#this is truly 'aromantic writing a romantic scene' moment

[tsukikoayanosuke]

Kero, Kero, Ganbatte, Tsukasa-kun! - Ruikasa Week 2024

Day 2: First Date

(ft. Sanrio collab & mentioned of Zozotown 1)

Today Tenma Tsukasa was in panic.

Shocking truly. To think that the great Tenma Tsukasa, future star, partner of Keroppi, and owner of the Rainy Frog Cafe, managed to get himself in such peril was something out of this world. 

And what is this so-called 'peril' you might ask?

This answer was straightforward really: he has a date in just fifteen minutes with one Kamishiro Rui.

Keroppi didn't really understand it at first. He had seen Tsukasa and Rui hanging around together. Ever since Rui and Hangyodon finally moved into the lighthouse by the coast, he has been visiting the cafe for breakfast and lunch. To say Tsukasa and Rui connect right off the bat was an understatement. It was as if they were always friends since tadpoles.

"They're great together, aren't they?" Hangyodon said before slurping the noodles he ordered.

Keroppi turned to him. "They are good friend."

Hangyodon shook his head. "More."

"More?"

"More."

Keroppi looked back at Rui and Tsukasa. Rui had his telescope in his hand and he chattered animatedly about the recent marine life he came up during his daily sail. Tsukasa meanwhile didn't say anything only listening with an elbow on his counter and chin on his palm, staring at Rui with a familiar gentle gaze. Keroppi only had seen that gentleness aimed toward his siblings, Saki and Touya. But…

Keroppi squinted.

Now that he looked closer…it wasn't the same. 

There’s adoration. Longings.

Love.

"Oh."

"Yep. Oh." Hangyodon spoke like he had realized it a long time ago. He did mention that Rui often made silly faces when rambling about Tsukasa, so it wouldn't be a surprise to him. Tsukasa also often talks about Rui, but Keroppi always thought it was about friendship. He kinda felt bad for not realizing it sooner.

That was why a few days later he decided to do a good deed for the both of them.

"You two should go out on a date sometimes." It was just a simple sentence, but it managed to make Rui spit his milkshake like they were in a cartoon.

"Keroppi!" Tsukasa yelled, high-pitched. More embarrassed than angry. "Where did that come from?!"

"You like each other, right?" Rui coughed. Tsukasa squeaked. Hangyodon nodded in agreement. "So, you should date at least once."

"You can't just say that!" Tsukasa pulled and squeezed his cheeks.

"I..." Rui cleared his throat. "I don't mind."

"E-Eh?" Tsukasa turned to him. "Y-You don't?"

Rui let out a flustered chuckle. "I would love to go on a date with Tsukasa."

"A--a-a-a-a-ahhhh ha ha HA HA HAHAHA" Tsukasa's cheeks were still bright red, but he managed to put his hands on his hips in an attempt to pull his usual pose. "Alright then!" He pointed at Rui. "Be prepared for the most exciting d-date in your life, Rui!"

Rui giggled. "I can't wait."

Which brought us to today with Tsukasa working his way to burn the carpet below him with his back and forth.

"You'll be fine, Tsukasa!" Keroppi said from his nightstand. "Rui would never be mad at you."

"But it has to be perfect, Keroppi!" Tsukasa yelled, more to himself than to his frog partner. His pacing somehow became even faster. "What if I screw up? What if Rui became so embarrassed that he didn't want to go out with me anymore? What if other people see us and laugh and then Rui doesn't want to go out with me anymore? What if I say something bad? What if I hurt his feelings? What if he enjoys none of this? What if-"

"Tsukasa!" Keroppi leaped and landed on Tsukasa's head, forcing him to stop.

He leaned down and stared at his human straight in the eyes despite being upside down. "You'll be fine. The fact that you're worrying means that you really care about Rui. There's no way Rui would leave you if this something turns bad, just like how I know you won't leave Rui."

Tsukasa went silent for a few seconds before sighing. "I just... I just want him to be happy with me."

"And he will." Keroppi patted Tsukasa's forehead. "Rui cares about you. Hangyodon told me so."

"He does?"

"Really, really does."

Tsukasa sighed and smiled. "Thanks, Keroppi." Which he answered with a double nod. "Okay..." Tsukasa slapped his cheeks twice, wincing at how hard he accidentally hit before shaking his head. "Okay. Keroppi, roll check!"

"Yes, Sir!" The frog leaped toward the desk where the long list had been placed. He picked up a pen. "Flower?"

"Check!" Tsukasa picked up the bouquet of vervain, masterworks, and hypericum erectum.

"Ticket to the movie?" 

"Check!" Tsukasa took out two tickets from his pocket and put it back.

"Hair and glasses?"

Tsukasa hair was fluffier. He usually uses gel to straighten up, but Rui requested not to use it for today to 'see Tsukasa-kun's authentic self'. The same goes with the contact lenses, instead preferring to the glasses. "Check! And check!"

"Coat?"

Tsukasa pulled out a coat and with a twirl, he put it on. "Check!"

"You're all set!" Keroppi then leaped into Tsukasa's coat pocket for one last look at the mirror: white collared top underneath a brown vest coat, along with the checkered outer coat, green pants, and white shoes. It wasn't like anything Tsukasa would wear, more mellow and elegant than his eccentric waiter uniform.

Tsukasa fixed his hair once again, mostly to calm himself before taking a deep breath. "Alright. I'm ready."

"You can do it!" Keroppi cheered, hands in the air. 

Tsukasa giggled and patted his partner. As he looked at the clock, his eyes widened. "Crap! We're going to be late!"

It was still 30 minutes away from the agreed-upon time, but Keroppi would let it slide.

*****

Tsukasa and Rui agreed to meet up by the fountain at the town square. Rui had arrived, already sitting on the edge with Hangyodon on his knees. Keroppi could see the fish creature reach his hand to pat Rui's cheeks, a gesture of reassurance. Rui let out a chuckle but his foot didn't stop tapping. Could it be that Rui was nervous as well? Huh. Curious.

"Rui!" Tsukasa shouted as he ran toward him. In response, Rui immediately stood up as Hangyodon leaped into his satchel. There was a blush on Rui's cheek and a wobbly smile from nervousness.

"You came, Tsukasa-kun." Like Tsukasa, Rui was dressing fancy: a green jacket over a brown top and red tie, brown pants, and shoes.

"Of course, I came! There's no way I'm breaking my own words!" Tsukasa grinned. Keroppi tapped Tsukasa's, a signal. "O-Oh." And the shyness returned as Tsukasa offered his bouquet. "For you..."

"O-Oh..." Rui took the flower, blush became more apparent. "My favorites."

"Of course they are." Tsukasa cleared his throat. "So. Are you ready to go?" And Rui nodded in response.

Nobody was really talking during the walk which was strange in Keroppi's opinion. The two were the 'weirdo combo' of the town, yet here they are, not 'weird'-ing out. It seemed like Hangyodon also noticed this as he tapped Rui's hand. When the purplenette noticed him, Hangyodon tapped his fins together. Rui blinked, glanced at Tsukasa, then back at Hangyodon with a blush. Hangyodon tapped Rui's hand again as if pushing it to touch Tsukasa's. Rui mouthed, "I know, I know!" before looking back at Tsukasa who was ignorant of his turmoil.

"T-Tsukasa-kun."

Tsukasa turned back to him. "Yeah?"

"Umm..." Rui averted his gaze. Then he reached for Tsukasa's hand, shyly holding it.

Tsukasa was blushing but he squeezed his hand back.

Both of them had the funny smile on their face, but Keroppi and Hangyodon knew they would be fine.

[adhdaugust]

Okay I’ve made it to sophomore year in my Fantasy High rewatch and I would just like to take a moment and explain my thoughts on why Baron from the Baronies is perfect aromantic horror.

1. Baron is described as a “goblin mannequin.” A mannequin is essentially a blank slate of a person. It represents the idea of a person more than anything actually real. Riz Gukgak could not imagine anything concrete out of a so called “romance partner” and so Baron remains in a blank slate form. Baron is also specifically a goblin mannequin because often your starting point for imagining other people is from your own point of view.

2. The first thing Riz says is “Baron isn’t real.” The thing that is horrifying about this situation is not that an unknown scary creature is in his office, but that this thing that he made up is not and SHOULD NOT be real.

3. Riz did not make Baron out of a sense of want for some kind of romantic relationship, he made up Baron to fell like he fit in among his friends. Baron has no information beyond their name and where they are from because Riz did not want or need to imagine anything more than that.

Baron is not scary just for being a creature made up of lies, Baron is scary because they are a physical manifestation of something Riz is afraid of. Nothing about this scene or what Riz has previously said about Baron implies that a romantic partner is something he wants, it really does seem like it’s just something he’s going along with. Baron is here to make him afraid of the lies he told being true. It wouldn’t be so scary if it truly was something Riz wanted, but because it’s not, Baron’s existence feels unnatural and terrifying.

I feel like Baron’s existence in the rest of the season is what really emphasizes the aromantic story here but there’s a lot in this scene that implies it too!! Maybe I read into this scene a lot just because I at one point wanted to write a little aromantic horror story that also had a lot to do with lies and mirrors but I genuinely can’t see this scene any other way. Riz Gukgak you’re forever aroace to me.

[sflow-er]

In honour of International Asexuality Day, I present to you...

Some ace Henry “proof”

aka. shaky screenshots with even shakier interpretations! 🖤🩶🤍💜

Don’t take this too seriously, I’m sure it won’t be confirmed in the show and I know most people regard him as an allo! It’s just a personal headcanon that delights and comforts me. 

So as you may know, I’ve been on the ace Henry train since S1. Back when many people saw sexual attraction between him and Stella in the exam scene, I just...couldn’t. I’m not blind to SA by any means and I seldom hc characters as ace, but I just got a vibe from him.

Like, is this really supposed to be SA?

Because to me, these just read as “I see what you’re doing and I applaud your hustle” and "okay that’s me told” when Stella flips him off / hints that he’s creeping on her. (Again, I don’t mind if you see them differently!)

So what if we just accept that as a headcanon and run with it? What else could we interpret as “proof” of Henry possibly being on the ace spectrum? More screenshots etc. under the cut.

Well, we can also read further into his lack of interest in the sex part of the video scandal. Here he is, talking about how Wille and Simon got together and being an oblivious sweetheart to Wille, while everyone else is eagerly talking about them having sex and being filmed at it:

Moving on to S2 - where it’s very easy to cast asexuality as the reason he acts the way he does when something related to sex comes up. Aces being awkward about sex is a tired stereotype, but as it’s not our only “proof” in Henry’s case, I don’t see any harm in letting it count in our favour.

