Alright, we’re going back into PLATONIC INTIMACY, because I love it and we need more of it in fiction.
Way back in the day, I wrote a fanfiction project. It was messy. It was very clearly written by a high schooler. The two main characters did not end up together. I got flames and vitriol and praise and fanart. I FUCKING LOVED IT.
Writing 500k story (never let it be said I am not prolific) in which the most important relationship is a platonic one is still a Proud Achievement for me. That project was incredibly fun character writing! Emotionally deep and physically comfortable platonic relationships is still intensely My Jam, and that projects’s was probably my most favorite/best, just because the entire main plot revolved around these two characters who should hate and try to kill each other becoming best friends.
From the reader end, however, it was chaos. I got into actual arguments with readers over how I was writing the story, whether or not characters should end up together, etc etc. That part wasn’t fun, but it did build in me the strength to defend my own writing, so, y’know. Good thing.
Sadly, I’ve seen this trend across all of fiction—by and large, romantic/sexual relationships are more “important” than platonic ones, despite the intensity of the emotional aspect. Alas!
So I will say: DIG YOUR HEELS IN. I don’t think most fandoms I’ve been in/seen are quite as antagonistic with their writers as they have been in the past, but not everyone will “get” it, sad to say. If you’re writing original fiction, you won’t have quite the same platform, delivery, or relationship with readers, but there is still potential for the same kind of strange pushback. Especially if you are working on a project with any other creatives; what you may see as best friends, they may see as a cash cow ship.
(A quick note about queerbaiting/shipteasing: people will ship things regardless. But if you’re building up your platonic relationship by teasing a romantic or sexual one, then you’re not doing it right. You have to make sure the relationship is Just As Important platonically as it would be sexy-like!)
That said, don’t worry about shippy moments! (Late definition: “ship” means “relationship”.) Yes, they can be construed. But there are also ways to get around things in the actual writing—someone leaning in to kiss someone is going to have very different wording than someone leaning over to kiss someone’s cheek, right? Or any scenes with nudity or physical touching. If your character doesn’t get excited, then it should tip off readers.
But don’t worry about anything being too much. Believe in your characters, and your story, and your writing! Readers will be readers; there will always be a subset that gets it perfectly, and always a subset that really, really don’t. Why do you think there’s so much fandom wank over this stuff?
To finish, here’s a list of things I have had Completely Platonic Characters do together, in various stories: compliment boobs/butts, compliment outfits, help dress each other, clean/dress/bandage wounds, share baths together, dance, take dance lessons together, hold hands, kiss cheeks/foreheads/hands/noses, sleep together, cuddle, desperately hug in moments of high emotion, cup each others’ faces while telling them something Important, cry over each other, use boobs/tummies/butts/laps as pillows, huddle for warmth, live together, go on dates, share spoons/forks, fight Evil/Antagonistic Forces for/with each other, and kill for each other. Platonic, right? The answer is YES.
Maybe don’t do that last one unless it makes sense in your universe.
