#not focused on romance

[im-up-to-shenanigans]

i will never not get emotional watching the season 2 finale of ouat. like just watching killian's face fall when he finds out neal is dead. the realization the emma may have lit the spark of his redemption, but his love for baelfire is what fanned that spark into a flame

the direct parallel of the scene in the past of killian telling bae that he could change for him and bae saying he would never change bc all he cares about is himself

AND THEN WHEN HE TURNS AROUND AND COMES BACK EMMA SAYS SHE DIDN'T THINK HE CARED ABOUT ANYONE BUT HIMSELF AND KILLIAN JUST SAYS HE NEEDED REMINDING THAT HE COULD ASJDHHDJSK

and that reminder came after emma's speech in the diner. after she told him that he could be a part of something. he still didn't give her back the bean. he gave her an empty pouch and dipped. he had nothing to lose by leaving storybrooke to be destroyed, but he came back.

without anyone there with him to say just the right things and encourage him to make the right choice. emma already did that, but that wasn't enough. he still betrayed her

but he sat there with his own thoughts. with the knowledge bae was dead. and looking at the carving he made to teach this boy he once loved how to sail. AND HE TURNED BACK

BECAUSE HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR TEARING APART BAE'S FAMILY. AND ONE OF HIS BIGGEST REGRETS WAS SELLING BAE OUT TO PAN. BUT HE'LL BE DAMNED IF HE DOESN'T TRY TO MAKE IT RIGHT. SO HE TURNS BACK TO SAVE BAE'S SON. BECAUSE HE MAY HAVE TAKEN BAE'S MOTHER AWAY FROM HIM ONCE AND PLANNED TO MURDER HIS FATHER, BUT HE WON'T LET HIS SON SUFFER THE SAME THING. HE WANTS TO BREAK THE CYCLE AND TRY TO MAKE IT UP TO THE BOY HE ONCE LOVED AS HIS OWN

and then he finds out that storybrooke's safe, but henry's been kidnapped, and he doesn't even hesitate to volunteer to help get him back, even when he finds out he has to work with the man who murdered the woman he loves and who cut off his hand. HIS LOVE FOR BAELFIRE OUTWEIGHED HIS HATRED FOR RUMPLE, JUST LIKE HE SAID IT WOULD WAY BACK WHEN HE TOLD BAE HE COULD CHANGE FOR HIM. HE MADE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE

and he finds out that henry's been taken to neverland, a place killian DESPISES, and he still doesn't back out. bc he may have sold bae into pan's hands, but he will save his son from suffering the same fate.

and everyone believes he's on neverland solely for emma, and he lets them believe that. bc he knows why he's there and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. he may be falling in love with emma. she may inspire him to become better. but she was never the reason

and i can't stop crying

#ouat meta #ouat #once upon a time #killian jones #killian jones meta #baelfire #neal cassidy #hookfire #captain swan #but only a little bit #i may not like neal when he's paired with emma #but i love baelfire #and his scenes as neal with his family #not focused on romance #were always the best part of his character #ouat 2x22

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

You keep telling yourself that Namari.

#dungeon meshi #Namari #Kiki Tansu #kikimari #lets fill that tag! #Originally I wanted to just draw the twins in their gnome outfits. #But then I spent 2 hours listening to Mika's Big Girl and I was like “You're so right singer-songwriter Mika. I have to draw Namari” #Anyways I've been practicing with diversifying body shapes as part of my art studies and I really enjoy it!!! #I can't wait until Tade shows up so I can draw more big girls. #By the way - since a lot of people have recently gotten into Dungeon Meshi and finished the manga #Please let me bring your attention to the Adventurers Bible! It's filled with so many extra character focused comics and lore! #We love canon bisexual Namari and the situationship she has with Kiki. #The manga itself doesn't really touch on romance in general but behind the scenes there is yearning. And leg pouches.

[jennystahl]

#for me honestly gale which is funny cause I don't romance him in game #but I think we could be really annoying together #academics with different focuses so we aren't rivals. getting to explain things to each other. he's thick #prob some other npcs too but I'll stick to the main ones here #polls #bg3 #baldur's gate #baldur's gate 3

[redysetdare]

Y'all ever think about how children's media is the only media to really put priority to friendship (ex: the power of friendship) and how once you grow up media starts to shift towards a focus on romantic love and sexual relationships and how that kind of puts out this idea that valuing friendship is a childish thing you need to grow out of and replace with romance and sex cause I do.