He already sounds and looks a bit awkward referring to the video in S2EP1 (obviously it’s because Wille is there, but we can easily hc it as both), but it’s his part in the whole Wille and Felice saga that truly makes him uncomfortable.

He looked like this interrupting Wilmon in the locker room even though they weren’t doing anything...

...but that was nothing compared to his awkwardness when he barged in on Wille and Felice making out. It’s hard to get a screenshot of his best expressions, but he almost looks like he totally forgot that sex was even a thing and he’s got absolutely no idea what to do or say now.

(Also, isn’t that a nice explanation for him being rattled enough to whine to his bestie Walter about this moment, even though he should definitely know that Walter is a massive gossip?)

The next morning, he is the very opposite of excited when Vincent puts him on the spot. Again, it’s because Wille is there, but we can easily hc it as him also thinking ‘ugh I forgot that everyone thinks hookups are the most interesting thing in the world and now they obviously want me to tell the story again’:

And then there’s his next scene.

S2 seems to confirm that Henry isn’t aromantic, as he is writing a sonnet to someone. After having already hc’d him as a romantic ace, I was incredibly nervous to see his reaction to Vincent’s hilariously serious advice to send a photo instead of a letter - which by the way makes me wonder which method Vincent used on his own date - but then I got this gem:

He looks so done, haha. With Vincent or the allos? Why not both!

(Also, the sonnet thing doesn’t rule out him being somewhere on the aro spectrum. Demiromantic, perhaps? The book report scene where he just doesn’t get how anyone could be in love with a person they haven’t even talked to could certainly be interpreted to support that.)

So are you convinced yet?

What’s that? You’re pretty sure it was Henry kissing the girl in the corridor in S1? Well, even if it was him, we could chalk that up to experimentation (or sex favourability), and I genuinely don’t think it was. The boy’s hair is way too long at the back and also looks a bit different at the front compared to Henry’s hair in S1, and there are several other boys with similar haircuts. There’s no reason we can’t interpret it as being one of them. (I had included a screenshot of this too but tumblr didn’t like it for some reason.)

So, keep on headcanoning! Whether it’s Henry who gives you a vibe or some other character.

Happy International Asexuality Day!

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Thursday 29th April, Research Report: Lycanthropy and the hays code

Notable points * lycanthropy seems  to be synonymous with homosexuality- parallels between Teen Wolf and Buffy The Vampire Slayer's respective coming out scenes. * The Queer-ness of the character Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter books and film series. Many fans head cannon and write slash fics about Remus and Sirius' romance and relationship, reading the characters as queer. The ship, named 'Wolf Star' is quite popular and well known within the fandom. Many fans feel there is enough evidence to build this relationship on; Remus and Sirius' ghosts stood next to each other in the resurrection stone, mirroring Harry's parents,  a canonically married couple. They also bought Harry a joint present for his birthday and know the intricacies of each others personalities. Dumbledore also infamously told Sirius to 'lie low at Lupins.' But the problem here, as the article points out, is that Rowling doesn't acknowledge Lupin as queer, despite the homoerotic cues in the writings,  and instead gives him a female love interest and admits that Lupins Lycantrhopy is a metaphor for AIDS/HIV. She has further dismissed any alternative readings of the character, disappointing fans' hopes of there being a shred of representation in a queer monster who is actually queer. This sort of behaviour from authors and creators is what turns Queer-coding into the more harmful and frustrating Queer-baiting. A large majority of queer representation comes from connotations and interpretations. the clues are there and queer audiences do pick them up. However this grey area allows allows straight culture to use queerness for pleasure and profit in mass culture without admitting to it. Modern examples of this are CW's Supernatural and BBC's Sherlock. I can't personally speak for Supernatural but having watched Sherlock with the advantage of a queer eye, I can say with confidence that it is a prime example of queer-baiting. there is clear homoerotic subtext between Sherlock and John and even Sherlock and Moriarty. I Personally think it's entirely romantic as I head cannon Sherlock to be Asexual or at least on that spectrum but the point is, it is not just wishful thinking or pushing of a narrative. It's manipulation. Queer-baiting takes advantage of an already vulnerable group of people by preying on their desire for representation in the media.

In modern media werewolf's are often portrayed as having chiselled bodies and looming over each other. The 1985 Teen Wolf received a television reboot and it's fair to say it got reasonably more progressive.  It seemed interested in queering the werewolf narrative and in a sly moment of gender-bending the traditional Little Red Riding Hood narrative, protagonist Scott receives the Bite from a male werewolf while wearing a Little Red Hoodie (‘Wolf Moon’). Additionally, the show features LGBTQ characters while Scott’s human best friend Stiles visits a gay bar and makes friends with a group of drag queens in startling contrast to the gay panic of the 1985 film’s version of Stiles. By midway through the show’s second season, the slash pairing that had proved dominant in the fandom was Stiles and wannabe-Alpha Derek Hale. The two characters, who operate in the narrative as belligerent and begrudging allies, rapidly became a slash phenomenon, due, in part, to the chemistry and comic timing between actors Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O’Brien. The narrative is further subverted when Derek is raped by an adult  human woman.

The pair 'Sterek' gained so much traction that it caught the attention of MTV and the cast and crew behind the show. So much so that they released a video of Hoechlin and O'Brien cuddling on a boat, asking fans to vote for Teen Wolf for this  years Choice Summer TV Show at the Teen Choice Awards. This  was big as it acknowledged fans and slash flics and the pairing itself as a possibility and many queer voices who watched the show felt heard and validated. However this didn't last long. MTV released a video on the official Teen Wolf Facebook, this time featuring O’Brien asking fans to vote for Teen Wolf in a TV Guide Poll. O’Brien joked that if fans did not vote, then the show would kill off its sole remaining gay character and one of the few remaining non-white characters on the show, Danny. The Teen Wolf Facebook released the video with the following caption: ‘Keep #TeenWolf in first place! Heed Dylan and Linden’s advice or we might have to. #KillDanny’ (Teen Wolf). The show’s social media team then attempted to make the #KillDanny tag go viral on Facebook and twitter, but fans, understandably, were not amused, primarily using the tag for outraged tweets to MTV (Baker-Whitelaw).Such blatant disregard for fans’ concerns about queer representation on the show alienated a large number of fans, especially when coupled with Jeff Davis’ more frequently dismissive and condescending comments about the Sterek pairing where he had been enthusiastic and even encouraging of the ship. As seasons wore on without any indication that Sterek would indeed become canon, it became clear that MTV and Jeff Davis had been queer-baiting Sterek fans as a marketing technique and that the unique interplay that fans had enjoyed with Davis, which offered a new kind of truly interactive fandom had, in fact, been something of an illusion. ' serial killer Hannibal Lecter and his love interest Will Graham in Hannibal, and reanimated gay corpses Kieren, Simon, and Rick in In the Flesh. Notably, both series have received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics who have applauded the series for taking their queer monsters beyond mere coding and into explicit text. The warm reception of Hannibal and In the Flesh’s handling of queer representation by fans, and the continuing frustration with Teen Wolf’s queer-baiting and the appropriative nature of Remus Lupin’s narrative in Harry Potter, belie a desire not only for better queer representation, but also for more complex re-articulations of queer monstrosity' the symbolic and narrative trappings of monsters are often used as metaphors for queerness without actually acknowledging the positive behind that queer identity or even confirming the queer identity at all. Another positive example is the miniseries Good Omens. Based on the book of the same name, written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Pretty much the whole fandom believe That the two leads, Crowley and Aziraphale are in a romantic relationship. They've known each other for centuries and perhaps what was the main fuel to this ships fire was the episode 3 cold open. Even fans who have only read the book seem to support these two as a couple and what's perhaps even more amazing is Gaiman’s response on twitter. "I wrote it as a love story. They acted it as a love story. You saw it as a love story. How much more proof do you need?" and "I wouldn't exclude the ideas that they are ace, or aromantic, or trans. They are an angel and a demon, not as make humans, per the book. Occult/Ethereal beings don't have sexes, something we tried to reflect in the casting. Whatever Crowley and Aziraphale are, it's a love story." It's beautiful because not only does it confirm that they are in love but it also leaves room for interpretations of what kind of relationship they have together.

https://dialogues.rutgers.edu/images/Journals_PDF/2017-18-dialogues-web_e6db3.pdf#page=164

In the year 1922, when cinema was gaining traction and popularity, The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA) hired a devout Presbyterian, Will H. Hays as its head. Eight years later, in 1930, the MPPDA ratified the Motion Picture Production Code. Also known as the Hays Code, these guidelines were set up as “a list of rules that studios could follow to avoid the censors’ wrath” one specific line read “sexual perversion or any inference to it is forbidden” This era in censorship set the stage for a culture in which the stereotypical behaviour of homosexuals, or any behaviour deviating from the traditional gender roles, is seen as dangerous, evil, and even fatal. By representing coded homosexual characters as depressed, perverse, and succumbing to punishing ends, it shifted social subconscious beliefs of LGBT individuals in real life to those represented on screen. Media often teaches us how to feel about others and ourselves – e.g., it promotes specific body types and clothing styles. In the same way, by promoting gendered behaviour and banning homosexuality, it spread a message that homosexuality was not fit to be viewed openly. Although themes of homosexuality were banned they were definitely alluded to and that continues today.

[drjackandmissjo]

Roses are Red, Tattoos are Forever

Chapter 3 --- previous chapter

Feysand masterlist

The Sherlock Conundrum

Florist and tattoo artist Au, Modern Day

“Can you please stop with this madness? Hugh Laurie is clearly the best Sherlock ever!”

They were both sitting on the couch of his living room. Really close to each other. She had her left knee under her body and was fully facing him. He had been throwing glances at her way the whole time she’s been there, and now was admiring her everything as they bantered lovingly.

After a particularly rough client, that had taken her nearly seven hours to finish, she came into his shop claiming: “We’re both closing earlier, I need to rest and so do you.”

At his attempt to tell her off, cause “I don’t need to rest I am in pristine fit every second of every minute”, she simply replied with an elongated ‘Please’ and a pair of puppy dog eyes that would’ve put a Labrador to shame.

Useless to say, they ended up on his couch half an hour later, a marathon of the fourth season of House M.D. on the television and chips and popcorn all around.

Feyre is harder than she looks, tougher. She likes to drink whiskey and burning liquor and beer.

Rhys, on the other hand, is a refined rosé man. He drinks fruity drinks and cocktails and vodka. He tried the same stuff that she drinks, once, when they went out with the rest of the inner circle after Az had received a promotion. It didn’t end well.

