not platonic or familial.

does that make it incestuous? well i fucking hope not. i was a queer greyace teen trying to figure out what the fuck i was feeling.

and that's not even toUCHING the surface of queerplatonic feelings. like i had no vocabulary to describe that for most of my life. it was clearcut in my head--romantic, or platonic. and if platonic was very intense, then sibling. that was the only way i knew how to describe it.

and that's changed over the years and now i know a little bit better how i feel, and i have platonic feelings that aren't siblingy, platonic feelings that are very much siblingy, platonic feelings that aren't siblingy but familial anyway like that for a parent, and romantic feelings also of various shades.

but back then, i didn't have that vocabulary and distinctions and self-awareness. and it's entirely plausible for someone to headcanon that maybe Silco and Vander didn't either. maybe people ship them and hc that they had feelings for each other and didn't understand them, that could be romantic or queerplatonic. or had feelings for each other that were familial, but that evolved in a different way later (or in the AU). both of which ARE LEGITIMATE INTERPRETATIONS OF A FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITHOUT IT BEING INCESTUOUS.

anyway so it's entirely chill if you don't ship them but it's also entirely chill if you do. the issue is when you attack people for interpreting a fictional relationship in their own entirely valid way and call it weird or incestuous and attack them as people for their ship. just let people be sigh.

so that's my unnecessarily intense take at--jesus christ it's nearly 4 am. :)

[mar-mots]

I'm not done with this mole hill yet actually. But genuinely as someone who is aspec/arospec and disabled I am deeply side-eyeing the Viktor is Ace discourse right now because I feel like context is being lost in the conversation.

Viktor ace and/or aro headcanons because you think it fits? Sweet. Queerplatonic interpretations of jayvik also perfectly valid. In fact, any interpretations of the two is completely valid because I'm not your mum. Go do whatever you want forever.

You prefer SkyVik? MelJay? MelJayVik? None? Cool. The point is it doesn't matter what other people think. Do what you want forever.

I also don't care if Linke is an aphobe, homophobe, whatever-phobe because I don't know the guy or his inner thoughts and world. I'm not gonna cast too much judgment over uhhh gay shipping.

HOWEVER...

There is an uncomfortable history of making disabled people and characters ace, essentially desexualising them, and treating them as if they aren't people with their own thoughts, their own needs, their own agency.

This is why I'm deeply suspicious of Linke's decision to state this in the context that it was. Was Viktor ace the intent the whole time? Perhaps. But it does feel a little bit like it was an attempt to dissuade jayvik as an interpretation of a text rife with topics and scenes and whatnot that can be heavily up for interpretation.

Long story short is that what we got is not difinitive proof either way that JayVik is canon. What we got is a deeply complicated story of love but whether that love is romantic, platonic, something that transcends either, is something that is fully up to the interpretation of the viewer. And I think there's something a little bit beautiful about that.

I know how I read it, but that's only my interpretation of the subtext. I'm not gonna begrudge you yours.

And that's what I'm saying on that.

[layraket]

Day 1 - Love (Platonic/Romantic/Friend)

The trope of this day is Favorite AU! picked my Creatures AU cuz it is a crime that i don't draw them often!

They're sleepy bunnies and wanted to rest, and what better way to take a nap than some cuddles??

thank you @breannasfluff for this fantastic event! im excited to participate :D

(this one is free to interpretation, you can have them as friends, queerplatonic or romatic, whatever you want!)

[are-they-queerplatonic]

Do you see them as a QPR?

QPR Definition:

"Queerplatonic relationships (QPR), also known as queerplatonic partnerships (QPP), are committed intimate relationships between significant others whose relationship is not romantic in nature."

Reasoning to see them as a QPR:

"isabeau’s feelings towards siffrin are romantic, but when isabeau confesses to siffrin at the end, and siffrin says they also love isabeau, isabeau specifically asks if siffrin loves him the same way he loves them. siffrin says they need time to figure out, and i personally like interpreting it in an arospec sense!! i love the thought of siffrin being aware he loves isabeau, but not being able to define or easily categorize what way he loves him, just knowing he does."

