@Forestofglory fake/pretend relationship?
@soph_sol B -- I used to be baffled by this one, but some friends who really like it explained it to me and now I'm found of it. (If the reason they have to pretend is too flimsy though it does work for me)
@Forestofglory lolll super fair! I also do have a point at which the reason is too flimsy, but then again imo it can also be fun in cases where the narrative is aware of how flimsy it is, but the characters are SO ready to jump on any excuse to pretend to date that they're wilfully closing their eyes to the flimsiness of the excuse!
so I guess I'd say that I think for me the problem with flimsy reasoning comes when it feels like the characters must have been given the idiot ball to make the story proceed
@soph_sol hmm.. it depends on what the fake dating involves -- mostly I don't like it if they are lying to important people in their lives for flimsy reasons
@Forestofglory yeah that also makes sense! and I think for me again it would go back to - does the narrative realise how much it sucks to do that? because if so then it can be really interesting! but if the narrative doesn't take the lying seriously and just treats it as funny or cute or whatever, then I have issues.
@soph_sol There' is a lot of bad behavior that how the narrative treats really maters for me. I'm only willing to suspend my moral disbelief so far! (And if the narrative is endorsing really awful behavior I find that upsetting)
@Forestofglory yes exactly!!!
@soph_sol Sometimes fandom makes me feel like this is unreasonable, but I don't care what your blorbos say genocide is bad!
@soph_sol @Forestofglory villainy can be very fun to explore and i am also in favor of nuance and moral complexity but yeaaah hate to open a tag for [character who has canonically done some real fucked up shit] and be met with wall to wall fluff with zero interest in considering their actions or the consequences to said actions
