#and OUGH this game is so good at writing platonic relationships

[thrilling-oneway]

There’s something about how a lot of project sekai fans approach found family that just. I dunno, rubs me the wrong way i guess? I feel like a lot of people are missing the point.

950 something words of me rambling like hell about frienship under the cut

Sibling HCs are very popular in this fandom and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing (i even have a couple myself) but the way people treat them is very nuclear, and agh I just really feel like you’re missing out on the nuanced platonic relationships that come with found family.

Like found family doesn’t fit conventional “nuclear family” dynamics. That’s the whole point! You can have a deep familial platonic bond with someone but that doesn’t always equate to siblings. I’m talking about this more in a fanon sense, because in game the Tenma’s and Toya consider each other like siblings, but I feel like especially on twitter people are overdoing it, for lack of a better term, with the sibling HCs.

I’m not trying to say it’s bad, have your fun HCs no one’s stopping you, but so many people I’ve seen recently where like every platonic ship they have (especially m/f ones) they consider as a sibling duo/trio/etc. And you are seriously missing the point of found family when you are building a whole extremely nuclear mum/dad/siblings dynamic between cast members. It’s all about the unconventional yet still familial bond. Found family is so good to explore because of the fact it isn’t the “default” family structure. You aren’t quite siblings or don’t have a parent/child dynamic, but you are family!!

Like just to talk about the fact that sibling HCs are something I see constantly with platonic m/f relationships as well. I know not everyone does this but so many people completely write off m/f friendship - either you are a couple or you are siblings. And maybe this is because of heteronormativity and the expectation that men and women who are friends must have underlying romantic interest in the relationship and if they don’t then they’re biologically related but maybe it’s not but still! Don’t overlook it. Normalise platonic m/f relationships they don’t need to be romantic or familial they can just be friends and I feel like this is such an underutilised dynamic in prsk fanon content, which is unusual considering it is so fucking prominent in the game particularly with VBS and WxS.

And even outside of m/f, platonic relationships of all gender combinations within the fandom are so so so overlooked. “But they’re not” okay you can’t just say “they are all besties <3” and get a pass because it feels like you have a very idealistic and blatantly unrealistic idea of how friendship works to the point it feels almost ingenuine. Like placing them all on that same level of frienship when friendship is so nuanced and truthfully you’re not gonna be that close with everyone. You grow distant from people or just never grow that close to people but these interactions can still be incredibly important even if they aren’t connected to a deep personal bond. On the other side of things you can have an extremely deep bond and close attachment to someone and it can be entirely platonic and just platonic. Not romantic not familial not queerplatonic. It’s just friendship and this game is all about platonic relationships even if it does delve into ship tease at times. Literally the theme that ties everything together is unity and friendship and community.

And this is getting offtopic from found family so I now present to you: Wonderlands x Showtime - the unit whose underlying theme is literally found family and I am willing to fight people on this. According to wikipedia (unreliable source, i know), found family is "a non-biologically related group of people established to provide ongoing social support". And while this applies to every unit in the game to some degree, it perfectly describes the WxS dynamic. Yes I know Niigo fits that definition too but their overall dynamic is a lot more centred around emotional support and some of their dynamics are still somewhat detached because of their individual situations and mental health problems. But WxS is about the social support aspect and it is staring you right in the face. Everyone in WxS was a weirdo or outcast or alone in some way but they find solidarity and a place to belong with each other. Nene was too shy and insecure to face people, Emu wanted to be taken seriously, and Rui was shunned and outcast for who he was. Tsukasa had a dream to become a star, Emu found him and hired him so she could fulfil her dream of revitalising the stage, which led to Rui being brought along and finally giving him somewhere where he was accepted, who got Nene to go with him so she could overcome her insecurities and perform again. They have each other when they don't have other people, they support each other in achieving their dreams because they share the same passion even if their goals lie on different paths. And it's just so fucking good. They aren't siblings, they aren't love interests* - they are friends. They are found family by definition and by example and it's not nuclear - it doesn't fit a familial structure at all they aren't siblings, it isn't a parent/guardian-child dynamic. It just is and that's what matters most.

