#pure platonic love for each other

[royal-elfroots]

Currently playing Tresspasser and as soon as I read that codex I felt it in my heart that that's when my Lavellan knew. She already suspected he was the agent, maybe hoped, but that codex entry sealed the deal. She knew he wasn't the agent, she knew he was Fen'Harel himself. (and she fucking lost her mind)

"The Treachery of the Wolf" The pages of this book warn of a terrible danger.

(uncropped below the cut)

[titaniumions]

regarding the story of oliver

so i think oliver fog's anecdote may have unexpectedly become one of my favourites and managed to get me emotionally invested ... so i'd like to talk about a certain aspect of it in more depth

a knight and oliver fog's dynamic definitely was what captivated me the most; through that anecdote we got to watch the progression of the way they interacted with each other, though they may have gotten off on the wrong foot and had a few misunderstandings, they grew to develop true respect for each other, but what makes it unique is the way they BOTH see their respective pasts in each other. it's a mixed bag of memories for them both, yet somehow it ended up becoming a basis for an actually positive bond

oliver already had a rather negative impression of a knight from the start. and the fact that a knight made a joke that directly reminded oliver of his own father--whom oliver wasn't exactly fond of--didn't exactly help make things better between them. however, the experience they had in the forest (which i will touch on more in later paragraphs) certainly improved things, enabling them both to warm up to each other

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY a knight's final gesture toward him, putting his hand on oliver's shoulder to comfort him, is something i find very remarkable, and also symbolic of their development. that was, again, something that directly reminded oliver of his father, but oliver doesn't despise it this time, especially since this happened right after a knight had protected him and given him courage. knight had given oliver a reason to think highly of him. aside from that, he also got oliver to look at life (and death) through a new perspective. a knight could be the more ... positive paternal figure that oliver needed, and with time oliver's perspective on him can definitely shift from "he's just like my father (derogatory)" to "he's just like my father (affectionate)"

now onto a knight's side of things. he never wanted to cause oliver any trouble, and not only felt remorseful, but also had a protective instinct toward him. but most importantly he saw traits of his very own best friend and companion in oliver fog. an interesting but somewhat melancholic basis for a new friendship ...

AND THEN there's the fight scene, the moment where they were surrounded by critters in the forest. while that wasn't exactly something a knight would consider as a severe threat, seeing how swiftly he dealt with it, it sure did serve as a reminder of the roncevaux pass battle where he had died. surrounded by foes, standing side-by-side with an oliver. and again, while this isn't such a severe battle for a knight, to the rather combat-inexperienced oliver fog, this fight could as well have been his "roncevaux pass". there is also the fact that the overwhelming amount of critters reminded oliver of his own fog-related trauma. it's thanks to a knight's steadfastness and combat skills that they ultimately got out of it. a battle that didn't turn out so hopeless this time. a battle in which a knight was able to save someone else

a knight becoming a truly reliable person and offering hope to others, as demonstrated in this anecdote, is a testament to his growth. he was, after all, more reckless and troublesome during his lifetime, but the oliver of a knight's time had helped him grow as a person, and a knight acknowledged this thoroughly. his oliver had always been there for him and acted as his voice of reason, so now it's a knight's turn to be a steadfast and reliable figure to someone else; in this case a younger person to whom he can impart his wisdom and life experiences. in turn, a knight can learn a thing or two from oliver fog as well (and he did!)

i think a knight has become someone whom his oliver would have truly been proud of. there is this statement he made about how oliver will never truly die, which i take to mean as 1) the past oliver's spirit essentially living on through oliver fog and 2) a knight eternally preserving this oliver in his memories all throughout his new life. between the two of them he is the only one who is granted such a chance, after all. death and time may have parted them but memories allow oliver to continue to live on, in a way. either way it's ultimately a nice sentiment, a little bittersweet but a wonderful testament to his appreciation and love for what was once an important part of his past

in conclusion i find them to be an excellent duo. the interaction they had in the anecdote gave them even more depth as characters, as it enabled them to explore the way they think of the past, their personal pasts, and acknowledge the way those pasts define them as they are now. as well as the way they both got to experience something that mirrored both of their respective past experiences, and ended the interaction on a positive note. i am so glad they found each other

P.S.: if oliver fog somehow were to meet the oliver from knight's past, his father figure count would increase by 1. i'm just saying

[sugarschnaps]

They might not have the fandom's love just yet, but they certainly have each other's.

