#none of those things are romance

[foundfamilywhump]

nope! that’s absolutely not ‘just romance.’ what i’m describing is a type of platonic relationship and interaction that i write about that a lot of people like to paint as presumptively or inherently romantic because it’s intimate or intense or whatever. romance is not an action or a happy ending and this is not about how whump has room for nonromantic relationships because it’s not diamonds and roses and happy endings this is about how whump has more room for intimacy and reliance and intense relationships that aren’t presumptively romantic.

the only thing separating a romantic and platonic dynamic is the intentions and labels of the people involved. the idea that ‘well it’s not fluffy and sweet so it’s not romance’ is the takeaway from this post is baffling to me and reinforces some wild romance-centric beliefs about relationships. no, this isn’t about happy ever after (and happy endings exist platonically to i promise) or diamonds and roses or whatever. it’s about media and creative communities leaving room for platonic intimacy and the comfort i as a romance repulsed aromantic person find in a community that does that more often than most others do.

being aromantic and into whump is like. shoutout to whump for being a great opportunity to engage with stories about intimacy and vulnerability and powerful emotion and physical interactions with other people and intense relationships that are not presumptively based in romance. what would i do without you.

[froggy-nebula]

honestly i just dont get why sometimes people get all weird about quadrants and insist they’re unhealthy always no matter what

like yeah im not stupid i know they CAN be fucked up and can be weird and toxic but so can any romance. human romance has been toxic and fucked up for me many times. tbh if we take a step back and just look at the basic ideas of all of them i don’t think any of those have to be evil and terrible necessarily

like oh no me and my boyfriend have a fun rivalry that we both like being in and both agreed to where we have fun competing with each other and talking shit and then make out! FUCK!!! that’s horrible i would NEVER want that! i would never be guilty of forcing my boyfriend to play tetris with me over and over and insulting him the entire time

oh no my boyfriend has anxiety and i calm him down! oh god we like cuddling and talking about feelings! we both agreed we like this relationship dynamic and feel fulfilled by it! AAA SCARY!!! GET SCARED!!!

oh no sometimes my boyfriends are both annoying and i voluntarily get between that and make people be less annoying! FUCK!!!!!!!! we are going to DIVORCE!!!

[lelianaslefthand]

wait there's seriously only THREE "keep" choices for veilguard... 2 from trespasser specifically and then who the inquisitor romanced... bioware loves being like "in our games your choices have consequences and shape the world around you" and then the conses do not quence whatsoever

[moiraimyths]

Before we call anon rude because let’s see it from their perspective, imagine getting an entire feast to eat. That can be pretty hard to start with so much that’s going on, but if they start with one thing they know they’ll like (aka one character they like) that can be the start for them leaping to other characters to finish the story and the bigger story. I struggle the same way to start book series if I don’t have at least one character that drives me to read it, it’s all about what can be the hook to push them through. Sounds like the anon is neurodivergent (just a guess) so they might genuinely not see it as rude and see it as a solution to even play the game to start with.

Btw absolutely adore the game, the complex and rich characters making them all so unique is amazing. The art is so pleasing to the eyes I love it!! I’m waiting for it all to get out at once so I don’t get too impatient. Shae however interests me the most, which routes will have the most lore for them? Will there be routes that give more lore in general based on decisions you make or do they all share the same amount? (I mean general lore not just Shae lore)

Apologies; we are not trying to accuse any asker of being rude! We are simply explaining our perspective as the developers / are trying to broadly encourage folks to dip their toes into other areas of the story outside of the main route(s) they're interested in, especially considering some routes will be made available sooner than others, and these other routes will likely contain additional scenes/lore of everyone's fave(s) regardless! We want to give each main cast member an equal amount of love (and lore) regardless of their overall popularity, so our goal is not to tut-tut anyone for having strong preferences for one character over the others, but rather to explain that you may be surprised by how much *more* you learn about your preferred characters in the other routes. That's all!

For Shae... Well, they were a foot soldier for one of the worst periods of the War. Lore wise, any other story that touches on the War will likely have content relevant to them and their experiences. ^^

[justalittlebluetiefling]

I remember a long time ago you mentioned you hadn't really had any ships in campaign 3, which was a little odd for you. I'm wondering if you ever found any relationships romantic or otherwise that you've liked or feel yourself coming around to liking?

I'm still pretty neutral on everything! Most of the dynamics I like aren't really romantic. I am a fan of most of the relationship dynamics from a non-romantic lens for the most part, but when it comes down to romance, there's still stuff missing for me to really feel connected to it. Which is still kind of shocking to me but that's where we are!

[spiltcandycoatedpunkblood]

my value is not based in my sexuality or ability to provide romantic relationships

[booksandberries]

yknow what i wish i had more people i looked up to

[nenoname]

while the only redeeming quality of love god really is the stan joke, it does emphasize how bad mabel is at matchmaking and also how much romance sucks actually

[spikeyjo]

also uh im kind of not thinking about it much because its insane. but if everything goes right (and i mean a considerable amount of things that probably wont go as planned) but if they DO... i will have a major surgery in like two weeks

[stabbedthrutheeye]

platonic relationships can look exactly like romantic relationships and that doesnt mean that theyre not actually platonic. btw.

[bionic-penis]

A fantasy romance could have the best characters with a beautiful story, an expertly crafted plot line, wonderful art and character design, the works. Like it could change your life it could force you to reevaluate your position, your personhood. And fans will still focus on the clear (woman) antagonist and reduce her to nothing more than "some hussy" or they'll remove the (woman) leads agency in a desperate attempt to will the plot forward

[mars-ipan]

fortune doodles bc i finally got to play him recently. he's got a little crush but dw he's being So Normal About It

[unnecessarilygrandiose]

you ever see an opinion that's soooooooooooooooooo close to getting the point and yet somehow simultaneously managed to miss it by fivety thousand light years

[stpansy]

outing myself as a rpf enjoyer but it’s extremely funny how every early days bandom fic is like “one thing you have to understand about these fags is that they smell like shit”

[grungusdollar]

not to post dragon age on main but man. i miss iron bull

[interstellarvacuumcleaner]

augh ough the torment