#all friendship is romantic

[the-confused-muse]

obsessed with stories that start out silly and stupid and then turn out to be deep and heartbreaking in their beauty. like okay, make me cry at midnight while i reflect on the true meaning of friendship i guess

#if you couldn't tell i just watched romantic killer #absolutely obsessed with the friendships #but seriously like gravity falls? #york by laura ruby too #they're all so immaculate #romantic killer #gravity falls #york

[saebaragi]

"literally what would be the platonic explanation for this?" are you sure you're ready for that conversation?

#random stuff on my account like usual #I'll tell you the platonic explanation #platonic feelings #platonic relationships #friendship #amatonormativity #aromantic #aro #everything has a platonic explanation #I'll explain actually romantic couple behaviors in a platonic way #like no my fault you all told me romance is just super friendship or something

[where-dreams-dwell]

*spoilers for One Day*

For people saying ‘it’s tragic, Dex and Em only got 3 years together’ no. They got 15 years together.

Glossing over the span of their life together to sum it up as ‘only 3 years together’ misses all the love and time they had together that wasn’t solely romantic.

Why is their relationship only ‘important’ or ‘counts’ when it’s a romantic one? Maybe there was always romantic love buried in there or growing steadily but there was a whole lot of platonic love there too.

For 15 years they were the most important person in the world to one another, they described each other as their ‘best friend’ and the person they reached out to at every high and low moment. And for the last 3 of those years they were also a couple.

There are loads of examples of Dex reaching out to Em when he’s at his lowest: the last birthday with his mum, then he’s reeling from his divorce, when he’s scared people will hate him on TV. And you *could* read that as pathetic and Em being his emotional crutch, with Dex latching into her. But you could *also* see that as when you’re struggling and low, you just want your best friend. Because they *get* you. And part of being a best friend is being there in those low moments.

And Em has done the same with Dex, just in different ways. That first year out of uni Em had no idea what she was doing; in a job she couldn’t wait to leave, a relationship that didn’t make her happy, not sure where she was going in life or what she was doing. Em writes to Dex often, and doesn’t need him to reply to her, just to read her letters and be *her* emotional crutch and person to vent to.

Even at that breakup-dinner, Em has things she ‘needs to talk about’ and she’s reached out to Dex to do it. We don’t see her discussing it with Tilly, we see her trying to talk about it with Dex. She’s at arguably her lowest moment (hates her job, hates her partner, hates her home) and she wants her best friend to listen to her. Just like he did when she was 24 and thinking about giving up and leaving London, and Dex convinced her to stay and keep going.

So they are emotional crutches *to one another*. That’s also part of being someone’s best friend.

And for all the low moments Dex also wanted to share his best moments with her too: when he’s excited about the TV pilot he calls Em to say ‘the only person I want to share this with is you’, and begs Em to find a way to be there. Yes this is also him dismissing and ignoring her achievements, yes this is self absorbed and rude and at the height of his egomania, but in that moment of triumph he only wants his best friend there with him.

When they see one another again at Tilly’s wedding Em is brave and self assured when she reveals she’s ‘thought of you every day, missed you every day’, and that even though they are friends again now the fact that Dex will have a wife and child ‘feels a bit like loosing you all over again. Because people with families have different priorities…’ That’s how close they were before.

The sentiment that ‘we grew up together’ is really true, for the both of them. They were very different people throughout their lives, and if they had tried to be a romantic couple earlier there is no guarantee that version of them would have lasted the course.

Would Emma have stayed with a peak-of-his-tv-fame Dex, partying and living life ‘to the full’? Or would they have explosively ended and decided they were too different for one another for it to ever work?

Would Dex have even tried for a career in TV or a full year of travelling if he’d become a couple with Emma after Uni? Or would he have done something else but grown resentful of what-could-have-been?

If they had sorted out their issues and apologised after their fight and Em had left Ian, would Em have found the strength to turn rock bottom into a spring board and finally write her book? Would she have even hit that bottom at all? Or would the hook have remained a pipe dream while she continued as a teacher, happy with Dex but professionally unfulfilled?

We will never know what could have been, and that doesn’t necessarily make those alternatives the ‘better’ option that they ‘missed out on’.

Maybe they would only ever have had 3 years together as a couple and getting it in their mid 30’s the way they did was their most mature and peaceful version.

