Sometimes I see people absolutely losing it over Stan bros fanart because they can’t tell if it’s platonic or a ship—and honestly? It’s because, deep down, they know it could be a ship. And yeah, it gets kinda exhausting how much people feel the need to emphasize “it’s just brotherly!!” Like… if it were that obvious, would you really need to say it?
I don't want to be (too much of) an asshole but the whole "I shouldn't have to explain this isn't Stancest" to me is so sad... And frustrating. I genuinely want to ask these people to take a walk with me and show them their own work... Show them the way the characters lounge on one another, how they sleep cuddled together and live in the same house and kiss each other on the cheek and forehead and hold each other in bed... And then ask them "Would you sleep with YOUR sibling like this?"
Genuinely. Would YOU, the artist, sleep with YOUR SIBLING like this? Look. I wish we lived in a big beautiful world where anyone can cuddle with anyone and it doesn't have to mean anything, but we don't LIVE in that world. There is such a thing as couple codding, and the way that the twins get drawn draped over each other, placing their hands on each other's pecks etc etc... This is COUPLE language. Put ANY OTHER CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT SIBLINGS in this situation and then look me in the eye and tell me that they are not a couple. Stancest does not have to involve SEX if you do not want it to- queer platonic couples are a THING. What you are drawing are queer platonic Stancest. The worst part is there are a lot of artist who draw QPR or nonsexual stancest, who embrace the term without feeling drawn to the sexual side. And I don't want to be like "Back in my day shit was better", but back in my day there wasn't this same violent hatred there was, and people were a bit more ready to be open about liking it. If you look at old Stancest art from when the show was still airing, you'd find pieces with a LOT more attention then they'd ever get now, and I don't think it's just because of lesser audience. I think the GravFalls fandom is thriving. I just think that fandom is so much more widespread and therefore so much more policed then it used to be. Anyway. It sucks, there's no fixing this, but I'm glad the Stancest fandom has gotten a little laugh out of it. But also maybe don't harass people, all right?