I have a character who I believe can be read as aplatonic--and I'm fully willing to write it as such--, but wanted a different person's opinion on if it fits. I've been reading through posts to better figure out if it fits her and better understand the identity, as I am not aplatonic myself. I'll refer to her as One(she/it) for this, her 'friend' as MC(she/her), and try to keep this as short as I can. When she was 3 or 4, she meets her childhood friend, MC, after they've both gone through separate traumatic events. One, MC, and other kids they grow close to growing up get bullied until high school. One is aware that MC starts crushing on it during middle school and even after her feelings fade, One knows MC feels strong platonic attraction towards her. MC is also a VERY touchy person- hugging, laying on people, holding hands etc. One is not, being touch-averse except for romantic/sexual partners+some family members. It has only recently started to realize this information, MC has no clue about any of it. MC moves for high school and due to the story, eventually stops contacting her friend group from there. One would be distraught because it would struggle with the change of communication, knowing how MC usually acts in their friendship. They struggle between not wanting the friendship expectations while also having been in the relationship for so long that they don't know how to explain their thoughts to MC. MC is gone for a few years at the other school, with short visits during holidays, and during this time One will be attending to her city's community and become a pillar of it.(1/4?)
I've had it planned since the start that MC will come back and eventually, their friendship will break up, but the scene never felt right. It felt right that One felt trapped in the friendship with MC, but whatever reasoning I came up with always felt wrong. I found out about the term aplatonic a few months ago and was reading more into recently(briefly mentioned at the beginning of the post) and took the time to consider that maybe One is aplatonic, or at least aplspec(I think that's the right term). I always saw the two as eventually breaking up their friendship, but I also saw them as staying part of each other's lives, but couldn't figure out why and what the main issue for them would be past 'One being stuck in the friendship with MC'. But if I start writing it as One being aplatonic, it makes more sense to me(with the hope that I'm understanding it correctly). Their friendship would break apart dramatically, because MC is, unknowingly, forcing her platonic feelings onto One . Maybe at this point, One has asked MC to lessen the physical touch, but MC being concerned for her(in a way that One KNOWS for certain is platonic) has her feel an overflow of the repressed feelings of being trapped and One breaks off the friendship with MC, unable to articulate her words well in the heat of the moment.(2/4)
MC goes to grieve the friendship, One looks like an butt to the people around them, but that is not what would matter. What matters is that eventually, MC and One are able to talk, one on one. One confesses how uncomfortable MC makes her feel and that it cares for her, but that she can likely never reciprocate her platonic feelings. MC listens and asks if they can stay in each other's lives, at the least. One , never wanting to be MC's romantic partner or to feel as if MC is its 'friend', says that it needs a break first, where she doesn't feel like MC is forcing them into platonic situations before it can tell her anything final. MC also asks about how One would devalue MC's personhood(ignoring/actively denying that MC has their own interests and forcing it's viewpoint of things onto her), and if it related to how MC had been treating it[this has always been part of the plan, and is not meant to take away from One's POV, but is meant to touch on One's flaws]. This conversation would allow both sides to discuss their view of the past relationship, struggling, with emotions raw, but truthful.(3/4)
As I've said before, I've always imagined them as being part of each other's life, but it never felt like friendship to me. Just them as individuals. With how the story has gone so far, I see MC being mostly around her friends she made at her new school while One is with her future partners. I don't think One would see MC as family, because with what they've gone through together, calling MC a 'sister' would feel just as uncomfortable as calling her a 'friend'. They're just two individuals who happened to grow up, spend a lot of time, and talk with one another. Sorry for making this so long and multiple asks, there was just so much I wanted to talk about and wanted to provide as much detail for how I viewed their relationship as possible.
