Holmbo Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Let's make a list of fiction we want to warn our fellow aros from. It's mostly for fun since everyone's taste is different and what one of us dislikes another might enjoy. The reason I thought of this is I just bought a book The Bookshop on the Corner but I accidentally got one from the wrong author so instead of getting a story about a woman who travels around in a bookmobile I got one about a woman who owns a book store and is addicted to romance novels. The book starts with her watching longingly at her friend as she's engaged in pda with her new boyfriend out on the streets. So boring! I don't know if the book I intended to buy is any good but definitely don't buy the one by Rebecca Raisin. What do you want to warn your fellow aros from? It could be books, movies, games, you name it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVI0 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 warning any1 who wants to watch call of the night; dont go in w too high of an expectation potential spoilers; brief summary & my criticism w this show Spoiler kou [black haired boy; the protag] is aroace coded & nazuna [pastel purple haired girl] is only implied aroace but this show is heavily amanormative. the entire plot revolves around the boy wanting to fall in love w the girl despite experiencing 0 romantic attraction toward her; just so that she wont feel lonely. the whole thing implies that romance is the only way to make some1 complete & happy which literally isnt the truth i like the queer rep but i hate the msg of this show w a burning passion. i thought it would be partners challenging the amanormativity of the sys but they end up wanting to conform to it so it just aint it for me i just want them to be in an alterous relationship or smth. that sounds way better than a romantic 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternallyTBD Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) Maze runner. You can start it, and it’s good and very complex etc., but by the time you get to the last book you can’t remember anything because it is complicated and so very bland at the same time. For me it felt like all emotion and sense of purpose had been drained from the series until it you no longer knew or cared what decisions the characters would make. I know some people who enjoyed it though, so I guess maybe it’s not actually that awful? Edited May 6 by EternallyTBD 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celandine Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 There’s a bit of a community around mystery and/or time travel visual novels that I’m kind of a part of, where often the same recommendations will get thrown around. If you also like these kinds of games but can’t stand terrible romance, steer clear of Raging Loop. Its romance just isn’t well written at all — it treats its main three story “routes” as kind of a separate romance route for three different characters, and the romance drama is really awful and often sidetracks the story and weakens the characters involved. You also can’t avoid ANY of these routes, as the story is quite linear for a game in this genre and you have to complete each one in order. (vaguely spoilery past here) Spoiler IMO if this game wanted a romance (which it really doesn’t need), it should have stuck with just Chiemi, who’s the focus of the first “route” both plot and romance-wise, and also endgame love interest. She’s more significant than the other two characters and her romance is still kind of weak, but easily the best of the three, ESPECIALLY as there’s much less romance drama between the other characters in this route. Cutting the other romances would also cut some of her most annoying moments. Also, (non-romance reasons here) the game’s ending is. Bad. It gets gradually weaker after the end of the first route and the ending is a massive letdown. Personally I still like it for its mystery overall, but I can’t say that I recommend it for the above reasons. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nix Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) Ok this is about the Horizon Forbidden West DLC Burning Shores. Spoiler Since Horizon Zero Dawn I was a big fan of main character Aloy for turning every flirting npc down with a ‘I don’t have time for this’. Apart from it feeling realistic, I had high hopes that this meant she was aro. But in Forbidden Shores it is really clear she has a huge crush on the new npc Seyka. And even though you can turn down a kiss at the end with the pretty realistic ‘I can’t deal with this, it is too much’, all the awkward flirting is there. And don’t get me wrong, I am all for more queer rep in popular media. But I couldn’t help feeling really disappointed. Edited May 6 by Nix Forgot a word 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmbo Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Does anyone else have any warnings? 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonmerci Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 I remember this manga, Darling in the Franxx. The concept is cool but the amatonormativity and sexnormativity was big. Like it is so ingrained in the writers mind that they haven't realized how inconsistent it is that in a society where romance and sex were forbidden, kids would think attraction is normal (not saying attraction is not normal of course, just saying that in this context, you find a character talking as if every boys were attracted to girls). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 Normally I would find this topic rather weird. I mean, for aros, fiction may contain annoying romantic subplots or may be disappointing because it refutes one's head canon. I wouldn't say such media should be avoided, because that's a strong word. But then there's Darling in the Franxx. This anime should really be avoided. If you're in a mentally vulnerable state, don't watch it. Or better, don't watch it at all. High chance you feel awful afterwards. 5 hours ago, nonmerci said: I remember this manga, Darling in the Franxx. The concept is cool but the amatonormativity and sexnormativity was big. Like it is so ingrained in the writers mind that they haven't realized how inconsistent it is that in a society where romance and sex were forbidden, kids would think attraction is normal (not saying attraction is not normal of course, just saying that in this context, you find a character talking as if every boys were attracted to girls). I didn't read the manga, just watched the anime. So the "children" mecha pilots are biologically different, i.e. the children have a normal human development (they even live in artificial biospheres aka "quarantine zones", that emulate normal earth with all its natural pathogens), with sex drives and romantic desires, while humans in mainstream society are asexual, aromantic, biologically immortal and sterile. Children need to be different in that way because piloting the Franxx is a very obvious analogy to sex (male pilot = stamen, female pilot = pistil) and the pilots also need "compatibility", so that's likely sexual and romantic attraction. It's indeed weird that the children talk about attraction as totally normal... I mean, they have no knowledge of basic human sexuality, don't even know what kissing is, but they just accept this attraction and make jokes about it? Don't they wonder where this attraction leads to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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