[sigrielweek]

Sigriel Week 2024, 7-13 October 2024 - prompts and themes

Sigriel Week is a week of fan creation celebrating the characters Sigrid and Tauriel from the Hobbit movies, timed to coincide with the date of the Battle of the Five Armies on 10 October 2941 of the Third Age of Middle-Earth.

Any and all fanworks and any and all interpretations of the relationship between Sigrid and Tauriel are very welcome - for more information see the FAQ!

Here are some prompts and themes to inspire you - each day has a theme and some suggested sub-themes. Feel free to interpret them however you like!

Monday 7 October - beginnings

did they meet for the first time when Tauriel and Legolas chased the Orcs into their home - or before?

the attack on Lake-town

how do they meet in an AU?

Tuesday 8 October - getting to know you

do they hit it off straight away or does it take a bit longer?

on the lakeshore

first steps towards friendship - or more?

Wednesday 9 October - we're in this together, we have separate paths

journey to Dale/Gundabad

in an AU, is there an age difference/background difference?

how do they reconcile the differences between them?

Thursday 10 October - crisis and aftermath

Battle of the Five Armies

loss and grief

supporting each other

Friday 11 October - someone really special

realisations of feelings

getting together

a special place in each other's lives

Saturday 12 October - getting away from it all

what does a day with no responsibilities look like?

what do they do for fun?

what part do their families and friends play in their lives?

Sunday 13 October - afterwards

does Tauriel stay in Dale?

happily ever after - or not?

does Sigrid inherit the crown instead of Bain?

what does Tauriel do after Sigrid dies?

Please reblog, signal boost, and get ready to create! Whether you see the relationship between Sigrid and Tauriel as romantic, platonic, queerplatonic or something else, your creations are welcome - and so are late submissions. Just mention this blog @sigrielweek in your posts and tag #sigrielweek2024 so we can see them and reblog!

FAQ and rules | AO3 collection

[alfredomonocaris]

Hi I don’t talk here much so I’m gonna just blurb this out :3 I made a flag for queerplatonic affection/attraction and queerplatonic relationships. This isn’t an attempt to put a label on it or make anything official bc I just made this in ibis paint for fun so I can use it with my QPP and with friends and wanted to offer it as a concept for others. I’m ok with alterations, inspiration being taken, and the like so you may use it as long as it isn’t for hateful use. Also don’t claim as your own but that totally would never happen on the internet

Explanation of thoughts and process :3

YELLOW- represents happiness, friendship, and platonic love.

LIGHT ORANGE/GOLD- stands for sanctuary and trust, as well as deep emotional bonds

RED- stands for love within queerplatonic relationships, particularly stemming from aromantic communities and platonic affections for friends

PURPLE- represents the aroace community and how it differs from the societal norms of platonic love and affection, including aplatonic members of the community

WHITE HEART- represents those with allo identities who are connected through queerplatonic relationships as well, and additionally represents the nonconformity of queer love in every sense, as it cannot always be labeled or contained in a boxed description

If you’d like to use this in anything, please tag me if you’d be comfy! You can make your own versions as well, I’d love to see everyone’s interpretations and own experiences with queerplatonic affection and love. You are not broken. You are valid. You choose how you would like to receive love.

And as an additional note, queerplatonic love and relationships should not and will not ever be the standard for aromantic Or alloromantic people! You are just as valid if you are aplatonic or affection repulsed, just as every other aromantic and asexual person is and always will be. Happy Pride month to everyone :3 I love you aromantic and aromantic allies I love you aromantics who are okay with romance as an option I love you aromantics who could never love someone in a romantic way I love you cupioromantics I love you demiromantics I love you greyromantics I love you arofluxs I love you acefluxs I love you asexuals and demisexuals and greysexuals and queerplatonic partners and everyone with squishes they don’t wish to pursue and every transfem and transmasc aroace person and every black aroace person every indigenous aroace every Palestinian aroace every questioning aroace I love you alloaros I love you alloaces I love you every allo ally who is in QPP relationships and polyamorous aromantics and asexuals I love you I love you I love you and you are so loved and deserving of love that You wish to receive on your terms and nothing less