So yes at times their relationship feels like it’s moving toward the inevitable conclusion of a romantic partnership. But the time before they get there wasn’t wasted or unimportant or unnecessary. And they were always together.

#one day netflix #one day #emma morley #dexter mayhew #friendship #platonic love #romantic love #star crossed lovers #I just get frustrated when people boil ‘they always loved one another’ down to ‘oh so it was romantic from the start and never changed’ #like bitch the power of friendship?? #the bonds of brother/sisterhood and all that jazz #to say nothing of platonic soulmates #or love that changes and grows #spoilers

[ewwww-what]

an archdevil and a presidential candidate sneak into a gay bar

flatcolor + closeups below :)

#they love each other so much you guys don’t understand #they’ve lived together for years. they have seen each other at their worst. #THEY HAVE CHOSEN EACH OTHEROVER EVERYTHING SO MANY TIMES #ITS ALL ABOUT FRIENDSHIP #ITS ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE #ITS ALL ABOUT TAKING CARE OF EACH OTHER #my brother just brought me fettuccine alfredo #which is an important addon to this post #(it’s all about taking care of each other) #BY THE WAY #I understand the ‘they are sisters’ response to lots of my bad girls posts but I need to make it so clear that it’s more than that #not to be that guy because I do get it but I’m in a constant state of twisting myself around my art to avoid some things #and something I get a bunch is people seeing things as either ‘they’re siblings’ or ‘they’re dating’ when neither was my intention #because what I’m trying to get across here isn’t romantic and it’s not really sisterly either. love is such a wide range beyond that #+ and I want those types of love to also be understood within my art y’know #all that to say that it’s not that deep and they love each other very very much any way you slice it #d20 #d20 fantasy high #dimension 20 #d20 fanart #fantasy high #fhjy #kristen applebees #fig faeth #fig fantasy high #kristen fantasy high #kristen chilis applebees #fantasy high fanart #undescribed #my art

[calware]

karkat envying vriska's leadership and her ability to command others vs vriska envying karkat's relationships and the way he easily forms bonds with the people around him. but at the same time both are incredibly insecure in these ways; both vriska's bossiness and ruthlessness and karkat's obsession with romance and relationships are a result of them wanting to be mature (vriska wants to be mature so others can't take advantage of her, karkat wants to be mature so others will respect him) they both want control over these parts of their lives due to their respective traumatic upbringings. but deep down they are still flawed in these areas. vriska feels guilt when she kills tavros and is insecure over her failure to live up to alternia's cold-blooded expectations. karkat's relationship with terezi blew up because he didn't have the emotional maturity to treat her with respect and his friend group fell apart under his leadership (before they died). it's like they both envy each other's facades? is this anything

#oh and they both really really hate themselves #i'm sort of conflating karkat's deal with trying to boss his friends around with his friendships and also romantic relationships #those 3 are separate #so i may be off in that regard. they're all relationships but they're different *things* #so if it doesn't fit then um. oops

[kai-strophics]

Canon gay rep is good, really it's good but oh...it is OH SO boring....Pass the Queerbait cocaine....

#nothing is more romantic than queerbait #“You saddle me with unnecessary feelings” #“i bet we'd make a great team if we worked together #TRUE YAOI is found in the two fictional men with a stronger and more toxic relationship with eachother than anyone else #akeshu #shuake #i tag shuake but let it be known im an AkeShu girlie #narumitsu #wrightworth #and all the several other dramatic male friendships #yaoi

[drarrargh]

handshake 2.0

#drarry eighth year #they’re gonna ace this platonic friendship thing #gonna be totally chill about it too #cool and casual and not romantic at all #no siree #harry potter #hp fanart #draco malfoy #drarry #my art

[kelocitta]

In honor of the @rw-ship-showdown I wanted to write about Artihunter as someone who jokingly slapped them together pre-downpour and still thinks they are actually very compelling. Just not in the super soft love wins kinda way (Although I get why people like that more) And the only way I know how to do that is talking too much so heres a far too long slug essay-

Obviously the slugcats don't offer a ton of characterization but theres not nothing to work with. Their stories, whether by their roles in it or the overarching themes do provide a backbone to work with. Even gameplay itself can provide a bit. (for some more than others) Hunter, to me, is ultimately a story about selflessness. The goal is to revive Moon, which is very much an act of kindness from both Hunter and NSH. But the weight of that action is much more significant for Hunter- Hunter is deeply sick. They're on the clock, and for all their skill in combat none of that will ultimately help them to survive longer than their body can hold out. Moon is a close friend of NSH but that means little Hunter- Hunter really gets next to nothing out of helping them, and ultimately pays quiet a bit spending their limited time alive fighting to deliver that neuron so that someone else can live.