Feyre and Cassian will forever tease him about it.

Since their taste in alcohol was on such a wide spectrum, they decided to settle for some sparkly Coca-Cola for that fine night.

About halfway through episode six, the debate had begun. The show was soon forgotten and left as a white noise machine that lulled them into their silliness.

“Feyre Darling. You are being delusional. Dr House’s got nothing on RDJ’s Sherlock. Just cause the character was inspired by Conan Doyle’s work it doesn’t mean it can be considered a Sherlock.”

She laughed. A delicious sound that was filling his days more and more each morning. “Do you know that Conan Doyle based Shelly on a doctor, right? Also, yeah Jude Law’s better than Wilson, that is true.”

“Can we just agree that Cumberbatch and Freeman are equally amazing.”

“Yeah, duh! But, controversial opinion: I don’t actually ship Jonhlock romantically.”

“More like platonic soul-mates? Makes complete sense. They are not interested in each other at all. You are right, Fey-ruh Acheron.”

‘HOW DARE SHE...’, he thought severely displeased.

“Oh please don’t be pissed at me. I like them together and everything, but in my mind, Sherlock is pretty much ace-aro. I mean, Cumberbatch was also Smaug. Which in the books is described as a dragon while the movies decided to portray him like a vixen...” He solemnly nodded.

That is, indeed, a severe problem in mainstream media.

“That is, indeed, a severe problem in today mainstream media. We live in a world where people don’t know the difference between one another! Daenerys Mother of Dragons? More like Dany The Soccer Mom of three cool lizards. That would be more appropriate!”

“Don’t talk to me about Dany, I’m still pissed about Jonerys. I mean, fan-service much? Okay, I can deal with that. But don’t freaking kill Viserion and try to make us all believe that HIS MOTHER WOULD FUCK HER NEPHEW THIRTY MINUTES LATER!”

She laughed again.

‘Gods above and below,’ he thought, ‘how much can a person love another?’

“Agree 100% on Viserion, though Jon after Ygrit should’ve just zipped up his pants and close business. You experience that kind of love once in your screentime. And when you do, Martin kills the counterpart off immediately after the big scene. You know that sadist is gonna kill you off, so just spare him the dirty deeds to write.”

“The dirty deeds are the reasons he is taking so much to finish that freaking book. Also, salty much?"

"You dare calling me salty? It’s been years and you still weep over Robb’s body.”

“Excuse you, it is a very fine body. Have you seen Richard Madden lately? With that kilt at Kit and Rose’s wedding? Fine AF.”

She was now scooting over, moving closer to his face to find a reaction.

“Fine, you’re right. But Darling, you know damn well I am attracted to that man, you can’t just casually throw his name around! That would be like me, saying that Misha has aged like a fine whisky.”

“And where would a lie hide in that sentence?”

“ANYWAY. We were talking of something terrifically important.”

He decided to add a Meaningful Pause to give himself some dramatic effect...

“How can you say you don’t ship Jonhlock romantically?”

‘Honesly I love that woman. She is my other half, I would die for her and with her. My life without her has no meaning.

But if her answer doesn’t please me then so help me God I will suffer through a meaningless life with the strength of my ships.’ His mind said.

“I told you before the 'The Hobbit/Game of Thrones' parenthesis. When I read the books I thought of Sherlock as a madman who cared about Watson profoundly, but mostly cares about himself and his work. Someone who doesn’t dwell into feelings, doesn’t really enjoy sexual times and, truly, a modern-day asexual and aromantic asshole with a kink for unofficial police work. Yes, He and Watson are amazing together, and especially with RDJ and Jude Law I saw the sexual tension, which then I also saw in the BBC’s version. But for me, since I read the books first, Jonhlock will always be the exact relationship shown by House and Wilson. Sorry to disappoint.”

She was so close to him, he could smell her shampoo and count the freckles across her nose. She was staring directly into his soul. Rhys was fully clothed in an old tee and some pants and yet he’d never felt more naked.

“You never disappoint me. As a matter of fact, you never cess to amaze me, Feyre Acheron. You are perfect and beautiful both on the inside as well as on the outside. Here I was, looking for a polite way to kick you out of my apartment after you say you don’t ship one of my OTPs and now, here still I am trying not to be drowned into you and trying not to get lost into your eyes and I love you so fucking much that it physically hurts.”

His inner monologue at the time? ‘Fuck. FUCK. What the fuck did I just say???’

She had managed to fry his whole brain with her smart reasoning and perfect voice and now he had ruined a perfect moment by saying cheesy stuff to a girl that didn’t particularly care for cheese.

That was the end of Rhysand Sphera as we all know and love him.

Cause of death: killed by Feyre Acheron as result of saying something completely idiotic.

Only...

“Do you really mean that?”

She sounded hopeful and scared at the same time. The horrors she had to face in the past came running back to her and were written all over her face. Rhys took her hands in his. They were both trembling.

His mouth had probably never been that dry and yet aching to speak at the same time. He could only nod and pray she reciprocated.

That was the moment of truth.

“Of course I mean it. All of it. Each unsaid sentence and each shared glances. Every time I bring you coffee or a send you a picture of a dog that walks into my shop with its owner even though I’m terrified of them. The dog, not the owner. Even though some owners of dogs are terrifying. I have been in love with you for so long, I forgot how it feels not loving you. I look back at those times when you were not in my life and even back then I knew I was missing something. And when he-who-must-not-be-named showed up and swept you off your feet away from me, I was broken beyond repair. But you came back and made me hope that maybe, maybe all my dreams could become true. But you were hurt and also broken, and you needed time to heal. You still do. I shouldn’t have said anything, but you’re just so fucking amazing that I struggle to not scream ‘I Love You’ every time you breathe. I am utterly in love with you and hopelessly devoted to you. I understand if you still need time to heal or would rather be with someone else. But I said it, and I do not intend on taking it back.”

She was kneeling on the couch, her hands still clutching his, tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t take it back.”

Rhys thought he had heard what he wanted, so he had to ask, “What?”, a dumbstruck disbelieving-his-luck expression plastered on his face.

“I said don’t take it back. I feel the same way. I am utterly in love with you and hopelessly devoted to you too. I thought you hated me after, well, Tamlin. It is pleasant knowing we reciprocate each other’s feelings.”

Feyre laughed again, breaking the spell between them. Only, now the deed was done. Neither of them could hold their emotions in any longer. Feyre leaned in and so did Rhys, and their lips met halfway in a once in a lifetime, epic romance, Full on Princess Bride type of kiss.

After they both ran out of breath, they simply remained connected in every way possible given their awkward position. Foreheads never leaving each other, hands clasped together, lips barely touching. That spell, though, didn’t last for long. Soon they yearned to touch each other’s skin and feel each other’s bodies.

They were never going to have enough of each other.

[arofili]

Aro Kel Masterpost

ETA: I wrote a fic about aro!Kel/Dom, read that if you want ;)

After Tamora Pierce revealed that Kel is aro, I was elated. To finally have representation of any kind, especially from an author and a character I really love, felt so good. Now, it’s not really good representation - I would have preferred to have it explicit and there from the beginning, but this is still incredible for me. So, naturally, this new information spurred me to reread the Protector of the Small series with Kel’s aromanticism in mind, and I unearthed a whole lot of interesting things.

A lot of this was fairly obvious, but much of it was subtext, and there’s still a lot of parts of Kel’s love life that required a bit of effort to see as part of her arospec experience, but I would say that she reads as pretty darn aromantic to me now. In this post, I’ve compiled a bunch of quotes/scenes (mostly paraphrased, sorry) and thoughts about Kel’s aromanticism and how it was portrayed in the books.

This post has been more than a year in the making, mostly because I’m lazy as fuck, but I finally managed to finish it up for @aggressivelyarospec​ week 2018! Also, the wonderful podcast @tortallrecall is coming up on Kel’s arc soon, and I hope they’ll discuss Kel’s aromanticism, so I wanted to provide an aro person’s opinion on Kel being aro for them to have as a resource if they want to use it :)

Overall: I don't think Tamora Pierce wrote the series meaning for Kel to be aro, because I doubt she would have included the “romance” with Neal, Cleon, or Dom, though that is still justifiable with her being aro [see my explanations below], but I think that she did write it with her being less interested in romance than her peers and Pierce’s other heroines and I think she very intentionally gave Kel a happy ending without romance. And so looking back, the aro label fits. She is definitely arospec, and I am delighted to read about an aromantic character.

First Test

There’s a part where Neal is being all dramatic and talking about the glory of knighthood, but Kel says something along the lines of “Well, sure, but being sung about will take a lot of hard work”. Neal responds, “You aren’t a bit romantic, are you?” and I know that it’s a different kind of “romantic” in this context but also PUNS!

“she'd had experiences with crushes—none her own, of course”

I know Kel is 10 at this point, but also, that is exactly what I was thinking at age 10.

Whenever Cleon fake flirts with her, she's so exasperated and amused. At one part he says he'll pine for her until she returns and she thinks “He'll pine and I'm a holly bush”.

And she's always so sympathetic about Roald's arranged marriage. And sure, anyone could be because they’re not ~in love~ but Kel just seems really sympathetic about marriage in general.

Neal has a crush on Daine in this book, which I had forgotten about, and Kel is so exasperated every time he talks about it. She consoles him, but she's so confused and amused by his feelings.

Page

So here we get to the part where 11-year-old Kel thinks she likes Neal. It’s funny, because it happens at the same time when Neal has a crush on Uline of Hannalof, so I think there’s definitely an argument for her reacting of jealousy. She definitely has some feelings for him, but I don’t think they’re quite romantic, and she doesn’t understand them. At least, that’s how I’m choosing to read it.

And she keeps making fun of him about his feelings, and the part where she and her friends all get together to sing him a sappy love song is really funny.

Also, she keeps complaining to Lalasa that he won’t actually do anything about his feelings. Even when she thinks she has a crush on him, she’s annoyed by romance.

@buffintruda and I were talking about this, and I wondered how we hadn’t thought of Kel being aro before the announcement, and they said something I think is very true:

Too be fair, for me at least, the last time I read her books was before I knew I was aro, and her relationships and crushes deterred me from considering it, even though now that you point them out, they're pretty weak and aro-y

At some point in the story, Cleon’s fake flirting becomes real, but Kel doesn’t realize it. She still thinks he’s joking up until halfway through Squire. Even when he’s being really obvious and blushing and commenting on her appearance, she’s just confused as to why he keeps doing this and doesn’t even consider the idea that he could be sincere.

