been thinking about a particularly troubling statement used to justify shipping being “all relationships can be seen as romantic” when no, not all relationships should be categorized as such.

there’s friendship, platonic, familial, etc.

love is not always romantic in nature.

society has been built on the concept of all media has romantic relationships and it becomes one of the main focuses of said media.

and i wish there were more stories focusing on other variations of relationships that aren’t romantic in nature, ie platonic.

and this also goes without saying that any relationship can be toxic and abusive—it is not restricted to romantic or familial relationships, but friendships and work and others.

there is such an immense pressure of having a relationship be romantic in nature that it literally excludes those who are aro and ace or any relationship that isn’t romantic in nature and should not be considered as such.

romance isn’t always the answer, platonic can be it too.

i get there are those ships where the chemistry really works, but when it’s not intended to be romantic in nature via the creators, that should also be respected.

some people can really get along well, doesn’t mean they should be romantically linked for that reason alone.

relationships are a foundation of various experiences, not all of them will or should be romantic in nature—we should also treasure and cherish the other kinds of relationships folx can have and be in, they are just as important.

this thread brought you by several thoughts regarding how involved shipping strips relationships to merely the romantic aspects rather than the multifaceted and complexities that any relationship will have + be.

and why we need a variety of relationships, not just romantic ones.