To spend ones limited days on helping another, in a game that very much stresses the unwavering cruelty of the world and nature- is pretty notable. (And you could even say that Hunter being the Hardmode of Rain World adds another layer to this)

And then we have Artificer. A storyline that very much stands out to people as more… villainous (so to speak) than the other slugcats. Artificer's story covers a lot of things. Trauma, violence, revenge, etc. Revenge is a bit of a selfish desire- That need to see someone hurt as they have hurt you. A punishment that ultimately does not fix whatever harm was done- but feels good to see because you were hurt and now those responsible share that pain.

Artificer's actions are founded in that need for revenge, their pups killed for overstepping boundaries they didn't know existed. Is it not fair for them to be angry at that, to punish the scavengers for their violence with their own? Why should the scavengers ever be forgiven when they and their pups were not? And that's how you get that loop- Harm for harm over and over.

The original action has been lost in a spiral of violence for violence. And here stands Artificer- their very spirit scarred. Not just because they sought revenge, but because they never ceased trying to scratch that itch for violence as an answer. Artificer only has two paths for their story- killing the scavenger king (Someone who, really, has little to do with the original 'crime' of the scavengers, but represents an important individual to them- as did the slugpups to Artificer), locking themselves as karma one for good and spending the rest of their life chasing creatures that no longer even fight back in a warped sense of closure- or to dissolve themselves in the acids of the void sea because they're too far gone to find any real peace.

They can't meaningfully recover from that state, not alone, twisting in on themselves. Even if they halt their actions, they've been using violence as a feeble defense against their own pain- violence that no longer has any real direction or basis. Artificer gets no real closure from killing the scavenger king. All they can do is continue the cycle, or try to scrub it away. No real peace in a prison of their own making. So you have a creature, who even with a strict timer on their life- a body that will crumble to disease, spends its last bit of time on saving another. And another who was so caught up in the pain of loss that were eaten alive by their own anger, poisoned their own soul on such a deep level even self-proclaimed gods have no solution for them. What peace can they offer each other? For Hunter, its only a fleeting moment of happiness- of selfish love, before their own body fails them. A bit of indulgence in something for themself. For Artificer, its a single, comforting thread to ground them again, something tangible to protect and care about again. But thats a thread that will ultimately be snapped under the cruel indifference of the world. Hunters timer will tick down regardless of if it takes another with it. Its a tragedy- its doomed to end badly. Whatever good it offers to either of them to find each other will only provide the fleeting comfort of a band-aid that will be ripped away too early. But all that can be worth indulging in anyway, if only for the moment. It doesn't change the ending, but the ending was never going to be happy. Its can so yuri

#rain world #rw shipping #tagging that just cause this is explicitly about that even though I usually dont do shipping stuff #with that said i dont even think this particular interpretation of a possible dynamic needs to be romantic its just kinda #about companionship in general. companionship thats going to absolutely shred an already unstable slug emotionally but thats #the point. friendship and love in spite of the unavoidable ending #just noticed this is like 80% theme analysis and 20% 'these go together just trust me' #but also theyre both girls because i want them to and also because im channeling hornet from hollow knight #who made me so deeply ill that my rain world tags still havent outcompeted my Hk tags because i drew her so much. so so much. #hunter is hornet coded to me and artificer is like if angela and gebura from lc combined into a deeply fucked up ferret #also i did tag the poll because they kinda inspired this but also. i wasnt gonna put all this out here WITHOUT a readmore thats embarassing #but i guess this is propaganda for a ship already seen as popular but like... idk i think theres something to it even as someone #who did literally slap them together originally because they were both red slugcats i considered girls. predownpour so we didnt have anythi #anyway hi tag readers i have so much work to do im being bad by writing about gay slugs. i need to get myself together #its so late this might just be nonsense bwaaaaaaa