Honestly this is such a GEM of a quote. Like, same:

“I can flirt just as well as my gelding can dance” 

When Kel is talking to Joren about how he’s “changed”, and he tells her that she should get married and her immediate response is “I don’t want to be married”. She does think of Neal, but it’s an afterthought. When I used to force myself to pretend to like someone, before I knew I was aro, I would do the same sort of thing - “I don’t want to marry anyone, ew! Wait, no, I would totally marry [insert fake crush here]...” It’s something she feels like she’s supposed to think, not something she actually feels.

Honestly, Kel’s whole crush on Neal is not really a big deal, even to her. She’ll pine over him when a situation comes up that makes her think about romance, and she’ll occasionally have that “heart flutter” thing, but it’s mostly them being great friends and she seems to forget she’s supposed to have a crush on him while she’s hanging out with him. This seems a lot more like a squish than a crush, at least to me.

So this isn’t technically related to Kel’s aromanticism, but I couldn’t leave it out. Before their third examinations, Kel and Neal talk about their friends and Neal says something like “I wouldn’t trade your friendship for anything”. Ahhh I was so emotional when I read that!! Their friendship is so good and heartwarming and beautiful that I wanted to cry!

Kel made a joke out of it, but it was really sweet and that moment was truly beautiful and relateable. It’s great to see strong friendships shown in books, even if one of the people thinks that they’re in love with the other one.

And in this scene, Kel didn’t think about her “crush” even once, even though it was a pretty intense moment for both of them.

Squire

When Kel finds out that Alanna wants Neal for her squire, she has this silly line about “I can’t not be his friend even if I can’t be his love” and Kel, please. That is far too melodramatic for you! This is so out of character it feels forced, which, if we view it through an aromantic lens, it probably is.

Aw yeah, Raoul is back! I love him. Another aro icon! @buffintruda​ and I couldn’t believe that we could imagine him as arospec, but totally overlook Kel!

When Kel joins the Own, she meets Dom! She’s wondering why Dom makes her feel all weird and “romantic” moreso than she ever felt for Neal, and I’m like... It’s because you’re making this all up! It’s amatonormativity and heteronormativity! Once you’re not around Neal, you forget you’re supposed to like him, so you find someone else to project your confusion and insecurity onto! You’re not “fickle”, you’re just a confused aromantic.

Kel wonders why “Lalasa never mentioned this”, and that’s pretty obvious. Lalasa is canonically in a relationship with her friend Tian...this girl is a lesbian.

“Who falls in and out of love in a summer?”

Probably someone who was never in love in the first place, Kel. This quote comes the next time that Kel sees Neal, and she realizes her romantic feelings are gone like they never were there in the first place.

“Were her feelings even real?”

Ding ding! Now you’re starting to get it!

Cleon is ridiculously awkward around Kel, and she is just as ridiculously oblivious of his feelings and exasperated by his flirting. (Relatable.) When he kisses her for the first time, she’s so shocked that she doesn’t know how to react which is a mood.

“They won’t be able to talk sense for weeks!”

When Yuki comes to Tortall, Kel makes fun of all the pages and squires for “falling in love” with her. She thinks “her messmates were romantic” in a way that totally excludes herself from that line of thought, because obviously she’s not romantic! That would be ridiculous!

“She hadn’t seen Cleon privately since that astonishing kiss. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to see him or never to see him again. She didn’t know which would be worse, finding that he’d done it on a dare or that he’d done it because he wanted to. Either meant a rat’s nest of problems.”

She liked the kiss, so we know she likes kissing, but that does not mean she isn’t aro. She doesn’t really want to like Cleon romantically. Unlike with Neal and Dom, she isn’t tricking herself into feeling something for Cleon; his feelings surprised her. “A rat’s nest of problems” is true not only politically, but also very much personally.

Tamora Pierce has also called Kel asexual at different times; this post is about her being aro, but there was one little ace thing I wanted to mention. When Kel meets George Cooper, she cannot figure out why Alanna is attracted to him; she only finds his eyes attractive. Kel is struggling to find anything attractive about him, and when has she ever before focused on the physical side of things when she’s forcing herself into liking someone? It isn’t something she even considers.

“Nice eyes hardly seemed to Kel like grounds for marriage.”

Yeah, well, for you it would be hard to find anything that would be grounds for marriage!

When Kel and Cleon (finally) talk about their first kiss, Cleon is trying to convince her that they should be in a relationship and Kel says something along the lines of “If people knew, they might not know it was friendly” and that’s literally the most aromantic thing I’ve ever heard. She is literally incapable of forming a reason why she would kiss someone outside of being friends. She likes kissing but doesn’t have romantic feelings.

In the same scene, she wants so badly to be interrupted by someone so she doesn’t have to deal with Cleon’s romantic advances. In the end they do get together, and some of this conversation was in jest, but Kel is truly terrified of romance and uncomfortable with her situation no matter how much she is genuinely fond of Cleon.

During the Progress, she talks to her mom about sex and Cleon. Her mom says, “you can choose if you want to have sex”, and Kel’s immediate response is “I don’t want to choose that!” Her reasoning is “I don’t want to be distracted”, “I just want my shield”, “I certainly don’t want babies” and if that ain’t the most aroace thing then I don’t know what is.

Shortly after this scene, Kel talks to Cleon, which goes something like this...

Cleon: Come down and let me hold you! Kel: No, you come up, and no holding.

Kel is terrified of sex but simultaneously struggling with her self-worth and wanting to be fuckable.

Once Kel and Cleon are officially together, their relationship is pretty romantic, which explains why I didn’t consider she could be aro at first. But even then, I see it as more that she enjoys Cleon’s company and the physical side of their relationship even though they never actually have sex. And the whole time, Cleon is so much more scared than Kel of the inevitable end of their relationship. Kel is much more practical and sees their relationship as doomed from the beginning.

Not related, but I love how Raoul and Buri’s relationship develops. They’re basically mutual beards and best friends. Buri’s such a lesbian, and Raoul is so aro!

When Kel first suggests that Raoul should ask Buri to go to his party with his aunt, she says that Buri “won’t get any romantic notions” which 1) shows how gay Buri is and 2) shows how Kel’s thought process about romance works.

This speaks for itself:

“She had decided years before that she was no prize on the romance market.”

There’s this lovely conversation while the Own is helping some town...

Kel: Why don’t people talk about hard work when it comes to war? All I hear about is glory. Dom: Pretty girls want to hear about glory, not work.

Kel wasn’t thinking about romance as a factor; she didn’t even consider it. While the Own is at Giantkiller, Kel completely forgets about her crush on Dom and it’s pretty much never brought up again.

Another gem of a quote:

“Kel thought asking her for wedding ideas was like asking a cat how to raise a horse, but she did her best.”

Kel and Cleon’s forbidden words are “love” and “marriage” and oh my god that is the most aro thing ever.

Lady Knight

There is so much less romance in this book! That’s great it in general, but it also really establishes Kel as aromantic because this is the book in which she becomes more sure of herself. She thinks about romance much less, which means there’s less things to specify how her reaction to romance proves her aro. I think it was at this point that Tamora Pierce decided that Kel wasn’t going to end up with a romantic partner at the end of her series.

On the way to the Scanran border, Neal and Roald are complaining about being separated from their fiancees, and Kel is so exasperated with them. She feels sorrier for Roald, but she approaches the whole subject with way too critical an eye to be alloromantic.

“She wanted love and children, too—someday.”

She thinks about Cleon, but it’s so distant. She’s imagining that she’ll feel different in the future, because that’s what’s supposed to happen to people, right? But she doesn’t really want love and children.

Kel’s thought of “romance was more pleasant than reality” proves that she doesn’t believe that finding romance is realistic. And as we know, Kel is practical above all.

“Friendship was there, but passion was gone.”

When Kel sees Cleon again after a few years of separation, everything she thought she had felt for him has disappeared.  And multiple times she feels bad about not loving him anymore; that’s textbook aro guilt. She emphasizes that “she could still be his friend even if she couldn’t be his lover.” She isn’t at all surprised that she doesn’t love Cleon anymore. She expected this, and she’s relieved that she was right.

“She wanted no lovers until she had settled the Nothing Man’s account.”

Kel will look for any excuse to not have to deal with romance, and everything that justifies her lack of love will do.

“Beyond kisses, Cleon was her friend.”

This proves that she always saw Cleon mostly as a friend, just a friend she also liked to kiss. To aro people things like that aren’t always cut and dry; she likes to kiss but to her kissing is not a romantic action.

She’s relieved that Cleon isn’t trying to keep things going, because it would hurt too much for both of them and because she didn’t want to have to keep faking romantic love. She’s upset about the end of their relationship because change is hard, not because she wants Cleon. She understands that now and talks to Tobe about it. I’m so proud of her!! She’s coming to terms with herself.

At Haven, Kel sees Dom again and remembers that she had a crush on him, but it’s a minor afterthought after a paragraph of her considering their friendship. When he leaves, she misses his friendship and support and doesn’t even think about romance.

And finally, the second to last paragraph in the whole series all but makes aro Kel explicit representation:

“Lovers, Kel thought, rolling her eyes. At least there was one headache she didn’t have. She was about to tell her friend [Neal] he could wait when she remembered that she’d get to see Dom at Steadfast. It would be nice to able to sit and chat for a while without kidnapping, flight, and war to distract them.”

Sure, that could (and has been) interpreted as Kel’s crush on Dom continuing to manifest, but to me it shows her value of friendship, especially as it immediately follows her declaration that lovers are a headache.

In conclusion, my point at the beginning still stands: this is not necessarily good representation. Kel’s story was written without authorial consideration of her aromanticism. But it is representation. And to me, a queer who grew up reading Kel and identifying more with her than with any of Tamora Pierce’s other heroines, even post-canonical, Word of God revelations of Kel being aro matters a lot. This is especially relevant because of the void that is aro rep—I can only name one or two canon aromantic characters from popular media, and Kel is one of them.

An aromantic lens is required to see Kel’s aromanticism, but it is there. It means something. And even though this post has been like two years in the making, Kel still means a lot to me.

[baegin-ace-blog]

Oh Juliet, Juliet, wherefore art thou Juliet: Why I (sometimes) Love Romance in Fiction

I love to read. A lot.  I read everyday on the train and before bed.  I read a little of everything: non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, mystery, young adult, you name it.  And anyone who’s spent any amount of time with me watching shows or movies knows how angry and annoyed I get at the romantic subplots in a lot of media.  So it might surprise you to learn that I devote a significant amount of my time to reading romantic fiction.

