each of the androids' stories in the game focuses on a kind of love androids are capable of experiencing. familial love, friendship and romantic love. and with markus representing the power of romantic love, i think it was a ridiculous choice to remove the ability for markus to experience a queer romance, especially with the character he has so much more chemistry and compatibility with in contrast to the straight equivalent. he was forced onto north, a character that disagreed with his ideology at every possible chance, criticized peaceful approaches and was vengeful. he was FORCED onto a romance in a game about freedom. they couldve done so much with simon there.
simon was pining for that man since he stepped FOOT into jericho and i stand on that. simon, to me, is an incredibly gay coded character. he's constantly defending markus in his choices, rooting for him, praising his leadership. sacrificing his life for markus and the cause. WALLAHI he stares at markus with such love and fondness in his eyes. he SACRIFICES his own PHYSICAL HEART and dies so markus can stay alive. they're LOVERS in every sense of the word. he's also always peacekeeping, wanting to hear markus' thoughts and preventing fights, the deepest devotee to markus and the cause among the core four. you can just see the admiration in his eyes.
they had so, so much potential as a queer romance and i hate that it was scrapped. markus has such mlm energy (though i THINK this is because he's an unexpressive/rigid character and therefore feels so stiff and disinterested in his romance... he's flirting with his girl and hitting the :/ but anyway) i'm fond of them and they're very poetic. one day i will write a fic about them because they deserved more from quantic dream.
i talked about pricefield a lot already in the last section. they're almost opposites in the game, shy artsy geek and troubled vulgar punk-rocker, and you'd expect them to hate each other. but somehow they bring out the best in each other; a little bravery and righteousness in max, coming out of her shell to help people and speak up for what she believes in. it brings out softness in chloe, being empathetic and considerate for other people for once and helping her reconnect with her emotions and relinquish past trauma.
i love them both dearly and they both speak to different parts of me as a person albeit to different degrees and i just love seeing them together. the way they fuck around, but they're still so passionate about each other they'd lay down their own lives for each other, run to the ends of the world with each other. its a subtle kind of sapphic rooted in deep trust and bonding and a mutual desire to see each other happy, to think of the other everyday. but theyre also a loud kind of sapphic in the way you look at them attached at the damn hip and know they couldn't live without each other. how MUCH they grow and become better people because of each other.
they both made me gain a deeper understanding of love, of being wlw especially. the way their fates are intertwined, how max goes to the ends of the earth to keep chloe in her life and how chloe, by the end of their journey, is willing to be so selfless and let it all go while still holding such deep and true for what they've experienced together. the journey they go through together, the changes in their characters and their destiny together is something i will always love. pricefield speaks a lot to my girlfailure heart.
think stonathan's roots were actually just a dumb enemies-to-lovers crackship between two characters, but god did they grow over the years, and GOD did the fans rise from the dead in season five. just love them. they have a lot of potential as an exploration of queer love in unprecedented times from unexpected people. stonathan would bring a lot of growth of character in both of them, i'd say. also steve is bicurious and jonathan is pan trust (canon)
they're just such a cute dynamic, enemies-to-lovers and loner x popular or even nerd x jock coded. steve's dating the popular girl and they're an it-couple, nancy gets tired of him and hangs with jonathan who (in season one anyway) is a bit of a weird creepy geek, it stews anger between steve and jonathan leading to a big climax. i think they both were at their worst in season one and just progressively got better (though more isolated in the seasons in between) but seeing where they started from and where they ended up is so, so nice.
i just love headcanoning different concepts and scenarios for stonathan. both of their different kinds of insecurity and hatred + envy for the other, the way they're more similar than you'd think. them ditching the girl and realizing there's something between them they should give a chance (edward and jacob style) and realizing there's something about the other that they're so inexplicably fond about. they've always been a slow-burner to me of self-growth and eventual realization; the exploration of sexuality and mlm in the 80s on top of that ESPECIALLY regarding steve's character and his attitude towards jon in season 1.
ronance... ronance.. i think a lot of my love for ronance comes from some pre-existing canonical concepts that work so well when flourished in fanon into a compelling character development for nancy. i enjoy themes of comphet and sexuality exploration in stranger things especially due to the time frame as well and i think nancy is a very compelling subject for those themes.