[korixae]

also also the way yeah simon and wille got to be together yeah 1000% but sara and felice!! god it’s so rare for any media to portray friendship and platonic relationships as just as important if not more important than romantic. but!!!!! they were also in that car!! they were endgame too!! it just brings me such joy that this silly angsty little romance can also put such value in friendship too <3 oh young royals writers just kill me

#that car. that last scene with car. #ofc ofc ofc them being the most adorable thing in the universe in the back #but sara and felice in the front!! sara got her driver’s liscense!! felice said fuck new york!! she had her feet up!!!!!! #and while we’re talking about yr and the value of platonic friendship can we talk about wille and felice for a moment?!?!?!!!!! #all throughout i’ve been obsessed with their friendship #i mean just look at them her looking after him through it all #even more cus they’re a boy and a girl!!! more platonic friendships between boys and girls in media!!! boys and girls can be friends #and that is just as valuable as boys and girls being in romantic relationships!! #kicking my feet over the friendships in this show on their own #let’s normalise going insane kicking feet twirling hair climbing walls gnashing at bars over platonic shit yeah mhm #young royals #young royals season 3 #young royals season three #young royals s3 #yr s3 spoilers #young royals spoilers #young royals s3 spoilers #kori shitposts #felice #felice ehrencrona #sara #felice young royals #sara eriksson #sara young royals

[enigmasandepiphanies]

one of the best realizations I have had as I have grown up is how amazing it is to show up for the people you love, unashamedly and unapologetically. show up to their classical music productions when you don't know anything about that kind of music, their chemistry club meetings when you are a literature student and don't know anything about chemistry but your bestie is doing cool experiments with copper sulphate, the very alluring blue portion you were tempted to drink in school cause it looked so magical. show up when they wake up from a long nap and have missed dinner and are feeling shitty, make them maggi and get them their fave chocolate. show up when they rant about animal documentaries excitedly and listen when they tell you the plot of jujustu kaisan at 4 am during exam week. take a walk with them at 11 pm in night because they told you you have no classes tomorrow so come down (it's their emotionally suppressed way of saying I miss you). cuddle with them to sleep because they are scared of thunderstorms. make them an art piece and write them a love letter for their birthday to show them you love them so much and you will never stop probably and that scares you sometimes but their presence will reassure you always. I know you know that they know that you love them but when you gift them your "an incomplete list of things you love about them" in your shitty handwriting they will smile and cry and choke you in a hug for 5 mins, it will be a smile spilling out of the sun and it'll be so worth it always. reply to their messages of hey "your name" except your name gets weirder and weirder cause they are bored and miss you and wanna talk and even if you are busy and tired , do return some of their affection with a small message that yes, you missed them too even though you are too tired to express. give them your fave drawing and you'll see how they have hung it up on their cork board in their dorm room. tell them to spam their earring collections and marvel over their strawberry earrings. send them a video message when they send you their jiggly caramel pudding video because omg they can cook now and you are so happy for them that you want to portal through the phone and hug them (you're gonna give them a recipe notebook for their birthday). let them rant on the phone while you fold your laundry, it's manageable mostly.

there are days when you can't show up and it's okay and they'll understand, most people who love you do, they should. but gosh, putting in effort in any relationship isn't that the best thing? because they are not just worth your love, the point of worth never even comes cause they are the very meaning of love. because God remember what Miyazaki said when you love someone you inspire each other to live and grow even when you recognize how hard living is. growing is difficult but you love growing with them.

I used to think I love people too much but you know what they love me too much too. so when someone asked richard siken what do you do when you love someone too much he said congratulate yourself. and today I am congratulating myself cause I know the loves of my life are doing that too.

#okkiee its 5 am and i am verh overwhelmed with love #these are all real life events that happened that made feel very loved #eni life stories #lovecore #found family tag #friendship #val tag #smn tag #musical soulmate tag #hiraeth tag #dee tag #inn tag #vish tag #love #romanticism #romantic academia #richard siken #poetry #this also includes my parents actually so uwu #yes incomplete list inspired by rwrb dont @ me

[kismetconstellations]

#Rapunzel #Eugene Fitzherbert #Rapunzel x Eugene #Eugene x Rapunzel #New Dream #OTP: And you are mine. #Pascal #Tangled: The Series #Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure #Disney #Mine. #All I want is to fly with queue. #Genuinely the most precious. #If only this whole show had been about them #instead of the hyper-focus on a creator's pet and attempts to supplant Eugene's significance in Rapunzel's story with a toxic mess of a #'friendship'. #So much wasted potential. #And #yet... #they're STILL Disney's best romantic relationship. #And that's saying something.