The big question here is why?  As an unromantic person who rolls their eyes at romantic subplots, why am I so obsessed with romance in fiction?  And it’s not just books and fanfiction, although a good portion of my favorites are there.  I do also enjoy romance in tv and film sometimes too.  So what’s going on here?  Well to answer that question, we need to talk a bit about the mainstream portrayal of romance.

I often find romance as portrayed in media as deeply flawed.  Either the relationship itself is not healthy or the characters don’t seem to mesh correctly.  One of my least favorite kinds is the tendency of shows to end with their lead man and woman winding up in a relationship at the end of the series.  Now sometimes this dynamic works, so long as the characters have been building up to this point, but often times it doesn’t work because it is a last minute get-together for the sake of heterosexuality.  Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are Kim Possible and Warehouse 13 (two shows I love dearly, so don’t hate me!).  In KP, the two main characters, Kim and Ron, spend the whole series as bffs; there are never any psuedo-romantic moments between them.  Their friendship is very comfortable, they never show any desire to be a couple, and are very supportive of the other’s dating life.  Then, in the movie, all of sudden I’m supposed to believe they’re into each other? Just like that, with no leadup at all? And then, in the last season, the entire dynamic of their relationship completely changes once they're dating!  It was awful!  Part of what made KP so much fun was the subversion of gender roles they played with, but as soon as their male and female leads started dating, they fell back into the same old patterns. I was supremely disappointed.

In a similar vein, in Warehouse 13, main characters Myka and Pete spend the whole show with a brother/sister dynamic.  Somewhere in the last season Pete realizes he likes Myka, but she doesn’t realize she likes him back until the last episode.  It’s played out really sloppy.  There’s no significant build up to these relationships, they just happen, as if the endgame of all male-female friendships is always romance.  Not only is this not true, it damages real male-female friendships by making society expect them to always end in romance.  

But now let’s look at an example of romance done right: the best slow-build relationship show ever, Leverage.  Leverage is my favorite live-action show of all time.  It’s absolutely wonderful, and part of the reason why is the respect it has for its characters.  The romances that unfold on the show have a long and realistic progression.  They aren’t rushed, they aren’t forced, and they follow the character arcs already in place with the plot.  While in other shows I will roll my eyes at romantic scenes, every Hardison/Parker scene has me squealing and clutching my chest.  Why? Because their romance is believable; it makes sense for who they are as characters, the developments that do happen only occur when they feel right for where they are in their character arcs, and overall, the culmination of their romance becomes rewarding to watch, not just another plot point to check off the list.  

So I have no problem with romance plots, as long as it’s done with intent; if the romance is thrown in as a way to give our characters something to do or to show their desirability, I’m out.  If the romance is well developed, paced, and executed, then I am right there squeeing along with all of you.  This is also why I read a lot of romantic fanfiction.  People who don’t read fanfiction have a very limited view on what it is.  They either think it’s all bad teenage writing with Mary-Sue author-stand-ins or all erotica with bad sex scenes (side bar: sex scenes in published novels are often a million times MORE awful, when compared to some of the scenes I’ve read in fanfiction. Seriously, I don’t understand).  And yes, fanfiction can most definitely be both of these things.  There are TONS of really, really bad fanfictions out there, just as there are tons of really, really bad published novels too. But just like I’ve read lots of great novels, I’ve also read the best “novels” of my life in fanfiction (Sansukh, you superstar, I’m looking at you).  I admit, though, that most of fanfiction plots either involve or are about some romantic pairing.  The really good ones, of course are about more: action, adventure, horror, mystery. However, the core of fanfiction is character relationships and digging out emotions over plot, and one thing a fanfiction can do well is a good romance.

Now, again, obviously there are bad fanfictions, do not get me wrong.  There are fics with unhealthy romances and fics where the romances make no sense and so on.  But because fanfiction is a genre largely devoted to fleshing out already existing character interactions and relationships into romance, already each story starts with a base of character interactions to build the romance upon.  Fanfiction is a medium about filling in the blanks of media, and so these romances can often follow the path I wish mainstream romances followed.  And, yeah, I’ve read my fair share of truly awful fanfictions, but I’ve also read more good ones than I’ve seen romances in media that I find appealing.  

Another great thing about fanfiction: it tends to be super gay.  Obviously there’s nothing wrong with the standard heterosexual romance, but I honestly find queer romances to be 100% more interesting, if given the choice.  Gay/lesbian? Sign me up! Trans/genderqueer? Wonderful! Happy, consensual polyamory? Please!  And also, heterosexual romances are often written in very sexist  and problematic ways.  The women are like prizes, the relationships often involve coercion or unhealthy power dynamics, and the standard tropes of miscommunication and lying really bug me.  That’s also why I tend to love shows with openly queer characters so long as the characters are written with care and respect.  A fine example: Steven Universe.  Not only is the show amazing in terms of story, mythology, character, and humor, but it also has amazing representation of the LBGT+ community.  Lesbian characters, bi/pan characters, genderqueer characters, and the deconstruction of gendered expressions.  I adore it!  So it’s no wonder that I love romantic fanfiction that explores the nuances of queer relationships.  (And, no, I won’t deny that fanfiction has a tendency to skew towards male/male, has a track record of mistreating female characters, and often fetishizes gay relationships; all valid criticisms! The bad exists; I happen to be talking mostly about the good in this post).

So the question we started with: why does a mostly aromantic person like to read romance?  And the answer is, well, I’m not sure, really.  I don’t know what it is that draws me to well-written romance stories.  I don’t know why they make me squee in happiness and fill me with joy.  I suppose you could ask why some people really like reading/watching shows about serial killers.  It’s not like they want to become killers (we hope); it’s that there’s something (darkly) fascinating about killers to them.  Same for me: there’s something fascinating and rewarding about good romance stories.  I can’t explain it, I can only say it’s so.  So definitely expect me to tear apart romances in fiction, especially when I think they are poorly done.  But also expect to find me reading large quantities of romance and squealing over the results.  I contain multitudes of likes and dislikes.

[sheikah]

What are your views regarding Melisandre, Val, Varys, Illyrio, and Littlefinger? And why?

Wow this is a lot in one ask anon haha. I will condense it to a few comments per person. 

Melisandre–Honestly one of the most interesting characters to me. I believe she does what she thinks is right. It doesn’t excuse the awful things she’s done, particularly Shireen. But Melisandre actually has power. 

There is a lot of religious discussion in GoT/ASOIAF, but we don’t get a lot of solid confirmation of the existence or power of the respective deities. We hear a lot about the Olds Gods and the Seven, but when it comes to the Lord of Light, we’ve actually seen Melisandre’s and Thoros’s power in action on more than one occasion. 

So I try to put myself in her shoes. In real life there are radical religious fundamentalists who commit horrific atrocities in the name of their god(s). Yet there is not verifiable proof of a higher power in our world. So imagine living in this universe and being a priestess like Melisandre who has actually seen people resurrected from the dead by your god, who has actually given birth to a monster, who can somehow fabricate eternal youth. All of this leads her to believe that she is on the correct path, that she is doing what she is supposed to be doing and is being rewarded and validated by her god. 

So in light of all of that I find it really hard to think negatively of Melisandre. I also think that season 6 showed us her humanity and confirmed that even if she does a lot of what she does out of blind faith with seemingly no remorse, she still harbors emotions and weakness. It made it easier to sympathize with her. 

Val–I was so intrigued by Val in the books and thought for sure she was going to be Jon’s next big love story. She is one of the characters that remains a bit of an enigma to me. 

I had an anon awhile back present a theory that Val was Dany and Jon’s child who somehow traveled through time in the Land of Always Winter haha. I don’t really subscribe to the theory but the anon brought up that part of why people believe it is that Val’s got the mannerisms of someone of higher birth and standing than one of the Free Folk. And that’s true. So, why? I don’t really have a good answer for it. 

Anyway, I think she’s interesting, another badass woman to cross Jon Snow’s path, and I really resented how at The Wall Stannis and Selyse presumptuously kept trying to marry her off to various men as political collateral. 

It’s interesting that you bring her up after Melisandre, because one of the moments I had distaste for Val was when she told Jon Shireen should be killed. Something those two women have in common I guess. 

The “lonely and lovely and lethal” line is one of my favorites and one of the few effective uses of alliteration in my opinion haha. I am bummed she didn’t end up in the show but I understand why she was cut. When we met Karsi in 5.08 I half expected her to be a Val stand-in. I was sorely disappointed. 

Varys–I looooove Varys! And if you had told me in 2010 when I started reading ASOIAF that I would love Varys, I would have laughed at you. At first I thought Varys was as slimy as LF and I did not like him. His descriptions in the books especially repulsed me, the powdered skin and simpering. Ew. 

Show!Varys is pleasantly much funnier than I ever expected and his friendship with Tyrion is one of my favorite aspects of the series currently. 

Just as a character, I hope I’m not wrong, but as of right now I trust him and believe his intentions are good. What’s so fascinating about Varys is that looking at him he seems very unassuming and he doesn’t present as a major player of the Game. But he’s (obviously) one of the most important players there is. 

One of my favorite moments is the one when he says that LF is the second most dangerous man in the realm (implying he himself is the first.) I love that, and I 100% agree. At Con of Thrones there was a panel on Varys vs Littlefinger and it completely filled up, had people sitting in the aisles and standing outside the door trying to listen. Because people are fascinated by this character!

Anyway, I think that Varys is smart, wily, hilarious, and a survivor. I think he will live until the end and that whatever ending we get is one that he wanted, planned, and played some part in bringing about. And for better or for worse, one of the reasons I am sure of that is that Varys seems to be the only person in the series who isn’t tempted by anything that could throw him off course. 

He is supposedly asexual and aromantic, saying that desire is dangerous. I haven’t seen anything to indicate that he cares much about money. And since he’s a realist I think he knows that he would never be accepted as king of the 7k, so I don’t believe he desires power. 

He genuinely wants to make the realm better, which is so? Crazy to me? He almost seems too good to be true. But then we can remind ourselves that he will let seemingly anyone die on the path to bettering the realm, and that’s where he becomes a problematic fave. 

Illyrio–The least interesting to me of all the characters on this list. Illyrio is transparent while the others seem (to me, anyway) to have layers of complexity. the scene where Arya overhears him plotting with Varys hints at Illyrio being a player on par with Varys and LF, but he just isn’t. 