Based on my hcs for Julie <3

(Purely platonic)

[atlas-the-bastard]

there are two wolves inside of me.

one wolf absolutely devours the zolu dynamic of "oblivious idiot and angsty pining idiot". like, a zoro who is constantly internally beating himself up because what the fuck he's gone and fucked it all up how could he fall in love with luffy he's practically betraying him luffy needs a first mate not a lover and it's not like luffy would ever even love him back he just has to suffer this in silence. and a luffy who doesn't even realise zoros internal crisis and is becoming more and more touchy and seeking out zoro more because he just. wants zoro. because being around zoro feels more right than anything. but doesn't stop to figure out what that feeling actually means.

the other wolf just goes fucking nuts for the zolu dynamic of "are those two together or what?" "no one knows they're just like that". they don't know when they started actually being "together", they didn't even really decide, it's always been this way, since day 1 they knew they would follow each other to the ends of the earth and beyond. they don't talk about it, they don't need to talk about it, because they just know, they know each other so well and understand each other as if they're literally part of the same brain. their relationship transcends that of "boyfriends" or "dating", they're simply luffy and zoro. it's always been a mutual understanding, luffy is zoros and zoro is luffys and they belong to no one else and. and. it just feels so natural and right and instinctual and being together is as easy as breathing. even the rest of the crew don't know what exactly they are, but they never question it because it just makes sense.

[unkandily]

normalize platonic affection. Normalize platonic touch and normalize platonic "I would die for you" normalize platonic pet names and normalize platonic "I would give the world for you" normalize platonic gifts and normalize platonic "This reminded me of you/This is your vibe" and norma

[torgawl]

if you call himmel pathetic i'm throwing hands at you. himmel showed the purest form of love for frieren and you guys think that's pathetic? what's pathetic is not respect other people's feelings or boundaries and acting like people owe you anything just because you like them. himmel was happy to have a friendship with frieren within her own conditions just because he genuinely enjoyed her as part of his life. he was happy to wait for her for his entire life is he had to but he also never stopped living for himself. that's fucking beautiful. loving someone so much you are able to let them go, not wanting to change who they are or impose anything on them? unconditionally, nonetheless? that's the point of life.

[weaselishmcdiesel]

i think the dynamic between grian and vriska is so fun because. not only are they both CHAOTIC but having grian instead of spidermom could fix vriska in the worst way possible. spidermom will tell vriska to kill 100 children but grian will take her to pollute everyones bases within a 50 mile radius with a million chickens and i think thats exactly what she deserves to do

YOU GET ITTTTTT 🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝 YOU LITERALLY GET IT. Sure vriskas not killing a million real children anymore but she’s committing historically the most annoying pranks the server has ever seen. Everyone on the server sighs with relief, oh maybe now that grian has to take care of a kid he’ll mellow out WRONG. VRISKA. Also you must consider season 7 with the turf war—it’s literally grian vs. scar. AKA vriska vs. terezi. Like are you kidding me they will absolutely get into so many damn shenanigans. Like I doubt vriska could thrive without causing problems and that’s exactly why Grian is the best gaurdian for her.

[walk-to-gallows]

No one gets them like I do

[chilpilled]

i have a really weird and intricate chilaios vision that i cant put in words and can only write a fic about but i also need that fic to not suck that badly so im wrangling it like laios trying to milk that minotaur. squeezing milk into a google doc

[donnatroyyyy]

When Mitski wrote “I will wash your hair at night/ And dry it off with care/ I will see your body bare/ And still I will live here” do you think she’d been thinking about Donna and Dick while writing it?