#text #aroace #aromantic #asexual #aro #ace #even then more childrens media is starting to focus on romance now to so itss like only toddler shows have friendship be important #and when shows for older audiences do leave out romance and sex the fandom focuses on solely that instead #idk makes it hard to fully enjoy things when i know romance subplots will at somepoint take over

[diana-bookfairchild]

No, but the Hunger Games did need the romance plotline. See, Snow got it all wrong for the cause of the districts' rebellion. He thought an act of love is entirely separate and different from an act of rebellion, that the two are mutually exclusive. But we saw even in Katniss' though process that the two are mixed. And for the districts, the two are the same thing. For seventy-four years they've been forced to watch their children, grandchildren, siblings, niblings, friends die in the Games or through exploitation, are told it's an honour for them to die for the Capitol and are not allowed to grieve. And then suddenly this girl comes up and plants her feet and says 'no'. She survives through illegal hunting, avoiding the miserable death via starvation or the terrible community home. She doesn't stand by to watch her sister die, she volunteers. She doesn't treat her friend's death as one of a tribute to the Capitol, but as the horrible killing of an innocent little girl who deserves to be memorialized. She thanks and humanizes another district's people. She gives another tribute a merciful death. She refuses to give up on the man she loves, repeatedly. Defying all sense and establishment.

That is rebellion, for the Districts. Love, loyalty, grief, kindness, mercy - they're all rebellious sentiments.

And romantic love is an integral part of that. Not the be all end all, but an intrinsic part. We see sisterhood with Prim, we see friendship with Rue and Finnick and Johanna (and Gale and Madge a little bit), we see mentorship and connection with Haymitch and Boggs, so of course we need the romantic angle with Peeta. Of course we need the dandelion that grows after the war, the dandelion that started it all through one act of kindness to the starving girl he loves.

#the hunger games #rebellion #katniss everdeen #everlark #romance #the romance was NOT pointless #or irrelevant to the plot #though it is definitely not the thing to be most focused on #it is definitely part of the message and themes #thg #thg series #platonic relationships #romantic relationships

[bo0zey]

we as a society moved past motor oil gerard waaayy too damn fast for my liking

#when i first saw these images i was like…..o….oh my god…but??????? n o one?? was going feral???? #LIKE WHY ARENT YALL GOING FERAL THIS LOOK IS MEANT FOR US TO LOSE OUR MINDS N GO COMPLETELY FERAL #this is why i can’t deal w this new generation of mcr fans on twt they’re so focused on clown/tampon gerard that motor oil g just????? #shorts gerard got some recognition thankfully but like we already had a shorts gerard era so?? #but a MOTOR OIL GERARD??????? #this look is literally right up in the rankings w priest gerard but y’all skipped past it way too damn fast to appreciate it smh #gerard way #mcr reunion #mcr reunion tour #mcr tour #mcr #my chemical romance #mcr gerard way #mine

[bladesmitten]

"wdym wyll didn't get romance content? he has new kisses!" which every companion got. meanwhile he still can't be kissed or hug in the epilogue. which you can do with every companion. he still doesn't have multiple unique romance greetings. which every companion has btw. he's still lacking reactivity after his act 3 romance scene. don't be deliberately fucking obtuse

#.txt #i made this post bc this patch was focused on romance but that doesnt mean this is the only problem with larian's treatment of wyll

[rotisseries]

hades fandom dash osmosis had me kind of thinking that than and zag were the nicer friends to lovers romance and that meg was the mean dominatrix type but in my playthrough I've found that meg is distantly polite and than is openly a tsundere bitch. ok

#like they're both clearly pissed at you but when you talk to them #meg will be like. “i have a job I need to be focusing on 😐” #and than will be like “TCH🙄 why are you even TALKING to me????🙄🙄🙄 you're planning on LEAVING ANYWAY.🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨” #worth noting that than is the one actually trying to help you whereas meg's job is to kick your ass. so #anyway I love them I can't wait to have my toxic polycule #“hades is a combat focused roguelike game about escaping the underworld and finding out where your mother went” WRONG. #it's a bisexual romance visual novel<333 #hades #hades game #thanatos hades #megaera hades #thanzag #megzag #I love having to guess at ship names here this is great #thanzagmeg

[locallegion]

Just posting some pics of Movie!Bowser that I found in Pinterest/Twitter/Google Images because thehyperfixation I've had on this man for the past like two months is hitting like a truck right now aaaaaaaaaaaa

#bowser #movie bowser #mario #mario movie #Hyperfixation hitting like a truck rn #just woke up one day and suddenly im obessed with bowser #big cuddle monster look at him #hes a goofball #Focused and intense guy who is a clueless dork when it comes to romance #last tag can also be applied to garrus vakarian #actually that probably explains why i like those two so much

[toyxic]

oouughgghh im gonna finish this but im crying over I'd Give Anything right now that song didn't need to be that gay & sad

#cassunzel #wip #no like. #its the only song #that focuses the acoustic guitar in the main melody #the acoustic THAT rapunzel can play #the first since “i see the light” #THE OTHER ROMANCE SONG #LIKE #THROWS A CHAIR #THROWS A TABLE THROWS THINGS #throws UP LKSJDFh #my art #tts #tangled the series #tts cassandra #tts rapunzel