Illyrio doesn’t support the Targaryens out of loyality or principle, he does it out of greed. And while his behind-the-scenes work with Varys has been extremely influential and important to the plot (marrying Dany to Drogo, housing Tyrion in Pentos after is escape from KL, etc) I am not nearly as interested in his actions as I am in those of LF or Varys. 

Because while Varys’s motives are still interesting to me and his actions are harder to predict, and while LF is a villain we all love/hate, Illyrio is just a typical greedy man. If I’m remembering right, he even tells Tyrion his ambition is to be Master of Coin to a Targaryen monarch. So bearing this in mind, Illyrio’s greed doesn’t even really make sense?

Because as Master of Coin, LF had (from what we could tell) a good life and a cozy living with immediate influence on the king in small council. But he wanted more. He wanted more because Master of Coin does not guarantee extravagant living. So to me it would make more sense for Illyrio to stay in Pentos in his mansion, where he clearly has a vast amount of resources and connections. Sure, accept the job of Master of Coin if it’s offered to you. But I don’t see why he’s going to so much trouble to establish a Targ monarch just to have that position as a reward. I just don’t understand it. 

Littlefinger–I hate him. He’s creepy and treacherous. But he’s losing control of his schemes now. I think (hope?) that Sansa sees straight through him by now and so all his scheming has been in vain. 

Look, I am impressed with what he has accomplished. I love the revelation of him being behind not only Joffrey’s death, but Jon Arryn’s as well. He truly has shaped the trajectory of almost every single character with his actions. 

So I don’t underestimate his cunning or his capabilities. But he made all of these things happen and still doesn’t really have anything to show for it. The only person truly under his sway is Robin/Robert Arryn. And is that really such a big deal? The knights of the Vale are excellent fighters and being the de facto Lord of the Vale is great. But that’s not what LF was after from the beginning, and I honestly don’t think he is going up from here. 

So what has it all been for? So many people died because of him who simply didn’t have to, and all of it so that he can take the Iron Throne. And let’s face it–he won’t. 

Unlike Varys, LF’s motives are pretty clear and pretty predictable. He wants power and he wants a woman. One of the things I find interesting about LF, though, is that he is a reversal of the “nice guy” trope. Ordinarily in fiction and especially in romance, the LF’s of the world are the underdog we all root for. The weak guy who can’t fight the Brandon Stark but whose mind reigns supreme always has the audience on his side and the girl on his arm. But LF doesn’t. Because he is the weakling with the powerful brain who isn’t the nice guy. 

In the panel I mentioned above the crowd booed about LF and cheered about Varys. The people running the panel hated LF too and pointed out how problematic he is, and one person compared him to Severus Snape. As much as I like Snape, as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize how genuinely awful it is that this man bullied a child for years after holding onto love for his dead mother, love that was never reciprocated anyway. So it was super romantic in the moment when Snape died, that fateful tear rolling down his cheek and into Harry’s vial. But now I’m kind of freaked out about it. And LF is like Snape’s creep level times a thousand. 

So not only are his motives predictable, they are also not respectable. And if LF’s attachment to Catelyn wasn’t bad enough, his attachment to Sansa is absolutely disgusting. Because in a way I think he sees Sansa is this daughter that could have been with Catelyn. But at the same time he has a sexual attraction to her. All the while, he’s been ruining her life to serve his own ends, especially in the show. 

He needs to go. He needs to die. I can’t wait. 

Anyway, I hope these answers are interesting to you anon because this took me a seriously long time to write haha. Thanks for the ask :)

[forever-aro-blog]

If anyone should object to this marriage, please speak now or forever hold your peace

Note: My contribution to the Ace Fic 2017 event. I love Brian (no romo). Check out the Brian Kinney tag for Brian’s aromantic-ish moments from the show! I hope I pulled this off to end up on a positive note after all.

If anyone should object to this marriage, please speak now or forever hold your peace

Prompt: 1. Write about a character you headcanon as ace/aro

Show: Queer As Folk

Character: Brian Kinney

Headcanon: Homosexual aromantic

Summary: This is my version of Brian’s reaction to Michael and Ben getting married taking place in episode 4x13, but should make sense on its own. A clash between points of view of an aromantic and a romantic resulting to more mutual respect.

  As unexpected as if was, Michael and the group were pleasantly surprised to find out Brian had secretly decided to join them in Toronto.

“I’m glad you made it, Brian,” Michael said, hooking an arm around Ben, looking around the bar at his friends. “Because we… have something to announce.”

Ben furrowed his eyebrows and gave Michael a quizzical look. “I do,” Michael clarified. Ben gasped when he realized that he was hearing the answer to his earlier proposal.

“Do what?” Brian asked.

“We’re getting married,” Michael beamed. “It’s legal here in Toronto.” Emmett squealed loudly, while Debbie and Ted were on the verge of tearing up.

“That’s amazing!”

“My son is getting married! This is the happiest day of my life!”

The couple was surrounded by their excited friends showering them with congratulations while Brian awkwardly stood in the back. Failing to find the motivation to attempt to join in, he quietly slipped out of the door.

“Brian!”

Michael jogged out of the bar, looking around for his friend. He didn’t need to go far – he quickly spotted Brian standing with his back to him, staring into the darkness. He didn’t even need to ask for an explanation.

“Are you really going to be like this?”

Brian sighed and slowly turned around. “What do you want me to say, Mikey? ‘Congratulations for ruining your life’? ‘I hope you two live a very nice boring life like an average couple of heterosexuals, shackled to each other forever, slowly driving each other mad’? You know I don’t bullshit. I’m not gonna put on a fake smile and cheer for something I don’t believe in.”

Rolling his eyes slightly, Michael considered whether it was worth to get into this conversation at all. He knew full well how this would go. It was Brian, after all – his attitude towards marriage and monogamy was no secret. Nevertheless, he decided to give it a go.

“Don’t give me that, Brian, it’s getting old.”

“As long as it’s still true,” Brian smiled ironically.

“It’s not like that. It’s a profound, loving bond between two human beings who care about each other.”

“Oh, you make it sound so appealing,” Brian taunted him.

“Forget it. You will never understand it.”

“I’m glad we agree on something.”

“You’re pathetic.”

“Needing someone else to get through life is not?”

“It’s not about a need, it’s about love and appreciation-”

“And, let me guess, rainbows and pink unicorns shooting glitter out of their ass!” Brian faked an excited tone.

“You’re completely incapable of actually caring about anyone. You don’t ever care about anything! You’re just going through your life, doing whatever you want, saying whatever you want, not giving a shit about anyone’s feelings. You’ll never understand what it’s like to have what Ben and I have. You’ve slept with half of gay Pittsburgh, but you’re the loneliest of us.”

Brian scoffed. “You call it being lonely, I call it sweet, sweet freedom. Freedom that you’re willingly giving up in order to play house with your professor.”

Michael wasn’t getting anywhere. “Can’t you just be happy for me? This is what I want. This is what’s going to make me happy.”

“Of course you think that. You’re brainwashed. The mainstream assimilationist way of thinking has gotten to you.”

“I hate to break it to you, Brian, but there are actually happy couples out there. Did you know that, huh? So why can’t we be one of them?”

“Even so, why do you need an official approval for that? Why do you need to have someone legally assigned to you- ”

“Jesus Christ, Brian. Are you done?” Brian didn’t say anything. Encouraged by Brian’s silence, Michael continued. “Just because you’re incapable of comprehending it doesn’t mean you have to ruin it for everybody else. Look, I know you don’t believe in it. But I do. Isn’t that enough? Can you just be my friend and respect that?”

Without a word, Brian walked off.

“Yeah, that went great,” Michael said into the darkness and returned inside.

  After some time to cool off, Brian circled back to the bar. He went in and saw that everyone was still there, having a good time. He studied Michael and Ben from afar. It was the little things, the barely noticeable gentle touches, the whispering, the casual conversations about mundane things. The more he watched it, the more alien it seemed. Was this intimacy? He didn’t like it. There was a vague sense of discomfort forming inside. Too close. How can they be comfortable with that? He shifted his focus on Michael. He did seem happy, so there was that.

When the group was finally leaving the bar, Michael came across Brian leaning against a wall outside. He nodded to the rest and stayed behind.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Brian broke the silence.

“Wow.”

“Shut up. So you really want this, huh? And… look, I never believed in it, but maybe for you I do. I guess you know what you want. You know what is going to make you happy. And I do want you to be happy, Mikey. You know I do.”

Michael couldn’t believe his ears. “That’s… Thank you. I know how much self-repression this must have taken to say.”

Brian smirked slightly. “For the record, I still think it’s a load of crap. I’m just not going to say it out loud. As much. Because you’re my friend. And this is what you want and you want me to support you. So I will.”

The world starting to make slightly more sense to Michael again. Baby steps. “So… will you be my best man?”

Brian swallowed a wave of inner resistance. “I have to participate? I thought I would just get wasted and pretend to watch.”

“It’s not like you’re the one getting married. Come on, you said-”

“Yeah, okay, okay. Anything for you, Mikey,” Brian waved his hand dismissively. Now he was truly gonna have to get wasted.

“I knew you’d come around,” Michael smiled. He decided to tease Brian a little. “Who knows, maybe one day, you and Justin-”

“Whoa, hold on. Don’t you dare say it.”

“You know, not that I think it was really a possibility with your stubbornness, but I think it would be great if you finally opened up a little. Come on, you have to care deep inside.”

“Yeah, right,” Brian offered a sarcastic nod. “Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. You know what? I don’t care. I couldn’t give shit about what you or anyone else has to say about my life. But the least you could do is admit it. Admit you are a hypocrite.”

“A hypocrite,” Michael was still trying to understand the sudden change of the tone of the conversation.

“Yes, Mikey.”

Michael crossed his arms. “How is that?” he asked in a tone that made very clear he was only asking to humor Brian.

“You complain about me not liking your way of living. You are so offended by me saying anything bad about relationships. But what are you doing, Michael? All you and everyone else do is giving me shade and pretending that you’re better than me or happier than me just because you indulge yourselves in that charad-” he stopped himself and winced “-in being in a committed relationship. ‘When will you finally stop sleeping around, Brian?’, ‘You will find the one someday, then you’ll understand, Brian’,’That’s so sad and lonely, Brian’. Newsflash. I am not lonely. I am not sad. I am not pathetic. I certainly am not planning on changing a damn thing. You know what is pathetic? Acting as if you’re so high and moral just because you have a different preference about how to spend your life. You know what that reminds me of, Mikey?”