Also surprise jokey flag below the cut

[catras-breakup-song]

i’m not gonna lie… i’m lost here. is this supposed to be an 4nt1/cr1t1c4l post? if so, i genuinely don’t understand the point being made.

is it that playful banter is a bad thing? is it that being too hands-on violates unspoken boundaries? the message is so unclear to my autistic ass…

oh, wait, OP provided tags:

so aside from the fact that they are absolutely not sisters by default, least of all canonically (even if you do interpret them that way somehow), nor was it ever intended by nate stevenson, i’m still having trouble figuring out how this is problematic.

in which ways is lighthearted touch totally contradictory to passionate kissing/caressing? why can’t partners who are dating do both, especially in different cultural environments such as the horde where intimacy is discouraged and friendly sparring with familiar peers is a safe expression? if it’s so different, what are we as the audience supposed to interpret from their style of physical affection by the final season? side note, but aren’t we supposed to consider the latest version of anything in general as the most accurate?

now i have a question lol, did you take this moment literally at her word, and all the other times she repeated it?

also, my friend just pointed out that this is the classic homophobic talking point of "they seem to just be very good friends! they were roommates!" lmao. i've never agreed with accusing anyone who cr1t1c1z3s catradora of lesbophobia, which i'm not doing necessarily, because that's simply not how it works, however i found this funny and partially true so i'm keeping it in.

the lip bite was included unintentionally 👀

anyway, as i’ve discussed on this blog before, i’m very arospec and it’s inseparably intwined with my identity itself; i also project that onto catra. something we often bring up in that community, is romance-favorability (as its own spectrum of range all the way to blatant repulsion btw) — which is a personal preference that’s defined as exactly as it sounds like and occasionally revolves around fictional depiction as separate from one's own reality — and arguably more importantly, amatonormativity — which is an arbitrary set of rules for romantic expectations set up by an alloromantic society. this is typically thought of as common denial of the idea that someone could actually want to separate themself from needing a life partner in marriage, but can very much be applied to an annoying list of what draws the line between romantic & platonic relationships. that line is very individualistic and is to be decided on such a level only, and it doesn’t even get into what queerplatonic means, a concept saved for another day!

my point is, the OP seems to be trying to claim that catradora objectively cannot be read as romantic because their dynamic growing up & early-on in the story doesn’t perfectly meet socially-constructed standards of what that should look like. i say we need to eradicate those standards altogether! it’s up to catradora to decide what they are, if anything specific at all, not us as the audience — assuming they could’ve had the words at their disposal to knowingly describe it. going back to my earlier paragraph above about how limited they were in the fright zone, i’ll borrow a quote from a comment i made on one of my recent reblogged posts (which is a great meta on how their mutual desire was uh... definitely not platonic):

"Catra and Adora’s desire for one another is shown in a variety of ways, mostly indirect. There are a lot of glances - until season 5, not the kind of open leering at one another that we’d seen between other characters. Mostly it’s fairly playful - wiggled or cocked eyebrows, glances at each other while smirking, that kind of thing, or really intense and somewhat angry glares when they’re fighting."

it's really bothering me that i can't recall where i read this from before, but someone analyzed before how, growing up, catra & adora didn't have a good sense of how to label their relationship with accurate terminology despite being subconsciously aware that they, whether they knew the other reciprocated or not, loved each other "like that." unfortunately, they couldn't further explore it because such love & affection was seen as a punishable weakness in the horde, so they resorted to the only safe option they seemed to have, which was subtle body language and play-fighting as [testudoaubrei-blog] described above.

also, since this screenshot is included in that post... i would be amused to read an explanation of how THIS LOOK from catra is "platonic with a capital P", because i'm not even sure if it's up for debate to be quite honest with you:

ESPECIALLY with the "i always have!" line (which 4nt1s like to doubt, but i don't care, it's official!):