in general throughout the show nancy is paired with steve first who initially is a big popular guy dickwad and then later dates jonathan who is an introverted slightly odd geek. i am very fond of jancy and i would've loved them to be endgame, but there is something about her moving from the most bro-dude toxic guy's guy man (at the time) to a guy that (in my opinion) is more easygoing and less tied to his masculinity and neither of them truly working out that tickles me ... my headcanon for jancy has always been two queer people navigating their feelings in a mlw relationship and being comfortable enough to express that with each other. soulmates in a way, but not necessarily romantic to the end.
ronance had a rocky start with slight opposites attract undertones and in my opinion there's a lot of basis for robin having had feelings for nancy at some point (canonically lesbian and hinted by her actress) and it's just a matter of the journey for nancy to realize she might like women and she might like robin. she's always been bisexual to me. they are to me a 'what could've been'. robin getting a proper queer romance instead of her half-baked one and nancy getting another layer to her already complex character with explorations of comphet (which she was expected to be as a popular girl) and the concept of wanting a woman. it's a lot of fanfiction fuel ... i love writing ronance a lot.
oh narusasu you founding fathers of gay romance ... i think the evidence of narusasu being canonical is more than sufficient to the point if one of them were a woman, the fact they weren't a couple would've been robbery. they have consistent theming of being soulmates and for having intertwined fates and living only for the other, it is RIDICULOUS to me they both canonically have wives with relationships that were much less invested into than narusasu which was the entire anime franchise's foundation.
the anime is just ... boy runs away from his home and his homoerotic best friend dedicates his entire life to chasing said boy, fixing all his problems, carrying his pain and burdens and bringing him home. he dedicates his ENTIRE life to that... and you're saying they're just brothers. they are the most beautifully written love story seen on the face of this earth yet the world wasn't woke enough for them yet so they were written off as brothers.
they have a brilliant dynamic. opposites attract, sun-moon theming, but they're so damn dependent on each other, they live and bleed for each other, they are only alive because of each other. consistently call each other 'the only one for them', the entire series revolves around them... naruto being the only person that could bring sasuke back home. the way sasuke pushes and pushes and naruto will always but pull him back in, never gave up on him, damn near overwhelmed him. they show care and concern for each other so DEEPLY like a language just between them two. they're possessive of each other literally primally, bro i could go ON...
they're queer icons. gay founding fathers. they were robbed by the era they were born in and the genre they belonged to and i mourn what they could've been. but the 'platonic' and 'brotherly' bond they have in the show/manga is basically so obnoxiously romantic it's not that far from them being canon anyway. they are such fanfic fuel. love them to bits.
rarity and aj are another CLASSIC opposites attract. rarity is a high maintenance flirty fashionista and applejack is a down to earth no nonsense southern farmer who's not afraid to get dirty. they butt heads a lot, but obviously, they emphasize on them moving past their differences and bonding, and it's always in such an adorable way. in the EQG series, they have had crushes on men that resemble each other (rarity crushes on a down to earth country boy that looks EXACTLY like aj and aj crushes on a musician very similar looking to rarity) but i digress
aj has always had this soft spot like attitude toward rarity. rarity will ALWAYS piss her off, and she will never really understand rarity, but she is always the first to support her. to hear her out on her complaining and genuinely want to help in whatever way. she has zero idea on any of rarity's obsessions with fashion and status but she'll easily offer to model or help out. she's a PINER and she's WHIPPED for that girl. on the other end rarity is a generally flirty character (frequent use of darling) but i just see so much admiration of applejack in her. she respects aj's honesty and hard work, she gets worried about aj all the time, oh my GODFD theyre so butch x femme even.
their dynamic just really tickles me in a way where i think they bring out the best in each other and they're so soft and fond for each other. they both try so hard to understand each other's polar opposite lifestyles and even if they dont get it, they're still so so supportive and want to see each other flourish. rarity is SO the girlboss diva femme gf and aj just does her bidding and walks around behind her with hearts in her eyes ack i love them dearly.