[fumifooms]

NOO NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND LAIOS’ SUCCUBUS AKA MOST ALLURING FORM IS MARCILLE SMILING

#Dungeon meshi #Laios touden #marcille donato #and it’s the romantic advance that’s unwanted #…. OR IS IT #Anyways this is my TLDR of my huge succubus analysis #Laimar #marios #Marcille is so special to Laios it makes me go insane and feel ill (/pos) #I’m collecting laimar moments to post one day hehe #I’m a hopeless shipper but don’t let that blind u from my point if u don’t like laimar!! Like debate if u disagree #I see too many people fully disregard the succubus scene when it has so much to say!! #OUGHH THE WAY HE DOESN’T EVEN FLINCH AT SEEING HIS MOST ALLURING FORM BC HIS LIKING OF IT IS BASED ON FAMILIARITY #AND THEIR LONGTIME FRIENDSHIP. HE SEES IT ALL THE TIME SO OBVI HE WOULDN’T REACT LIKE A MESS #They make me unwell I can’t stop thinking about this #Btw that second picture is the last page of a chapter where on his deathbed Laios sees his life flashing before his eyes #And the chapter is all about how he met Marcille and when she became part of the party #And that chapter is the one JUST before the succubus mini arc #So like it’s 100% connected and intentional #dungeon meshi manga spoilers

[piratedog64]

discovering that you're aroace is so freeing, but it's also so terrifying at the same time

#I'm so incredibly happy with how close and fulfilling my friendships are #but #what happens when all my friends move away and get romantic partners #what happens then #will I just be alone? #aromantic #aroace #asexual #aro #ace #arospec #aspec #aro pride #acespec #aromantic asexual #lgbtq+ #lgbt #lgbtqia #lgbtq

[ssaseaprince]

Can we talk about how Derek obviously has a type because Spencer and Penelope are so similar.

#whether you see them as romantic or not #his closest most genuine friendships/relationships are with two people who are VERY similar #I just think it's cute #Because in theory youd think “oh big muscular jock whos a player” and you wouldnt associate him with them #but then you realize that his best friends are socially awkward nerds who hate any kind of physical exercise #and are very eccentric #and ill add “conventionally” attractive even though we all know thats bs because theyre both hot asf #I just think its so wholesome cause its like opposites attractive kind of thing #and hes just so open-minded and loving and the least judgemental person ever #cm #criminal minds #criminal minds meta #derek morgan #ssa derek morgan #spencer reid #ssa spencer reid #penelope garcia #moreid

[rudolphsboyfriend]

Okay i have a THEORY so please help me test it.

If you're into romance tropes/ stories, reblog this and tell me whether you're alloro or aro, and whether you prefer enemies to lovers or friends to lovers

#basically i have a sneaking suspicion that I'm so far gone for friends to lovers because the distinction bw platonic and romantic love #is so blurred for me as an aro #that all friendship feels a little romantic sometimes #and friends to lovers just captures it perfectly #aromantic #friends to lovers #enemies to lovers #rb #rb game #pls don't let this flop im genuinely curious

[buglover77]

ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE SPOILERS

I cannot get over how Miles is Gwen’s safe person.

Miles is so her safe person that she CANNOT SENSE HIM. Her body physically cannot register him as a threat. Her spider sense does not tell her he’s there when invisible because HER BODY CANNOT BE ON GUARD WITH HIM. GRRRRR.

She can sense him across universes when he’s in danger but she can’t sense him when he’s five feet away because his intentions are so…not malicious. And she feels so safe with him. And trusts him so completely. That she literally can’t sense him.

#whether you ship it romantically or just like the friendship Gwen and Miles are everything to me #she makes so many mistakes over and over and it all just comes from this overwhelming position of being a kid and NOT KNOWING BETTER #Gwen Stacy lost her Peter and wasn’t ready to lose her Miles #and she hasn’t he’s right there #and she CAN’T SENSE HIM #she thinks she is all alone in the world and she’s NOT she ISN’T #her best friend is RIGHT THERE #she just loves him too much to feel him #gwen stacy #miles morales #spider gwen #spiderman #into the spider verse #across the Spiderverse #spoilers #miles and gwen