[bobcat-pie]

why can't i ship characters in a "enemies" kind of way. What if i'd like to make them hate each other so much they look stupid. Urge to kill oughta be as strong as a romantic relationship, idc these two characters never met in canon. hate wins

[sunriseverse]

okay not to ramble but like. i really really love the iron triangle so much i can’t describe. i LOVE that BOTH pz and xg are the most important person in wx’s life AT THE SAME TIME. i know adaptations tend to give one or the other the short stick but like. to me. it’s INTEGRAL to ALL of their characters that the three of them are so, so important to each other. they all bring out the happiest in each other and that is. genuinely so touching to see. even in the dark moments, as long as they’re together, they know things will be okay. things will be alright. the triangle is the strongest shape. do you understand what i’m trying to say.

[goodpointsandbadpoints]

I am always so entertained by reading other fans’ interpretations of scenes from when the characters are still pre-together (so they’re still strangers/friends/enemies, whatever came before).

the fans will say things like “and in this moment they already knew they loved them and they were mad that they were in danger and-”

and I’m like. No, haha. They haven’t crossed from one dynamic into the other yet. They are still STRANGERS (or enemies or friends). They could not POSSIBLY be at the level of adoration and love NOW that they will be once they become lovers.

I think that’s what amuses me the most: That people drag and drop the in-a-relationship feelings into the beginning of the story. Or they go searching for we're-in-love-now feelings at the BEGINNING, which you shouldn’t be able to find there. Because. Well, that’s the whole point of friends to lovers, or enemies to lovers. it has to start WITHOUT romantic affection. That’s part of the trope. 

You can’t look at the start of a something-to-lovers (enemies/friends/strangers) story and find the same dynamic at the beginning AND the end. The nature of that trope is that a Change happens in their relationship.

[killianhemlock]

Yo when Jan said that she swore off being in relationships after Link but deep down meant that he was the only person that she allowed in her heart like that not because she’s “unable to move on” but because despite everything he remains the same and wants what’s best for her unapologetically and cares for her unconditionally which makes her appreciate him even more deeply and knows that he will always be the only one that understands her and no one else could fill that spot left by his absence ?????????? SHE WAS SPITTING BARS DUDE 🗣️🗣️🗣️💯💯🔥🔥🔥🔥

AND THE FACT THAT HE FEELS THE LOSS JUST AS HEAVILY 🗣️🗣️🗣️ AND WANTS TO CARE FOR HER WHEN SHES DISTRESSED BUT DOESNT WANT TO OVERSTEP WHICH SHE DOESNT EXPECT HIM TO NO MATTER HOW MUCH SHE WANTS AND NEEDS SOMEONE TO HEAR HER 🔥🔥🔥

AND THE VOID LEFT BETWEEN THEM IS UNSPOKEN BUT DEAFENING EVEN IN A CROWD OF PEOPLE THAT DONT NOTICE 🔥🗣️🗣️💯💯💯

🔥🔥 I FUCKING LOVE DOOMED BY THE NARRATIVE STORIES 🗣️💯💯

“Do you think we’re friends in every universe?” Maybe. Perfect person, wrong time. Doomed from the start. Doomed even now. In every universe? Maybe.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

asking sincerely. do you see a romance between jayce and viktor? do you think they ended up being something romantic at the end?

With apologies I am going to only half talk about the thing you are asking me, since I have something else on my mind and you happened to hit the button that makes me vomit it into words.

Coming at this from an aromantic perspective, I obviously don't experience the state of absurd obsessive delusion that you bizarre romantic freaks fetishize so feverishly*, but I am often annoyed by the idea that friendship and romance are either opposites or mutually exclusive. From my perspective, the boundary between the two is at best thin, and more realistically not actually a boundary at all except by cultural construction.