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC Dead Soulmates

This is probably the only soulmate au I'll ever do so enjoy

Soulmate au where your soul mark turns black when your soulmate dies

Danny and Jason are soulmates. The problem? Both of their soul marks are black. Sure, they came back, but not in a typical way, so each thinks the other is dead

So what do we get? Longing. Two guys longing for a love they thought lost to them, thinking tenderly of a future they don't think they could have, even without the added craziness of their lives. Standing on rooftops, smoking in the cold november air, their breath indistinguishable from the smoke, their spent cigarettes flicked off the edge like discount shooting stars, lamenting their fates, probably to each other for the dramatic irony of it all

they both get it. The quiet kind of grief, longing for somebody they never got the chance to know, thinking about how things could have been different, how the should have been different. That understanding is what draws them towards each other

and then? Jason sees Danny's mark, Jason shows his own, they stare at each other, silent for a moment, before arms wrap around the other, lips pressed together, and quiet tears fall like rain to the rooftop beneath their feet

longing, angst, and then happy ending

and you can thank this song for inspiring the mood for this

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #writing prompt #writing #dpxdc #soulmate au #dead on main #i usually don't like soulmate au's so probably the only one I'm ever going to do #they kind of act as shortcuts to get characters together #which tends to skip my favorite parts of romance focused fics #so taste wise they just don't scratch the itch for me usually #but if i can give them years of angst... #idk something about actually having them emotionally process the fact they think they'll never get to meet their other #the person perfectly suited to them #having them suddenly get together seems worth it to me #i also really like this song #Spotify

[yardsards]

the thing about labru vs kabumisu is that both of them have the same core appeal to me, specifically from kabru's side of things: kabru being someone who is constantly agonizing about social rules and putting on the right mask, and meeting this Weird Fucking Guy who does not (cannot) care about all those things, and so kabru slowly allows himself to be more genuine. they're both such good relationships (whether you view them romantically or platonically), why must there be so much hostility between enjoyers of these ships?

#they are ALSO both ''just when you think you've hit rock bottom you want to fuck a blonde guy'' #(yes ik mithrun's hair is technically silver but it's blonde enough) #eliot posts #dunme #ships #dungeon meshi #dm spoilers #dungeon meshi spoilers #labru #kabumisu #i love both so i feel like i'm winning either way. multi track drifting! #i think i like kabumisu slightly more bc i am an acts of service enjoyer at heart #but both are good #the only ship that i'm that gung ho about is farcllle (but also i'd never get into a shipping war over it bc im not fucking 12 years old) #why is there so much shipping war in this fandom??? it's so fucking bonkers. is it fucking 2014??? #what makes it more annoying is that this series is so light on romance and focuses on platonic relationships #how did this series attract so many rabid shippers??? #this post has been up for 2 hours and someone was already posting bad take reductive ship hate in the replies #get blocked <3 you are a deeply obnoxious human being god bless your heart

[theangstking]

Valentine's Day is coming up, and as an aromantic person with a committed romantic partner, we want to say :

if you have a romantic partner, or want one, you are still aromantic and valid.

if you want to celebrate Valentine's Day in a "traditional" romantic sense, you are still aromantic and valid.

you are allowed to love love - even romantic love - and still be aromantic. you are still just as aromantic as others on the arospectrum.

we understand feeling a little alienated from Valentine's posts directed towards aromantics due to the fact that they tend to focus around a dislike of the focus on romance.

so here's a post for us aromantics who enjoy Valentine's Day, for the romantic aspect of it.

and let me remind you again - you are just as aromantic as someone who is more romance repulsed.

#valentine's #aromantic #arospec #sky of royals #we're used to feeling really like. alienated from a lot of aro focused posts. #bc we're cupioromo and romance craving #so here's for others like us! #hope you have a good Valentine's Day

[gay-ppl-real]

Been writing quite a lot of WH fic in my spare time recently and I realised I've kinda accidentally created a consistent interpretation of how the neighbourhood would see Frank X Eddie (liking each other or being together but on the down-low):

To be clear these aren't my theories on what's going on in the ARG, it's like... just in the world of the WH show itself, without getting deep into the horror and mystery elements, and therefore excluding facts like that in canon there's probably going to be homophobia themes to the story iirc. This is how I imagine it'd unfold if it just happened normally without whatever scariness is going on in Home as a factor.

Also I like playing around with lots of different ideas and dynamics and interpretations; this is just a bit of fun.

Transcripts (and a bunch of extra explanations/info) under the concealment charm! ⬇️

Sally:

Has no idea, because she's not paying attention to them.

Would be like "Cool. Now about MY NEXT PLAY!" if it was pointed out to her.

Unless she could make it into something dramatic.