“And you think this is a completely emotionally healthy choice?“

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because you’re limiting yourself, you’re afraid to let yourself-”

“I’m not afraid, I just don’t want it!” Brian shouted, silencing Michael at once. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Not doing something I have no interest in doing is not limiting. What is it with this arrogance? Someone doesn’t want the same thing you do, so there must be something wrong with them, they must be fixed, because your way is the only right way, is that it?”

“No, it’s not-” Michael shook his head. “It’s just… it’s a really great thing. Why wouldn’t you want to experience something so nice?”

Brian snapped his fingers victoriously. “Here we go, the root of the problem. It’s not a great thing to me! Don’t you get that? Just because you feel happy about it, for some mind-boggling reason that still escapes me, doesn’t mean that everybody feels the same. Seriously, have you been listening to me all these years? Don’t you know me at all?”

“Of course I know you, Brian. It’s just… it’s hard for me to imagine that it would not feel happy.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine it the other way.”

Michael pondered for a bit. “Guess we just gotta take each other’s words on what we want, huh?”

“Guess so.”

“You’re still gonna be my best man, right?”

Brian let out a sigh.

 PS: The title was inspired by the wedding scene from the episode, where the camera cuts to Brian who looks tempted to say something, and also this song (seriously, don’t you ever ask me for a relationship advice)

[violetemerald]

List of queerplatonic level relationships people can choose from for my two birthday collabs this year:

For my birthday I usually host either 1 or 2 fanvideo collabs. This year is the first year that I’m actually happily in a queerplatonic partnership myself while my birthday has come around. The first birthday after I figured out I was asexual I hosted family&friendships, platonic relationships, birthday collabs. Then I hosted multi-characters, then a more typical multi-couples one for romantic & sexual ships. This year, as I turn 27 years old, I’m excited to finally host two collabs where I focus on as many queerplatonic level relationships as possible.

There are many ways to define queerplatonic, but the “queer” in the word refers not to the people in the relationship, but rather to the relationship itself - queering the norms of what non-romantic relationships can be.

Not all queerplatonic relationships are alike. My queerplatonic partner & I feel the same amount of attraction toward one another as family members or close friends might feel, which is absolutely nothing sexual or romantic. We also don’t cuddle or hold hands or touch much at all, nothing like that. We’re queerplatonic because we, by nature of both being aromantic-spectrum and asexual-spectrum, aren’t dating or looking for anyone else to fill a lot of roles in our lives, and end up as each other’s de-facto plus one’s to events. We are adults with a level of “being best friends” that most adults we know don’t have. We also have a level of commitment to one another that we’ve agreed upon, where we intend to one day build a life together that involves probably foster parenting and later adopting children, and for now includes the idea that we are officially “together”, that we might meet each other’s families and be each other’s “most significant person” in life, etc. You basically feel like family, like an old married couple where the passion is gone but the deep love and affection is still there except you never had any of the passion in the first place.

For me, when watching TV shows, it’s much harder for high school based characters to feel queerplatonic to me. To feel queerplatonic to me, really significant behaviors like living together, deciding to open a business together, using words like “Family” or “brother” rather than friend because they feel so bonded, using words like “love” despite being friends, touching each other so much that half of fandom is shipping them, or going through tragedies together can all help make their friendship feel like it is a stronger type of friendship. Queerplatonic relationships ARE friendships, in my opinion, they aren’t something different, just a different TYPE of friendship. An intense one that other people won’t understand, or might be likely to mistake as romantic.

Here is a nice article I found on queerplatonic relationships:

http://www.therivetermagazine.com/queering-the-relationship/

  It explains it pretty well.

Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten a queerplatonic level pairing from a series or even just film that you know I like:

Now for all 33 of the pairings below, I want to explain why I consider them queerplatonic. A few of these I can ship romantically as well but I especially love categorizing them as queerplatonic, because queerplatonic representation FTW!

1. Cory & Shawn (Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World) - I wouldn’t have thought to include these two, but that article cites them, and I couldn’t resist. I fell so hard for Shawn Hunter and his angst filled life and related to too much of it when I watched the entire original series in record time via ABC Family reruns as a young teenager, but I also fell for the deep Cory/Shawn friendship, which was stronger than their romantic relationships ever were, and which never grew weaker as they became adults. I especially like what I’ve heard about Girl Meets World’s portrayal, even though I’ve never seen the series. I feel their friendship is respected for the queerplatonic level bond it is.

2. Sara & Oliver (Arrow & also DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) - for these two, I count them as queerplatonic because that’s the real way I ship them. I don’t actually think they are the best romantic pairing. I think the one-sided romantic attraction from Sara toward Oliver faded with time but instead these two developed a deep platonic bond over sharing experiences of going through hell on Lian-Yu (the island) and over both being vigilante superheroes later on. Sex doesn’t equal romance and this relationship feels best categorized to me as queerplatonic. They aren’t “just” typical friends for an array of reasons, but they also aren’t a simple romantic ship.

3. John & Sherlock (Sherlock, BBC) - for Sherlock/John… quite frankly, they may be THE SINLGE MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE of a queerplatonic life partnership to me because Sherlock actually seems completely aromantic asexual to me, at least in the same way I am aro ace - read this to get where those of us who interpret him this way are coming from: http://anagnori.tumblr.com/post/70661417641/sherlock-holmes-as-an-asexual-character and John actually seems straight in my opinion, yet Sherlock is somehow the most important person to John, more so than any of the women he’s attracted to in sexual and/or romantic ways. Even if John can be argued to be bi, please don’t take ace Sherlock from me, he is so ace… XD That being said, although I don’t see it, even if Sherlock was gay, then maybe John is straight and they still have incompatible orientations yet somehow have this amazing bond and that is what… I think of when I think of queerplatonic. I actually just thought of John being homoromantic&heterosexual as a possibility, meaning he can’t fall in love with women even though that’s the only gender he’s sexually attracted to, but he can fall in a non-sexual kind of love with Sherlock… :P https://asexualcensus.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/cross-orientations-among-non-aces/ So many possibile reasons why they are the way they are, but regardless, because their friendship is the most intense possible friendship possible, they count as queerplatonic.

4. House & Wilson (House M.D.) - House is obviously much more heterosexual than BBC’s Sherlock character but House & Wilson were based on the original Holmes and Watson in many ways, and their relationship with each other is one of the ways you can see that inspiration. They love each other so much. Wilson tells House in the final season that he needs him to tell him he loves him, actually using that word. They live together at times, etc etc. But it doesn’t mean they actually have any sexual attraction toward one another. (Nor romantic attraction, necessarily, albeit that is more complicated). This may be biphobic writing/queerbaiting OR it might be a reflection of a real queerplatonic kind of bond that could be possible between straight men… and I personally prefer to think of it as the latter.

5. Shawn & Gus (Psych) - there is so much that’s kinda obvious with this one. They are beyond just best friends. They are the emotional core of each other’s lives, they chose to build their lives together as (business) “partners”, and they are exactly what queerplatonic partners mean to me in many ways, because however much Shawn loved Juliet O’Hara, he always loved Gus at least equally, if not more. Gus was his chosen family for his entire life. For ages Gus was literally the only person in on a secret, other than the father who built him to have this superpower. There are touching emotional moments between them and it wouldn’t be hard to vid them in these collabs. 6. JD & Turk (Scrubs) - it’s just guy love between two (completely heterosexual) guys, right? That’s how THEIR SONG goes in the musical ep? XD There’s nothing gay about it in their eyes, and therefore… they are the epitome of queerplatonic. The beginning of this following thread actually has some people discussing JD/Turk as queerplatonic… http://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/118560-list-of-queerplatonic-relationships-in-showsbookscelebrities/

7. Chandler & Joey - in a similar vein, these two were the one friendship on all of Friends that was “Weirdly close” (see the thread above on asexuality.org), that had lots of gay innuendo and stuff… basically they weren’t typical friends, they were hyper close friends who lived together, just the two of them, for pretty much the majority of a decade as adults with no other significant romances in their lives most of that time, and at the end of the series Joey still had no one but his friends and felt closest to Chandler in a very queerplatonic kind of way even if Chandler did have Monica. A deep love that was truly not romantic nor sexual.

8. Morgan & Reid (Criminal Minds) - many people ship these two, because their friendship got so close, because they touch each other a lot, etc. Their final scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST8CdeMRhEw includes actual I love yous, naming a child after the other, references to being a “brother” because of how close they feel… and tears over just the simple separation of not working together anymore. They have so many amazing moments throughout the series that I can find myself shipping them too, but mainly I prefer to ship them in a queerplatonic way, partially because I see too much of my aromantic ace tendencies in Reid: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7566307/chapters/17212351 and idk. They are not queerplatonic “partners” to me, they just have a queerplatonic level of feelings for one another. I believe Garcia/Morgan should also count as queerplatonic on this show. It’s fine for Morgan to have two queerplatonic bonds. She felt sexual attraction toward him but they both felt only platonic love. I just prefer Morgan/Reid much more than Morgan/Garcia, and the sexual innuendo in Morcia tends to make me uncomfortable as a sex-averse ace perhaps, and idk, I just don’t want Morgan/Garcia in my collab. But Morgan/Reid mean the world to me, ESPECIALLY platonically. I actually have a list with timecodes of many of Morgan & Reid’s moments in the first 7 or so seasons, if you want it.

9. Emily & JJ (Criminal Minds) - another queerplatonic bond on Criminal Minds, and it’s rare for me to find two women who I can think of as queerplatonic. I also definitely can ship them, see both women as queer enough for an actual romantic/sexual relationship between them to have potential, but as the show stands, they could certainly both be straight. That’s the narrative the show pushes. And yet their bond is particularly deep due to especially the circumstances of being each other’s only contact at times while on classified missions/undercover, and they are overly touchy even very early on. I actually have a list with timecodes of many of Emily & JJ’s moments in the first 6 or so seasons they share, if you want it. Possibly some from the new season too.

10. Mozzie & Neal (White Collar) - I actually think these two are more queerplatonic partners than Neal/Peter. Neal/Peter are the obvious heart of the show but Mozzie is not “just” a best friend. Neal is Mozzie’s entire life, so much so that when Peter becomes so important to Neal, Peter  (a suit type of person Mozzie is frightened by) becomes important to Mozzie too. Neal and Mozzie are fugitives TOGETHER, basically build their lives together, and it causes MAJOR PROBLEMS for their friendship when Mozzie wants to leave New York but Neal doesn’t. Mozzie & Neal are the ultimate partners in crime, and basically seem like they could be roommates to a casual viewer of the show, even though they don’t actually live together, because Mozzie is over Neal’s apartment SO OFTEN. When Mozzie is hurt, Neal cries, and vice versa. They are adults, and Mozzie never has a significant romance that comes close to paralleling his feelings for Neal.