Uhh I'm still bad at ending these things. Platonic relationships in Project SEKAI are important and you shouldn't water them down to fit nuclear family dynamics or idealistic expectations and accept that they have nuance and aren't always going to be perfect without flaws. Also heteronormativity bad, m/f friendship good, WxS is found family and you can anon hate me on that (also that was meant to be part of a different essay that has been in my drafts for months but the demons won).

If you made it this far congrats. I'm sorry you put yourself through reading whatever the fuck this is.

*i know a few of them have ship tease but shhhh it's not nearly as prominent as other units like MMJ/VBS anyway because guess what - the unit is much more focused on the platonic stuff. this is literally why L/n and WxS don't have as clear quote-unquote "most pushed pairings" as other units do because frienship is the main theme for those two units. this is not confirmed at all (according to colopale there is no ship tease in the game) but it doesn't take much to work out.

#idk maybe being into stuff like bat.man and so.nic before prsk kinda fucked me up #this is so messy if you can't read past paragraph 2 i don't blame you i literally wrote this whole thing in one sitting and didn't proofrea #project sekai #mine #it gets longer every paragraph because i gradually became more and more unhinged because god fucking damnit i love friendship #it is SO important #and found family is SO important as well #and OUGH this game is so good at writing platonic relationships #rambles

[venihime]

for ask game - rendoc & 5, 15 and 39 maybe?

i really enjoy reading your thoughts on them, idk i just like the way you see them

ueeee thank-you, i care them deeply and im glad someone else agrees w how i Percieve them :'D

5. Do they argue often? If so, what do they argue about?

I don't think they argue often tbh. Like them bickering and disagreeing over silly things isn't uncommon, but I wouldn't call it arguing in the slightest LOL. The biggest dispute they've had in their relationship is the whole,, Doc declaring the Perimeter independent while Ren was king.

Though I think it's good that they don't really ARGUE that often since I think an argument between the two of them would be. Well. Either they'd either be completely fine OR there'd be tension and hefty miscommunication bc they can both have quite big heads and while they don't usually let that affect their relationship at all, it has the potential to affect them in a very bad way depending on how both of them feeling upset and their defense mechanisms clash.

15. How do they keep in contact when they're apart? Do they write letters, talk over the phone, or simply wait out the time?

I feel like when they're apart, having no contact is always completely unintentional on both sides. Neither of them actively avoid social contact, let alone each other, so they will shoot each other a message or call if they realize they haven't talked in a minute and they REALLY miss each other, but in general I feel like they usually just. Wait out their time apart? Like I'd consider them both pretty comfortable in their relationship so they know that sooner or later one of them will reach out when they're done focusing intensely on whatever project they're working on and it's never been much of an issue. Though I do think Ren is much more likely to reach out to Doc and seek that connection bc he's very direct while Doc is more likely to wait for Ren to seek him out if Ren needs his alone time bc he is fine waiting until Ren is ready, even if he rly misses him yk?

39. When and how did they admit that they loved each other? If they haven't yet, why?

Ough,,, okay so. I actually don't think they've directly said I love you yet!! Not in like a directly romantic sense? They've had feelings for each other for like four seasons, and they've had an entire thing going on for at least three seasons but I don't think it's something they've ever made official.

Not bc they're afraid or unsure, but bc they're both comfortable within the dynamic they have where they love each other and care for each other in their own ways, and they just don't know how to go about having a conversation that could change what they already have since theres just no way they both aren't at least somewhat aware their relationship isn't completely platonic. They drift somewhere comfortably between friendship and more, where they have and do say they love each other but they haven't established/defined their relationship officially I guess :D

#veni.txt #asks #ask games #spiderdramaqueen #rendoc #hermitshipping

[kingbabysitter]

steve rambles about s4 p1

here are my live thoughts through my first watch through; there will likely be more. spoilers (obviously), read at your own risk (also forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes, as i am writing this i am currently bouncing off of the walls because of this damn show)

GOD THIS SEASON!!! i know people are pretty divided on it, but i LOVED it so far. i’m a bit worried where it’s going to go during part 2 - namely with will and mike, jonathan and nancy, and i’m becoming so protective over dustin, max, lucas, (and erica!!) so far. i have to admit - as someone who never cries at movies/tv shows, this season got me choked up more than i’d like to admit, namely during max’s scene w/ vecna in the upside down, the battle against the demogorgon in russia, jopper reunion, and the possibility of nance getting hurt (i’m normal and i have normal thoughts). 