(Extra: like if she thought of a way to basically make a performance out of it, I can imagine she'd do that. Eddie and Frank would both think she was being very strange.)

Poppy:

K N O W S

Possibly before even Eddie does, and trying to drop him hints.

Thinks they'd be wonderful together.

(Extra: She wouldn't think it was her place to say anything outright, especially because that could risk outing either of them, but she'd be like "Frank can be very protective of you, you know..." HINT HINT.)

Howdy:

Has a vague suspicion.

Doesn't think it's really his business.

DOES think they're cute together.

(Extra: it wouldn't really interest or concern him much so he wouldn't feel a need to offer input or say anything, but he would sometimes see them talking and be like 'lmao these bitches gay! good for them, good for them,' in his head.)

Wally:

Knows Eddie & Frank 'love each other' but is unclear on how this differs from how he loves all his neighbours.

Would be very happy for them if someone explained it to him.

(Extra: he wouldn't pick up on anything particularly special about them/their relationship, he just assumes that all his neighbours love each other because, in his opinion, what's not to love. He'd also likely be one of the first people either of them would feel comfortable telling.)

(Extra 2: also no-one would ever explain it to him properly. Eddie would get into embarrassed blethering and Frank wouldn't know what to say beyond that it's "just different," Barnaby would keep giving joke answers, Poppy and Howdy would just be like 🤷not my place, and Sally and Julie would keep telling him things that only made him more confused.)

Barnaby:

Would eventually pick up on it, and take great joy in teasing either of them.

Ultimately supportive, though.

(Extra: He'd greatly enjoy irritating Frank and making Eddie flustered in ways that meant nobody else but them knew what he was hinting at lol)

Julie:

#1 Frank X Eddie shipper.

She finds out because Frank talks to her about their feelings, and she's rooting for them from then on.

(Extra: she'd try to be Frank's wingman and just end up confusing and scaring Eddie and making Frank facepalm.)

#innisthoughts #welcome home arg #welcome home #frank frankly #eddie dear #frank x eddie #ACK now I'm thinking about Eddie confiding in Wally while they do crafts together that's too cute. #I've actually finished a few fics but felt self-conscious posting #I think it's because they're quite romance heavy in general #and if I write too much ship stuff I start to feel sad like I'm a “fake aroace” or some shit lmaooo #like I'm letting myself and the aroaspec community down by not focusing on how wonderful platonic relationships are on their own #and knowing that it's dumb as hell and that I adore friendships just as much does nothing to alleviate my concerns

[aceredshirt13]

having read nearly all of the Jeeves short stories, it’s so funny to me that Bertie’s bisexuality manifests as casting a wide but shallow net at girls and a narrow but ridiculously deep net at men. He thinks girls are pretty on a reasonably frequent basis, and has tried to marry at least four women thus far (not counting the unwanted engagements), but when it doesn’t work out he’s over it in 24 hours. Meanwhile he shows absolutely no interest in and never gives flattering depictions of 99% of the men in his life, but will praise Jeeves to anyone who will listen, wax poetic about his appearance (and get defensive on his behalf about it when a child insults it), and is absolutely inconsolable when they are separated.

(also Bertie is in no way allosexual. he is canonically terrified at the thought of reproducing. and due to the narrow but deep net on the other end I don’t imagine he’s going around sleeping with loads of men, either. that man’s either demi as hell or just entirely ace)

#red randomness #jeeves and wooster #bertie wooster #reginald jeeves #wooves #jooster #100 and up neat #finally determined my take on Bertie orientation and had to get the thoughts out #granted I have only read the first three short story collections + Extricating Young Gussie (re: none of the novels or last two stories) #so I can’t speak for the few stories following that or any of the novels #but this is my StanceTM #curious to see what that pastiche Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is like and whether or not it matches this #because if it’s focused on a Bertie het romance then I have trouble seeing it #he truly doesn’t seem invested enough in women for it to carry a whole book??? #they’re more like crushes or cheery whims #while Jeeves is so close to his heart that he can’t bear to be without him. a source of comfort as a person beyond just what the man does #side note there are two pastiches I’ve heard about that put Bertie with Bobbie Wickham and that sounds untenable lmao #Bertie would be at his wit’s end #also I heard she gets a guy later anyway?? and at this point Bertie’s already fallen out of love with her besides??? #truly the greatest sin of those two pastiches is separating him from Jeeves though. good fucking luck #it also sounds like the show is kinda different?? but I’ve never seen it #anyway I’m rambling without all the information so maybe this is total nonsense but hey!

[samsincerely]

#bg3 #I feel like I’m forgetting a critical one #I tried to avoid romance focused scenes #bc then it might just be like Astarion grave sex scene sweep lol #dame aylin #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 durge #astarion #astarion ancunin #karlach #shadowheart #nightsong