I love BIONICLE immensely, and have been away from the community for far too long. I've been thinking about jumping back into community Discord discussions, making posts, etc, when I have the time and social energy to devote to it. And with recent changes in my life, that's probably going to be this spring. That said, there is and always has been one little thing that bothers me in BIONICLE fandom, and that thing is the way people talk about the decanonization of romance for characters in the Matoran Universe.
People in this community, on Tumblr, on Reddit, on Discord, loudly proclaim "Love Is Canon", and talk as if the notion that sentient beings could be bereft of romantic relationships is either unbelievable, insulting, or infantalizing, and honestly... Is it? Is it really so bad to imagine the inhabitants of the MU don't experience feelings or have relationships that would perfectly fall under what we would call romantic? Yes, I am aware that the early writers didn't have this in mind, and that it was more the latter half of the franchise where this was largely adhered to, and as such there are obvious contradictions that you could point to in the main storyline. Hewkii and Macku, Matau's lines in movies 2 and 3, Vakama's subplot with Roodaka in movie 3, etc. Nevertheless, all of these could easily be headcanoned into making sense; Hewkii and Macku could outwardly appear romantic but actually be a different kind of deep emotional bond, Hewkii, Macku, and Matau could be rare non-aromantic characters, the Hordika mutation could have caused psychological changes, etc.
Fact of the matter is, the writer's statement that MU characters don't do romance posits a world where aromanticism is either universal or the majority, and I've not met a single other fan willing to engage with that notion. Such a society raises so many fascinating questions that it's a real shame that nobody explores it. What would it be like in a society where the script is flipped so that aromantic is the default, and alloromantic is a rare minority? What if what outwardly seems romantic to readers, or in-universe, to Agori and Glatorians, actually wasn't the same as a romantic bond? I've met multiple people over time that outwardly seemed like romantic couples, but didn't define their relationship as such, or didn't have romantic feelings for each other and just enjoyed being emotionally and physically intimate with each other in ways couples usually are. Hell, what does it even mean for relationships to be romantic? So many fanfics could be written with this premise, so much lore could be speculated from these ideas, and yet it's just outright overlooked by everyone I've talked to over the years.
I'm on the aromantic spectrum, I consider myself to be demiromantic, and more often than not take a long time to conclusively develop romantic interest in others, and most of the time just feel some sort of confusing emotion inbetween for close friends. So obviously I'm going to care about this and feel some sort of way about it, that can't be helped. And I get it, the vast majority of people aren't a-spec, and many people have never even heard of aromantic people due to limited social circles, but it still stings to see the only instance I'm aware of, of a proposed aromantic society on fiction that doesn't treat it as a horrible shame in the text, be outright rejected by fans and spoken of as if it were a form of censorship. It still makes me upset every Valentine's Day and every Pride Month the #BIONICLE tag I follow shows me post after post of rainbow pride flags paired with the phrase "love is canon", as if to assert otherwise is homophobic censorship, as if the absence of romance is in direct opposition to their self-expression. And that's just so disappointing. To be clear, I'm gay as hell myself, I'm a trans lesbian who's just slightly down the aro spectrum, I just don't understand that mentality.
Idk. I just wish I saw more discussion in favor of romance being foreign to MU society. It's comforting to me. And I wish I saw fewer posts framing gay pride as in direct opposition to that concept. I hope I'm not alone on this.
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
ellievsbear
2087
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
