#merelex

[lvthkllr]

Buckle up kiddos because this might make y’all mad.

(Please excuse the scattered nature of my ramblings, I am just trying to get my thoughts off my chest.)

So I'm relatively new to tumblr & Ao3, and in exploring some of my favorite fandoms—both past & present—I've discovered that there are very passionate shippers of non-canon couples in fandoms that I have been part of for years.

Now I'm not completely blind, I have always been aware that there are people who ship non-canon couples like Penelope & Eloise, Harry & Hermione, Glinda & Elphaba, Steve & Bucky, Meredith & Alex, etc. However, I find myself getting slightly annoyed by these ships because I've noticed a pattern with all of them ... they are all characters who share a close platonic bond that many of them describe as a sibling relationship.

On a surface level it's not hard to figure out why these ships come about: many real life romances begin as friendships, a good edit can make any two people look like a couple, people are always going to have their own readings of a piece of media, actors will sometimes choose to imply romantic feelings even when it's not in the script, or media can be viewed very differently outside of the time period of it's inception. But I think that this phenomenon actually has more to do with fandoms—and society in general—placing a heavy importance on romantic love over platonic love.

As someone who has been exploring aromanticism not only as a concept but possibly as a label for myself, it has become glaring how preoccupied fandoms are with creating romantic relationships to “strengthen” the connection between two characters despite the writers having already created a strong bond between them.

Overall, I have never been nor will I ever be someone who polices fandoms and how people choose to participate in those fandoms. If you are a shipper of one of the couples above or any other popular non-canon ships I am in no way trying to insult you. HOWEVER, I do feel platonic soulmates are such an undervalued part of fandoms that often get overshadowed by this need to define deep friendship as secretly romantic.

As a quick side note, I do want to mention that a lot of popular non-canon ships are mlm or wlw, and I have absolutely ZERO issues with queer ships/relationships on screen or in fanfiction, but something about fandoms constantly speculating on the sexuality of characters who’s sexuality is not explicitly labeled in the original media feels like a move in the wrong direction for queer representation on screen.

[adamchisholm]

Text: Scarlett 📧 Adam

Scarlett: But Greys Anatomy is tonight. I need me some Merelex

Adam: C'mon, I'm starving here. Is greasy goodness no longer your weakness? Or are you just trying to get me to Netflix and Chill?

Adam: I got to say, this is all moving a little too fast for me, Scarlett. I'm just a boy.