11. Neal & Peter (White Collar) - these two have such a deep bond that fuels the show, but I don’t see them as having romantic nor sexual feelings at all for one another. They are very close both outside and at work, to the point of Peter naming his child after Neal. They spend so much time together and their lives revolve around one another, especially Peter’s around Neal, even when they don’t see each other for long stretches of time. They both admire each other and it’s just not a typical friendship, yet it is purely platonic. Neal can have two queerplatonic relationships in his life, and he does.

12. Foss & Kyle (Kyle XY) - this relationship could barely be called a friendship, and that is why it feels queerplatonic to me. It’s kind of like they skipped straight to found family or skipped straight to platonic love. There is an age difference which adds to how atypical it is to be that devoted to one another.  Kyle has close friendships with people like Declan. But with Foss, his relationship is more complicated. Tom Foss would do literally anything for Kyle and… some people do ship these two because of how intense their platonic love is. But it is just platonic, don’t try to tell me it’s anything different.

13. Nikita & Alex (Nikita) - there aren’t enough bonds like this between women on television, which is what makes this pairing so special. Despite each having some really passionate romantic entanglements, these two have such a significant place in each other’s lives, so much so that Nikita/Michael scenes often include lots of talk of Alex and stuff. They are basically self-explanatory in my mind so if you need more justification, let me know.

14. Hiro & Ando (Heroes) - this show mainly has really deep family bonds, but Hiro/Ando break that mold by being a ridiculously deep friendship bond, especially circa seasons 3 & 4. Ando is betrayed in season 3 to learn Hiro didn’t tell him about a significant emotional event in his life, and Hiro says “don’t cry because I’ll cry”, like this is 3x20… there’s so much there to unpack about how much they care for one another. Even in season 2 though, Hiro is far back in the past and hides a secret note for Ando. They are on each other’s minds whenever they are apart, they are really platonic life partners in so many ways, traveling a foreign country together, presumably living together for a long time as adults, etc.

15. Alec & Kiera (Continuum) - they are queerplatonic by nature of being in a sci-fi show’s extremely atypical premise - no other relationship ever is like theirs. The main reasons they tic queerplatonic boxes for me are a) Alec is Kiera’s ONLY confidant who knows the truth of her life other than the people who want to kill her for a while. Alec’s life starts to revolve around her in a similar way and he can’t tell anyone else in his life anything about her. b) age differences make shipping them more than skeevy, because he’s either so much older than her or so much younger than her. But having platonic relationships at any age works… C) Alec is THE PERSON who shaped Kiera’s entire future by sending her to the past and he will always be that significant mark on her life. d) Alec/Kiera have to learn to forgive each other and are at the emotional core of the entire series, share many really significant hugs and moments and basically they are maybe not queerplatonic “partners” in a typical sense, but they are in some kind of queerplatonic relationship. I’d argue that Carlos/Kiera might be queerplatonic too, but I feel more shippy things for them personally so I’m leaving them out of my collab.

16. Dr. Tom & Erica (Being Erica) - call them father/daughter ish if you want, but some people think they’re more husband/wife ish (like the commenter on my video for them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_F3MwwEqHo ), and isn’t that the epitome of what queerplatonic is, can’t tell if they seem more like family or like a romance? Tom has an unhealthily close relationship with her, since she’s just one of his patients. Erica feels a deep love for Tom. They know each other particularly intimately because of the nature of the magic on this series. They are not what people would ever just call “best friends” despite that literally being what they are to each other, because best friends has a certain connotation and they are barely even “Friends”. They are people who share a deep kind of platonic relationship, and friendship isn’t really the best word to describe it.

17. Meredith & Cristina (Grey’s Anatomy) - because “you’re my person” even after marriages and stuff. Originally “You’re my person” was about being the one person Cristina confided in about her pregnancy and abortion because she needed a significant friend/family member/romantic partner to drive her home (if that had worked out and the appointment had been needed), and that is a very typical kind of practical commitment queerplatonic partners could make in each other’s lives. Feeling not just happy for the person if they move away for a job but also heartbroken like it’s a breakup is typical of queerplatonic level friendships, too…

18. Caitlin & Cisco (The Flash) - I don’t quite know how to explain why they seem so queerplatonic to me but I really love them as an example of queerplatonic bonding. They care so much about each other, they’re like the first thing each other thinks about, they spend every waking moment together, they confide in each other first, they knew each other before the show when no one else did, they are a ying and yang kind of deal when they are Killer Frost and Vibe, they just are such a TEAM in everything in life. They are adults, so they don’t seem like they’re just super close because they’re in the same high school. It seems like a life thing where even if a romantic partner became a part of their lives, this friendship would still probably be a slightly MORE significant relationship in their life.

19. Scott & Stiles (Teen Wolf) - this one I wasn’t so sure about, but the intensity of what they’ve each been through together has made their bond stronger than any other relationship on the show, probably. They have no secrets, and Stiles literally can’t bear the thought at the beginning of season 5 or whenever it was of Scott not being his best friend for life. Stiles uses the word “brother” because friend doesn’t describe it well enough. That kind of thing.

20. Rachel & Kurt (Glee) - I’m also not so sure about this one, but Rachel ultimately being a surrogate who carries Kurt’s child seals the deal for me on this, as well as the way Kurt/Rachel both are the potentially most affected by Finn’s death (however I may be biased a bit by fanfiction and fanon version of their lives…). They are best friends in a way that seems much closer than some of the other roommates and close friends, idk.

21. Maxine & Sean (Judging Amy) - I feel a lot of things about their friendship but don’t ship them in the slightest nor think they are “just” close friends. The age difference is part of it, and the unconventional nature of how close they managed to get despite “only” being coworkers. Watch the first four clips that come up on YouTube for them to get the gist of their relationship. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sean+maxine They might fight at times but when times get hard, they share hugs and forehead kisses and platonic physical touch and well, especially Sean toward Maxine seems very queerplatonic. She’s not even “like a mother” to him, she’s just a friend he cares for deeply, partially by nature of the TV show revolving around her life and not his, where we see no other aspect of Sean’s life at all except his feelings for her.

22. Jesse & Walter (Breaking Bad) - by nature of their criminal lives, you may notice a theme here with a few criminal partners, but I think they become each other’s whole worlds, for better or worse. It’s not romantic by any means. But it is a partnership and a deep kind of psuedo-familial love that develops.

23. Angus & Mario (Code Black) - ah I ship them in a pretty slashy way, but I’m too sex-averse and even kissing averse to really be rooting for that to actually happen. I can’t decide what I feel. They just have such an amazing friendship in such a high stakes kind of show that it makes the level of friendship feel like it shoots up to queerplatonic.

24. Emily/Aria/Hanna/Spencer (Pretty Little Liars), just the four of them, no Alison, no boys, that core group seems like queerplatonic level friendship to me because of what they’ve been through. Try to vid voiceovers about how what they’ve been through has bonded them, try to vid moments where no other characters are on screen and at least a few group moments, what I love about this is it’s not a queerplatonic duo/partnership but rather a queerplatonic level group friendship of 4. There is no “just” friends about these girls, especially given the time jump into the future in the most recent two half seasons.

25. Chloe & Clark (Smallville) - They may have been romantic for about 1 to 2 episodes, and Chloe had one-sided romance feelings for seasons 1-5, but this friendship lasted 10 seasons and even when she had romantic feelings, the relationship remained non romantic. In fact, that can be one thing I think that makes a friendship queerplatonic. The fact that one person feels “more than” friendship, romantic feelings, but the friendship is still “just” a friendship. The bond becomes more complicated and intense. Especially for a while, Chloe knowing Clark’s secret became a huge part of why they weren’t “just” friends.

26. Dwight & Michael (The Office) - basically, these two didn’t have other people they were as close to, for much of the show. Dwight might be borderline aromantic because he tends to act like friendships more important to him, desire how much he cares for Angela too. Michael loves everyone his, platonic or not, so hard. So they become, kind of by default, queerplatonic level kind of friends at first and then even after they have romantic partners it doesn’t fade. Dwight prided himself on being given a special status by Michael (in the office, but still), and they have some emotionally touching scenes.

27. Marcel & Davina (The Originals) - These two aren’t family but sort of serve that role in each other’s lives, which is basically the only reason I’m counting them as queerplatonic. They love each other in a way that is nonromantic and nonsexual and also not typical of what you’d normally see in a friendship.

28. Casey & Ashleigh (Greek) - I wasn’t sure if I should do any relationship from Greek, and if so who to do, but I think these two are nice to consider including because there aren’t enough girls who feel queerplatonic on TV but these two are super-best-friends to a degree that could be queerplatonic, mainly because they could not be any closer as friends? Like idk, especially at the end of the series, they have a lot of feelings about one another…

29. Leonard Snart & Mick Rory (The Flash & DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) - ah, Captain Cold & Heatwave, totally queerplatonic partners. Snart’s death hurts the most because that pairing can’t be broken up! What are they doing!! I mean I care about them ruining Sara/Leonard as a ship too but I care more about this friendship between Mick & Leonard. I care about how much they care about each other and how much they are always on the same team. The third “partners in crime” on this list.

30. Michael & Brian (Queer as Folk) - see what I said about Chloe/Clark, basically one-sided feelings and maybe a couple kisses in their lives but never really being anything other than friends makes their friendship atypical, queerplatonic because of all it involves. They weren’t “just” friends, they were in many ways the main rock in each other’s lives.

31. Karma & Amy (Faking It) - I never saw the final season of this show, but hopefully eventually. Basically, I heard they don’t end up together and essentially Karma never returns Amy’s feelings enough, so… while I can ship them romantically, I can also just see them as a queerplatonic relationship for the reasons described directly above in Michael/Brian (and in Clark/Chloe, and Sara/Oliver). Amy learns to suppress her sexual and romantic feelings for her friend in favor of preserving the deep friendship bond. They are atypically close as friends.

32. Arthur & Merlin (Merlin, BBC) - I’ve never seen the show but I plan to watch it eventually and already know they count as queerplatonic in my eyes. The creator said they are a love story as do the actors but the guys never kiss and a lot of people interpret it as gay but thwarted by network television, but from the fanvideo things I’ve seen… I prefer to think of them as Sherlock/John level queerplatonic.

33. Lux & Tasha (Life Unexpected) - they didn’t have anyone else growing up, no parents or family at all, so they became way more than friends and as close as sisters in some ways, and their friendship seems queerplatonic to me, despite their young age. They would risk so much for the other. They need each other in their lives.