in terms of storyline, i was a bit confused why we didn’t see the cali gang at all after like. the middle of episode 6 or something. i hope we get to see them soon in part 2. i really liked the russia plot, i found that the beginning of the joyce/murray plot was a little boring but GOD as a dynamic they work really well together and i’m so glad that murray is a “main” character this season. i am loving robin as always - she was definitely written for gay band/theatre kids and it shows (good thing.) “i have a hard time with social cues,” oh robin the platonic (capital P!) love of my life and worst best friend ever. 

speaking of loves of my life, i LOVED the characterization and relationships this season. it was great to be back with nancy (although, i do NOT think it should be romantic), lucas and max made me sob, suzie’s siblings, especially eden, are hilarious and i loved that feeling of a chaotic house full of kids, argyle and jonathan are my two new favorite stoners, joyce and murray are unlikely best  friends!, and, of course, hopper and enzo being “friends” (as much as you can be in a prison where you cannot trust eachother) was really awesome to see too. 

wasn’t a big fan of jason’s gang/the basketball squad.. i think they were good to move the plot along and i think jason seeing patrick Die was an important aspect, but they were kind of just.. dropped after that? i’m not sure if they’re going to make an appearance in part 2 or if they’re mostly going to stay in the background.  i’m going to be 100% honest with you guys (sorry steddie fans) i did NOT like eddie in the beginning. i was worried he was just going to be some edgy stereotype that was kind of a shitbag to everyone but the fandom loved him anyway. now i can see he is just Mentally Ill and has been treated like SHIT by society. he reminds me a LOT of myself when i was younger, i resented anyone who was popular/rich/etc because i had been treated so poorly by them so i completely empathize with him on that front. i’m going to be honest i’m still not sure why he couldn’t move his game to another day; i’ve DMed before (and have been in a decent handful of campaigns) and as long as you have the prep time and plot [at least semi-]planned out (it seems like he does!) you usually don’t need a set date. i’m not saying his reaction wasn’t justified (and i love getting more erica screentime!!) but it just felt like the stakes weren’t as high as the basketball game. tl;dr - pre-chrissy death eddie i was ehh on, after-chrissy death eddie? i think he’s Neat. :-)

favorite duo this season (so far) HAS to be nancy and robin. i am so happy for nancy to have a good friend again after barb. they both deserve the WORLD

the twist with 001. OUGH. i got the fact that 001 was vecna spoiled to me, and during the beginning of the finale i started putting two and two together (who 001 was), so i knew what was going to happen to him (which sucks, by the way - i really wish i could’ve been caught off guard, there were a lot of twists at the end that i had spoiled for me unfortunately! please remember to tag your stuff correctly!

very glad that everyone is sort of having a more equal amount of screen-time. i was pretty pissed last season especially since i felt like they really pushed jonathan and nancy aside... the fandom sure has!! regardless, i think that they incorporated the new characters pretty well too, it was definitely a LOT at the beginning but given that the kids were going to two different NEW schools it made sense. (i’m also kind of glad that el didn’t really do anything with the other kids at the lab and 002 was the real only person who we had to keep track of... so many faces in that lab!!) finally, i want to shed light on dr. owens... i love morally grey characters like him, i think he is supposed to be one of those “good people who have done terrible things,” and dr. brenner’s message really applies to him (not dr. brenner though. fuck that guy). you can tell his heart is in the TRYING to be in right place but he’s definitely still corrupt and is working with the man who is testing on literal children and giving them severe trauma. so, once again, morally grey.

my biggest questions for part 2 are: - why are we stuck in 1983 in the upside down? (my first idea was that’s when the gate was opened, but that doesn’t make any sense given the timeline of season 1.) barb died on november 8th, not the 6th, so i don’t think it was vecna trying to mess with nancy’s head. 

- what the FUCK did will paint.

- how is everyone’s relationship with eachother going to develop?? i’m loving the characterization this season!

- not a question but i need to see what happens to jonathan and nancy please please please please. i have SO many theories about the love triangle i don’t know how much longer i can wait 

 - where is vickie? duffer brothers Answer Me. c’mon.

#steve's thoughts #stranger things spoilers #stranger things season 4 spoilers #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #s4