*i am taking an excessively hostile, crass tone for my own amusement i do not mean this seriously please be normal at me, weird allo freaks

I won't get into my full feelings about the end of Arcane, but it seems perfectly plain to me that the script, the imagery and the animation presents Jayce and Viktor as two halves of a whole, not opposing forces but alike to yin and yang: opposites which each contain the other. And at the climax of the show, the greatest peril to life and peace in the narrative is resolved by these two men literally joining their bodies and souls together, and going into eternity holding one another for comfort and strength. They are quite literally soulmates, quite literally the most important people in one another's lives.

I don't think that that kind of intimate emotional connection between men must necessarily be either romantic or sexual - I am aromantic, and plenty of ace people exist, and there is nothing in our natures excluding us from intense connections of love with other people of any gender.

I also think it is willfully ignorant (and genuinely homophobic) to act as though these deep connections are mutually exclusive with sex and romance. As though if Viktor and Jayce fucked nasty and made out sloppy style, suddenly their intimacy is less pure or valid, or tainted somehow.

"If these two men who are emotionally close to one another also fuck or get romantically involved, then friendship is dead, murdered on the floor by a dick-shaped knife; vile sexuality corrupts and debases the true, pure and virtuous love of ✨friendship✨" <- This shit is homophobic at a baseline, queerphobic in general, and frankly as an aromantic man I find it pretty fucking insulting as well.

What, are my friendships with other men just inherently more pure and divine, more meaningful and true than a gay man's can ever be, because I will never suffer the vile temptation of adding romance to my affection? Is that how I should think of myself? And is an aroace man more pure than me still, the only source of TRUE male friendship that a man can ever experience, free from the pustulant corruption of sexuality and romantic desire?

You get this pathetic defensiveness (especially from men, but other genders aren't immune) wherein sex and sexuality and romance between men is perceived as a threat to men's right and ability to experience deep connection to each other. But the emotional castration of men comes not from people imagining sex and romance as a component of our relationships - it comes from people who insist that our emotional lives must be ruled by strict binaries. Sex and romance, OR ELSE friendship. Deep romantic connection OR ELSE deep platonic connection. Pick one and do not dare to imagine both, nor act as though the boundary between them is something that we built by cultural fiat, and which can be dismantled just the same.

And yes, yes, yes, I know there are cultural forces literally illuminati-style conspiring to systemically erase the entire existence of explicitly romantic, sexual male love from media, and I know that homophobic puritanism is on the rise and there are material concerns and a real necessity for explicit representation in fiction, yes I know. Everything is more complicated than a tumblr post can cover, I am not trying to Solve Rainbow Capitalism™ over here, I am trying to express frustration as an aromantic man that this stupid fucking binary keeps getting culturally reinforced by both my enemies and my well-meaning allies, when I think the binary is what's fucking killing us in the first place.

So anyway. My position is that Viktor and Jayce can be entirely aromantic no-homo friends, and they can fuck nasty in the throes of mutual need and obsession, and I refuse to entertain the idea that there is an irresolvable contradiction between those things. Each of those can contain the other, or become the other given time and circumstance.

What the imagery, storytelling and script of Arcane makes clear is that Viktor and Jayce love each other more than life itself. To say that that love must be shoved into the box of either "platonic" or "romantic" is to miss out on almost everything that is beautiful about love. It can be both and neither! It can be a secret third, ninth or fifteenth thing that they haven't invented a tag for on Ao3 yet.

They are giving each other whatever the spiritual mind-ghost equivalent of sloppy backshots are on the ethereal plain forever, they are the most romantic lovers in the cosmos, and they are also the most chaste and platonic life-partner friends you have ever seen, effortlessly intimate and unashamedly tender. They are men who love one another, in every way that love matters.

You can pick whichever interpretation brings you joy, and resonates with what your heart needs, the text of the show is eminently and explicity open to it, and anyone who says otherwise either failed to pay attention, or refused to pay attention on purpose.

[milgramm]

thinking abt how both kdj and yjh keep like. wanting to die or feeling like they have to die yet will go batshit trying to stop the other frm dying or get Extremely upset when the other dies