#sometimes i want a way to gently clarify that i'm interpreting the relationship of two characters in a non-shippy way

[anistarrose]

what I mean when I say I'm tired of people making found families into nuclear families:

among other things, it's kind of annoying when people act like the romantic couple are automatically the "most obvious" candidates to adopt a kid; or act like a pair of people in a romantic relationship can't happily co-parent a kid with people outside of that romance

what I don't mean when I say I'm tired of people making found families into nuclear families:

people using "siblings" or "parent and child" as a shorthand (or even non-shorthand) for characters' relationships sometimes

#like yeah i've personally encountered instances of “these characters are siblings” that i feel are slight oversimplifications #but there's also not a great concise alternative word #and sometimes? characters CAN just be adopted siblings! #and also if i can be completely honest #sometimes i want a way to gently clarify that i'm interpreting the relationship of two characters in a non-shippy way #without having to put a big aggro “don't tag as ship!!!” disclaimer up #i actually we believe we need to decouple “i'd like to avoid mentions of this ship” from the implication of moral judgment #(or even like “i am judging you but only for your subjective taste and you don't deserve harassment”) #but in the meantime some people probably *will* interpret “don't tag as ship” as moral judgment #so i need a concise little way to bring up organically that i'm not into a ship!